Replacing Camp Minnie-Mickey

I have to be honest for a moment. I’m a creature of habit. Even though I’m now averaging at least one trip a year to “the World”, I can’t seem to break certain routines. I tend to go to the same attractions every time. There is that inherent fear that if I branch out and spend time on the unknown it may…well…it may suck (doubtful since its Disney…but we all have our irrational fears). And then that will have been time spent away from the things I love to do when I’m at Walt Disney World. Because of this, I only recently experienced for the first time the corner of Animal Kingdom known as Camp Minnie-Mickey.


When I originally had the idea for this post, prior to my first visit to Camp Minnie-Mickey, my plan was to scrap the whole area (with the exception of the Festival of the Lion King, which I had heard great things about). Now that I’ve visited it….ummm….yeah….I’m going to have to stick with Plan A.

Yes…that’s right…I’m demolishing Camp Minnie-Mickey. I’d certainly save the Festival of the Lion King, which I love!!! Maybe that could be moved to Africa. But I have a different vision for this area. One that I flirted with sticking in World Showcase, but quickly convinced myself Animal Kingdom was the better home for it. And that vision is…Australia!!!

2 (out of 7) continents are already represented in WDW’s fourth park. I want to build on that trend and construct the “Land Down Under”. I don’t necessarily have all the details worked out but I do have a high level vision started. Maybe you all can help out by filling in some of the blanks.

With Australia, our Imagineers will be ambitious enough to represent multiple geographic locations and environments from this great continent. The most obvious of these environments will be the inclusion of the Australian Outback. This area will be home to kangaroos, dingos (“the dingo ate my baby”), lizards, snakes, spiders, and camels (apparently Australia’s wild camel population is the biggest in the world…who knew?!!?).

I imagine some sort of vehicle based attraction (maybe a Subaru Outback tie-in??? Just kidding) that will guide guests as they explore these various species. The trick here is to provide an experience that is completely different than, say, Kilimanjaro Safari. I’ll leave those details to you guys…or the Imagineers.

The other key piece of Australia will be in the form of a large water feature that will represent the Coral Sea. It is here you will be able to explore the Great Barrier Reef and its inhabitants. My hope is that the our Great Barrier Reef would be home to dolphins, sea turtles, crocodiles, sea snakes, clownfish (yes…I know there is a certain clownfish that can already be found in Epcot…but I’m talking REAL clownfish), sharks, stingrays, and more.

I imagine an underwater attraction here, with goal of providing a completely different experience than what The Seas with Nemo and Friends currently offers at Epcot. I want this as much as possible to not feel like an aquarium. This may fall in the “if you can dream it, you can do it” category, but I’m picturing something similar to the Mayan Temple Shark Lagoon waterslide that can be found at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas (Google “Atlantis Mayan Temple Lagoon” if you aren’t familiar with what I’m referring). However, instead of riding an inner tube and getting soaked, the vehicle of choice will be more of the Omni mover variety and guests will stay completely dry (aside from whatever sweat the Florida humidity already provided them).

The goal will be for the guest to feel like they are “snorkeling” the Great Barrier Reef among many of the species that call it home. The less they feel like there is something separating them from the inhabitants, the better. Every direction the guests look, whether it be side-to-side, front and back, up or down, they will see nothing but water and sea life. Even cooler yet, guests will be able to “spin” their vehicle (think a slower Mad Tea Party and without the motion sickness) for a 360 degree view.

One final “sub-area” of will be, perhaps, a walk-through exhibit of the “other” native species of Australia…meaning those that don’t fit in either the Outback or the Great Barrier Reef. You simply can’t build an Australia in Animal Kingdom without it being home to at least a couple Koalas and a Tasmanian Devil or two (we don’t need permission from Warner Bros. for that, do we?).

One more item on my wish list… I’d really like to see a replica of the famed Sydney Opera House. This could perhaps go on the shores of our water feature (yes…I realize Sydney is 1000+ miles away from the Great Barrier Reef…but that’s why we pay the Imagineers the big bucks…to make it work). I have two thoughts on what this building could potentially be used for. It could either be a nice table service restaurant (“Shrimp On the Barbie”?). Or it could be the new home to Finding Nemo the Musical, seeing as the seas of Australia serve as the backdrop for that movie.

Well…there’s my plan. Now , more importantly… what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Have an even better idea? Please share and let’s see what we can dream up together!!!