In December I spent at week on the East Coast at Walt Disney World. If you follow my regular posts from Disneyland you know I enjoy looking at what changed and is changing around the parks. AllEars asked me to share some of the construction pictures I took as I explored Walt Disney World. This four-post series will look at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Disney Springs, and the Polynesian Village Resort and feature a subset of my pictures. If you would like to view more from this trip here is my trip summary with links. This part takes a look at the projects at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Approaching the park you can see a couple of cranes above the tree line where work on the Avatar area is progressing.
As the bus pulls in you get a glimpse of the construction. Not much is visible yet.
Walls are up on Discovery Island as work is done to widen the walkways.
The old line board is gone and the area is open now.
Out in Africa, Harambe is expanding. Not much is visible from this area. (This is taken from near the pretzel stand.)
A closer look reveals little.
This wall is at the end of the walkway past the Harambe Theatre, by the restrooms. Beyond it will be a walkway to the Avatar area.
Near Pizzafari on the former walkway to Camp Minnie-Mickey, another wall blocks the Avatar project.
You can read more about the AVATAR land project and see some artists’ renderings HERE.
Between Flame Tree BBQ and Dinoland there’s a project under way, too.
Earth is being moved around to create a viewing area for the Rivers of Light show.
Walls are up around most of the lagoon. This stretch is between the Theater in the Wild and Dinoland.
Some of the wall/tarp is more festive near Expedition Everest
A general renovation under way in the gibbons habitat in Asia.
A better look at the Rivers of Light work from the Flame Tree dining area.
A couple days later, new trees in the Harambe expansion.
A look at the project from the Wildlife Express
Pangani Forest Trail had the aviary and hippo area blocked off. This wall is at the outlook.
The Harambe expansion from the bridge.
A better shot of the wall from the other day, without the rain.
To close out, several shots of the Rivers of Light project:
Not much is known yet about the Rivers of Light show, but you can read a little about it and see some concept art HERE.
Hope you enjoyed this look at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. For additional photos and details from this trip you can check out the full Trip Update I posted on my site, http://disneygeek.com Also be sure to follow me on twitter @disneygeekcom for pictures from the parks.
We won’t be returning until Avatar section is complete.We’ve had enough of mega crowds for many years. I’d like all the neigh-sayers to stay out of that area please and let the rest of us that have faith in Disney and know it’ll be gorgeous enjoy it!
Gotta say I’m not big on the rivers of light concepts I’ve seen. Looks like something they’ll scrap pretty fast.
Is Rivers of Light supposed to be similar to World of Color at California Adventure?
****** Jason’s Reply ********
Doug – There has not been much released on the show yet. One piece of concept art and a couple sentences so at this point it is hard to tell. Here is the concept art:
http://allears.net/tp/ak/rivers-of-light.htm
When will all of the work be completed in Animal Kingdom? Sure looks like they are busily working!
********* Jason’s Reply *********************
Katie –
I do not believe any official dates have been released but the projected openings are:
Rivers of Light – Spring 2016
Avatar – 2017