Credit: DisneyWith all the news concerning Disney laying off thousands of employees and canceling or downsizing several previously announced projects, it’s had many fans asking what’s happening to Disney. EPCOT’s grand renovation has been significantly decreased, including the elimination of an entire pavilion, and the Mary Poppins attraction that was scheduled for the UK pavilion was also scrapped.
It’s worth pointing out that this isn’t the first time in Disney history that plans and projects have been changed or canceled, and that those changes actually paved the way for other projects later. Extinct Disney on Twitter called attention to the fact that long before previous Disney CEO Bob Chapek canceled projects, Michael Eisner was doing the same thing.
Just a reminder that Chapek was not the first to cancel huge plans for a Disney theme park. This is what we could've had at Animal Kingdom before Eisner cancelled Beastly Kingdom in favor of a land with one theater and some meet and greets. I still struggle to get over this one. pic.twitter.com/R12IxvORAF
— Extinct Disney (@ExtinctDisney) April 13, 2023
Disney’s Animal Kingdom was meant to focus on animals and nature, including those real, currently existing, prehistoric, and fictional. When the Park opened in 1998, it was originally meant to have an area called “Beastly Kingdom,” which would have included mythical creatures like dragons and unicorns. Ultimately, the area was scrapped, and Camp Minnie Mickey, which was supposed to have been a temporary area while Beastly Kingdom was built, became a permanent fixture to the area for the next several years. In 2014, the area was closed to make way for Pandora: The World of Avatar, which was opened in 2017.
Around the time that the cancellation of Beastly Kingdom was announced, several Imagineers and designers left Disney to work for Universal as it built Islands of Adventure. According to a few of the comments and Extinct Disney, it’s possible that those designers helped create the Lost Continent, an area of Islands of Adventure themed to Middle Eastern and Greek mythology.
Universal just announced that the Lost Continent would be closing its last operating attraction, Poseidon’s Fury, next month. As of yet, there has been no word if the attraction or the area itself will be rethemed soon, but it’s left many fans wondering what the fate of the Lost Continent will be.
Would you have liked to see Beastly Kingdom at Animal Kingdom? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!