"River to nowhere" in the Animal Kingdom

[Uncleromulus]

Been awhile since I've seen anything about this river (in or near Asia) in the AK. When AK first opened they had a short boat ride but that quickly went away.
During last weeks trip, I noticed they had a "character boat" going around--but moving so fast and so far offshore that no one hardly realized it was there. Sort of a "Was that Mickey waving??" feeling as the boat soared by.
Any word on if they intend to actually do anything with this "river"??

 

[WDWHound]

Rumor has it that the original plans for the park had a quite eloborate boat ride planned for the park which included an enouter with a dragon and krackon as the boat past Beastly Kingdom. Then Beastly Kindom was cut due to cost (Thank you Mr Ei$ner) and the Boatride really lost is reaosn to exist. Iunderstand that they tried introducing a Radio Disney theme to it, then they just gave up and shut it down completely. The loading area for the ride was turned into a bar (yes, a bar) for a while, then it to was shut down. You can still find it just across the river from the tree of life on the road that connects Asia and Africa. As far as I know, there ar no plkans to bring the boatride back.

I don't know why they havent done anything with this.You would think they could put in some animal animatronics along the river and repoen it as a sort of Jungle River Cruise type of attraction. I would cost very little and would quickly add a new attraction to a park that really needs new attractions.

 

[cardaway]

I believe they had the "dragon cave" operating for some time even after the boat ride was closed. We saw it come to life (sounds) and errupt in fire more than once, but not on the last trip in 2004.

They really need to do something with it. Since it's not a real river the water doesn't go anywhere and gets gross. It looked terrible in 2004.

 

[YoHo]

Oh that water feeds into the rest of Disney's Waterways. It can't help it in Florida. Gives you a good idea of why you can't swim on the beaches.

 

[All Aboard]

WDWHound is correct. The original plans had some more elaborate scenes planned, but from all I have read they were not too major. The attraction opened as one way transportation and the lines were huge. Guests (thinking that there was really something to the attraction) complained profusely that they had stood in line for an hour for a 5 minute boat ride that amounted to nothing.

The Radio Disney River Cruise was perhaps the worst attraction ever at WDW. Same boats, same cruise, same nothing to look at, but now with a pair of annoying DJ's pitching a national radio network.

Now the boats are used (as uncleromulus stated) to sail characters around for people to wave to. For a while, Chip and Dale cruised around with a small band that played while they waved and danced.

One of the docks has often been used as a meet and greet / photopass selling spot.

 

[YoHo]

I remember being in Animal Kingdom in 1999 and wondering what the heck these people were doing in line. It stated right in the guidebook what to expect, or not to expect as the case may be.

 

[DancingBear]

Oh that water feeds into the rest of Disney's Waterways. It can't help it in Florida. Gives you a good idea of why you can't swim on the beaches.

Yes, and I hear that, in addition to the McDonald's fries flowing freely into the Rivers of America (and thus to the remainder of Florida's waterways), all of the feces of the AK animals are flushed through this river directly to into the Everglades.

[insert whatever smilie is necessary here to indicate that the above is not intended to be taken seriously]

 

[YoHo]

Excellent, My post was shave and a haircut to your two bits.

 

[Onemoretime]

Flame Tree BBQ has a seating area right on the water. This charactor cruise comes very close to it and is a big hit with the kids. The theme now is Mickey fishing with loud steel drum music playing. Probably not the best use for the boats, but it's better then dry dock.