<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn 1989, Disney began planning a new theme park at WDW Resort: Disney\u2019s Animal Kingdom.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the world around Discovery Island had not been stagnant. Magic Kingdom, the flagship theme park, as we\u2019ve already discussed, opened in 1971. EPCOT opened just over a decade later, in 1982. And in 1989, the third major theme park, MGM Studios opened. Of course, there were water parks (like River Country and Typhoon Lagoon) as well as multiple hotel resorts and shopping destinations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plans for Animal Kingdom reportedly began soon after the opening of MGM Studios (now called Disney\u2019s Hollywood Studios). Five years later in 1995, Michael Eisner officially announced the project, now well underway. A board of advisors reportedly helped develop the project from the beginning, with a goal of emphasizing wildlife conservation. Despite public criticism calling the future park a glorified zoo, consultants for the advisory panel saw only a positive outlook for the park, saying \u201c\u201dWe\u2019re at a time when population is growing so rapidly that the only wildlife we\u2019ll be able to save is the one we care about,\u201d\u201d Construction proceed quickly, and Animal Kingdom officially opened on Earth Day, April 22, 1998.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In practice, Animal Kingdom drew significantly on the experiences with Discovery Island. With an area between 5 and 6 times that of Magic Kingdom, the new park had plenty of space for animal conservation \u2013 much more than just birds. Reportedly, some 1700 animals of over 250 different species currently reside at the park, with breeding programs even allowing restoration of species from Animal Kingdom back into the wild, such as with the white rhinos reintroduced to Uganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t all just another glorified zoo, though. Animal Kingdom is the home to all the trappings of a regular theme park, too, including restaurants and dozens of rides. Even a full-fledged coaster was there \u2013 Expedition Everest, a Vekoma steel coaster featuring the tallest artificial mountain on any Disney property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of this detouring is of course to say that Animal Kingdom nicely filled the space that Discovery Island occupied. And the cons of Discovery Island, it\u2019s small size and physical boundaries due to being an island, were absent in Animal Kingdom. Plus, Animal Kingdom was an actual theme park.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The writing was on the wall for Discovery Island, as the guests who would\u2019ve visited there instead chose to go to Animal Kingdom. Attendance reportedly declined, while maintenance costs remained high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official closing date for Discovery Island was April 8, 1999, marking a clean 25 years in operation. Wikipedia claims without source that the island was operational for several more months, through July of 1999, as the animals were transferred to Animal Kingdom. At Animal Kingdom, the main hub was renamed to Discovery Island in tribute to the park\u2019s roots. A charming version of the island\u2019s \u201clast day\u201d is available online, including plenty of pictures<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit sad when we say goodbye to an old favorite, but change is part of the process.\u201d said the Disney spokesperson in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>Abandoned Discovery Island<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAfter Discovery Island closed, nothing obvious changed. Buildings were still there, the dock was still there, the lights were still on. Yes, for at least a decade after the island was shuttered, the lights still went on at night throughout the island in an eerie display. This included lights on the interior of the island, as if someone or something were still traversing it at night. Between August and October of 2006, the island\u2019s main dock was removed, leaving only pylons. By this point, the only access to the island was the small employee service dock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n2007 image of the Discovery Island dock. Source: BestofWDW from USA [CC BY 2.0 https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWater travel is a regular way to get around Walt Disney World, so none of this went unnoticed. Guests documented the foliage growing up on the island\u2019s white sand beaches, hiding the sand and completely engulfing the former \u201cshipwrecked\u201d boat formerly called The Walrus. It\u2019s still there, but it\u2019s no longer visible, completely covered over at this point by green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2007 image of the Walrus. Source: BestofWDW from USA [CC BY 2.0 https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li>2009 image of the Walrus. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nOf course, as this is a podcast about abandoned and defunct theme parks, of course we ask what kind of abandoned imagery is out there. Well, Discovery Island is a well-kept secret. Access to Disney property, especially on an island in gator-infested waters, is definitely not an easy explore. Between 1999 and 2017, there were only two known urban explorations of the island. One was by \u201cNomius\u201d and the other was by a guy named Shane Perez. Shane\u2019s name is the more notable, as he used his real name and sat on the images for over four years in order to sit out the statute of limitations on being charged for trespassing. He was banned from Disney properties for his troubles, but his images are still some of the most well-known of the abandoned property.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The images reveal eerie sights, like a dry erase board last written on in 1999, a snake preserved in formaldehyde inside a soda bottle, animal cages with doors hanging open, soda machines covered in dust and grime, and an empty -80 freezer, once used for biological samples, long since thawed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n