Back to the Future

We'll get back to exploring more of Disney's Animal Kingdom soon enough. This week, let's take a trip to that space port of the future, Tomorrowland. I'll have fresh material for you in the morning. In the meantime, go ahead and take a look back at this post from back in April: Welcome to Tomorrowland!

Now Leaving Discovery Island

Since not all Disney's Animal Kingdom Guests have an appreciation for the sense of adventure and exploration built into the park, all manner of signs and way finding markers have been added over the years. Among them are the signs shown here. Designed to point the way from Discovery Island toward the park's various realms, the signs are done in styles that both evoke the design aesthetic of Discovery Island's folk artists, as well as hint at the cultural influence of the land to which you are headed.

Taking It Slow

Disney's Animal Kingdom truly is a completely different "species of theme park." By design, it encourages Guests to slow down and take in the surroundings. While the park may include the requisite roller coaster and 3-D movie, there are so many more non-traditional attractions to enjoy, from flora and fauna to art and architecture.

This Discovery Island bench (above) can be found just off a path near Flame Tree Barbecue. It's a perfect spot to enjoy one of the greatest Disney Parks attractions of them all - people watching. Next time you visit, take a cue from the snails (it's no coincidence snail statues are used in this spot) and slow down to take in the details. You won't regret it.

Flashback: Discovery River Boats

Guests crossing the bridge from the Oasis to Discovery Island may notice this dock (above) just off to the right. This is the former home of the Discovery River Boats, one of the shortest-lived attractions in Disney's Animal Kingdom history.

The Discovery River Boats debuted with the park and were intended as a means of transportation for Guests wishing to take a leisurely trip from Discovery Island to the outskirts of Asia. Along the way, passengers had an encounter with a sea monster (an effect created by traveling vibrations under the boats), a hidden dragon spewing fire from the bowels of a dark cave, and geysers shooting high in the air near the coast of Harambe village. The return trip passed by Banteng cattle on the steppes of Asia, colorful whirligigs along Discovery Island and a huge, Audio-Animatronic Iguanodon which had wandered beyond the halls of the Dino Institute and into the river near Dinoland.

As exciting as some of that may sound, Discovery River Boats and the sites along the river never quite lived up to expectations. What ultimately sealed the attraction's fate was Guest perception.

For decades, Walt Disney World Guests had come to expect that they would see "wild animals" from a boat, as on the Jungle Cruise. Coming into Disney's Animal Kingdom for the first time, visitors knew little about the park, except for the fact that it would feature live animals. Since the first attraction they encountered was the Discovery River Boats (in a land called Safari Village at the time), it was natural to assume that was where the animals were to be found.

Wait times for the Discovery River Boats would frequently exceed one hour. Imagine the disappointment when Guests were dropped off ten minutes later in Asia, after having seen little more in the way of animals than some birds and goats.

Several attempts were made to alter those perceptions. In November 1998, the name of the attraction was changed to Discovery Island Water Taxis to try and better convey the transportation aspect, and Animal Presenters were placed aboard the boats to help address concerns about a lack of animal presence. Unfortunately, the Presenters were limited to what they could easily carry around the boat (typically spiders, lizards and insects), and confusion persisted.

In March 1999, the attraction changed once again to the Radio Disney River Cruise. This time, the boats were given a fresh coat of paint and a wacky, contemporary narration from Radio Disney on-air personalities Just Plain Mark and Zippy, "broadcasting live" from atop the Tree of Life. This final attempt at a boat tour attraction also failed to appeal to audiences, and the Discovery River Boats were ultimately closed before the end of 1999.

Today, the boats are occasionally put into service as floating stages for live bands and Disney Characters, entertaining Guests gathered along the shores of Lake Discovery from Flame Tree Barbecue to Expedition Everest. The Discovery Island dock is now home to Character greetings with Winnie the Pooh & Co., while the Upcountry Landing (Asia dock) has been furnished as a relaxing, out of the way rest spot... with the occasional bar set up during peak attendance periods.

On to the Theater!

Hi-diddle-dee-dee, a bug's life for me!

During the conceptual phase for Disney's Animal Kingdom, several ideas were pitched for the space within the Tree of Life, including a restaurant and a show based on The Lion King. Once it was brought to the attention of the team that a film about bugs was in production at Pixar Animation Studios, everything suddenly came together. "It's Tough to be a Bug" became one of the few Disney Parks attractions to open ahead of the film from which it drew its inspiration (the first such attraction was actually Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, which opened a full four years before Sleeping Beauty appeared in theaters).

Guests find themselves "shrunk" as they proceed along the path and down into the roots of the Tree, on their way to becoming "honorary bugs." Outside the Tree of Life Repertory Theater, posters help promote some of the stars featured in the current production:

Just above the entrance, the termites have carved a marquee to advertise the show:

As the audience gathers in the lobby, steer clear of the occasional prop, such as this giant dung ball:

Each Guest is presented a pair of bug eyes, custom-made 3-D glasses designed just for this attraction (of course, one should not put on the glasses until safely seated in the theater, so please don't follow the lead of my wife and kids)...

The walls of the lobby are lined with tracks left by ants, termites and other previous visitors. Here too, while waiting for the voice of the "Theater Lady" to prep everyone for the show, the audience can also take time to enjoy posters promoting other past and future productions... each one a clever, insect-inspired twist on an actual Broadway show:

Pizza-Arty

The over-the-top, equatorial-inspired animal art of Discovery Island kicks into high gear within the walls of another eating establishment, Pizzafari. Here, the main room and four dining rooms are adorned with 34 dramatic murals of animal life, all hand-painted by Disney veteran Frank Armitage and his daughter Nicole.

Frank started with Disney in the 1950s, working in backgrounds and layout for films from Peter Pan to The Jungle Book. He joined Walt Disney Imagineering in 1977 and has contributed to Disney Parks around the world, even after his official retirement in 1989.

The spectacular murals in the main room at Pizzafari weave a tapestry of colorful butterflies, birds and fish that lends a dynamic energy to the space:

The murals in each of the dining rooms of the restaurant present groupings of animals which follow a central theme. For example, the first room is populated by animals that live much of their lives upside down: opossums, bats, diving ducks, ostriches (with heads buried in the sand).

Next is the nocturnal room. Here, you'll discover animals that spend the majority of their waking hours in the darkness of night:

Across the hall is a brighter room, with walls decorated in an homage to animals that carry their "homes" with them: a kangaroo's joey, turtles, snails, armadillos, hermit crabs.

Finally, the largest dining room in the back of Pizzafari presents the most intriguing murals of all. This room is dedicated to camouflage. Here, you'll find animals that blend in to their surroundings, whether they're trying to hunt or hide from those who might hunt them.

The more time you spend in this room, the more animals you'll see. Some are obvious, like the fox flushing out birds from a bush in the image below. But look closer at that same mural. In the grass near where the fox is perched are two more birds (of a different species), standing completely still and blending in perfectly. How many animals can you find in the rest of these?

A Place to Eat (and be eaten)

Flame Tree Barbecue on Discovery Island at Disney's Animal Kingdom not only offers some of the best smoked barbecue ribs at Walt Disney World, but also provides one of the nicest dining environments in the park. The seating area of this restaurant is spread out among several pavilions dotting a terraced hillside on the shores of Lake Discovery.

The views of the lake and Expedition Everest are beautiful, but take a closer look. You might find that things around you aren't quite as placid as they first appear.

Just as they are throughout Discovery Island, fanciful animal forms are woven into the design of the pavilions, lampposts, windsocks and more. Since this is an eating establishment, though, the theme is that of the relationship between predators and prey.

In the photo above, shift your focus away from Everest for a moment, and you'll see that the crocodiles are chasing after and eating the fish. Elsewhere, owls hunt rabbits, snakes hide from hawks, anteaters eat ants, snakes snatch mice and spiders catch butterflies in their webs.

It may seem gruesome, but it's all part of the natural order of things, in which even we play a part. Bring over your tray of food, but before you sit down, take note of a couple of things. The back of all the chairs features predators, while the design on the tabletop depicts their prey. By taking a seat and setting our lunch down before us, we take our own place in the circle of life.

Design with a Purpose

Standing in sharp contrast to the realistically portrayed animals on the Tree of Life are the artistic interpretations of the modern-day villagers who live and work on Discovery Island. The equatorial architecture that dots the island is adorned with brilliantly colored animal forms in styles inspired by folk art from Bali, the Caribbean and the South Pacific.

At first glance, it may appear that the animals were chosen at random, but as with so many things designed by the artists at Walt Disney Imagineering, they were each chosen and placed with a specific purpose in mind.

Each of the buildings on Discovery Island features a particular grouping of animals chosen to represent a central theme. For example, Island Mercantile is a warehouse carrying a wide variety of products. All the creatures depicted in and around this shop are animals that work: camels, elephants, bees, beavers and the like.

Notice that the bee motif is prevalent in the area of the shop where sweets are sold:

Each room of the Island Mercantile carries a slightly different style and focuses on a different animal or group of animals. The elephant room is particularly beautiful:

In the beaver room, the POS and fixtures are formed from gnawed logs and branches. Animal designs are even worked into the tools used in the warehouse, like the beaver pulley seen below:

Or the fish paddles no doubt used to propel the fish boat across the Discovery River, taking goods back and forth for trade.

Nearby on Discovery Island is Creature Comforts. This location takes a different approach. Since the shop's wares consist primarily of clothing in different styles, the animal group depicted here includes those with unique patterns or coloring: zebras, giraffes, wasps, snakes and ladybugs:

On the other side of the island, Disney Outfitters follows yet another path. Here, products have been brought from "the four corners of the globe."

The animals in this shop also hail from all directions: north, south, east and west. Notice how the animals are different in each corner of the shop, on the totems as well as the murals, corresponding to their direction of origin. The northern corner includes polar bears, caribou and wolves. The southern corner depicts animals primarily from South Africa: lions, hippos and antelope. The eastern corner features Asian elephants and kangaroos, while the western corner has bison, pumas and jackrabbits.