Disney's Animal Kingdom: Our Virtual Tour

December 13, 1998
Andrew's comments from his early December visit are in Updates page's December section. Looks like a big push to get Asia open.
More photos from December have been added to Asia, Kilimanjaro Safari and Pangani Forest.

November 29, 1998
The boats on Discovery River are back! They're now called Discovery River Taxis. See the Updates page's November section.
Another month - another name change! This time it's Tiger Rapids Run. New photos have been added to Asia, Africa, Safari and other pages.

November 1, 1998
The monthly Update sections have been moved to a new Updates page , along with the map and other links. The site re-design has started, with smaller pictures for faster downloading. New photos will be added on the Kilimanjaro Safari, Africa and other pages. Thanks to Andrew for the new graphics and logos.

October 17,1998
Interested in what the Maharajah Jungle Trek and Tiger Rapids Run will be like when they open? Check out the new updates in the Asia section
Disney's next animated film, A Bug's Life premieres November 20th. Some of the characters will be familiar to those of you who experienced "It's Tough to be a Bug!". A USA 25 city mall tour to promote A Bug's Life has kicked off - you can check the A Bugs Life website for more details.

October 3,1998
The Discovery River Boats have disappeared - see the October Update.
More pictures coming soon; scanner problems.
The Secrets of the Animal Kingdom TV show has debuted! See the October Update

August 18,1998
There's a new trail at DAK - the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail (as noted below).
Pictures of the new signage and a new Asia area are now on this site this month.

August 2, 1998
The Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail has been renamed as the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.
Why rename it? Probably because it has many more animals than gorillas, and also because the gorillas aren't always visible. Details in August Update.

July 19, 1998
The March of the Animals parade is now called The March of the Artimals and later renamed March of the ARTimals. See the story in the revised March of the ARTimals section
Some changes in Asia - entertainment and December 1998 opening - are in the Asia section.
A new acronym for you - FOLK - see the July Update.
And the Guidebook section is new - full inside and outside scans of the July 13 Guidebook.

June 16, 1998
Updated, revised and expanded! Our Disney's Animal Kingdom Virtual Tour has completed a major update with more photos (now over 150) and many more pages. The larger attractions (Discovery River, The March of Animals parade, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Gorilla Falls, Conservation Station), and each land (The Oasis, Safari Village, Asia and Camp Minnie-Mickey added) have been placed on their own pages for easier downloading and browsing.

June 8, 1998
Andrew & I visited Animal Kingdom again on June 7th. See comments in June Update. The photos from this visit have been used to rebuild this site on June 15th. Thanks to Tripod for expanding homepage space.

May 31, 1998
An update on the CtX ride, and a hint on the best time to visit - see May Update.

May 25, 1998
Most of the pages have been updated with photos from Andrew (including a pic of Roy Disney & Michael Eisner) as well as references to the Summer 1998 issue of the Disney "New Park Opens - Disney's Animal Kingdom" Magazine.

May 10, 1998
Several new graphics have been added such as a copy of the April 21st "Grand Opening Celebration" pamphlet, and the April 21st Guidebook.
A new section has been added that is a full page scan of all of the sections of the April 21st Guidebook. You can read the descriptions and features of the park for yourself. Please note that there are about 1 Meg of JPG files in this section. (Note: See the July Update above - this scan has been replaced)

April 26, 1998
The Intro section has been updated with Grand Opening info. See the April Updates on changes to the Countdown to Extinction ride.
Also the NEWS Section has been added with press and website news info.

Opening Day Discussion: Michael & Roy at Harambe

Our Disney Diary: Disney's Animal Kingdom

Looking for the most recent updates? They're now in the new Updates Section.

With cast and family being allowed into preview Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK), Jenny, Katy and Ron were able to take a quick trip to Florida to join Andrew and Kelly for the March 5th Cast Preview day. Andrew and Kelly had several visits monthly from April to September, Ron visited again in June, and Andrew visited again in November.
Come with us on our virtual tour, liberally sprinkled with photos from March, April, May and June, plus some update photos from July, August and September.

The photos that appear on these pages were taken by Katy, Jenny and Ron on regular 35mm film, Andrew and Kelly on APS, and Andrew and Ron on digital JPEG (Sony Mavica). They are in .jpg format, and most pages download in under 90 seconds on AOL with a 33.4kb modem, but can take more than 5 minutes on some other ISPs, and more than 15 on webtv.

Disney Animal Kingdom Guidebook Covers - Cast Preview, Pre-Opening

MARCH - FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

Here are the first impressions from Andrew, Kelly, Jenny, Katy and Ron...

Andrew: Great park! Favourite attractions are CTX (insider for Countdown to Extinction) and the Lion King Show - a stunning, intimate show.

Kelly: Everything is well done, but Kilamanjaro Safaris is the best.

Jenny: Loved all the animals being free, and you can get close to them. Kilimanjaro Safaris is my favourite attraction. Countdown to Extinction was a good ride. The Earth Pasta at Rainforest Cafe was a good meal.

Katy: Yea for Gorillas! Too bad we didn't see monkeys. The Safari is my favourite attraction, and should be even better as more of the animals are visible. My favourite meal was the breakfast (muffin & OJ) at Flame Tree.

Ron: Impressive. The years of planning were well worth it. Even partially open, the park is worth a couple of days to visit. Each of the smaller animal display areas has a keeper. Talk to them - you'll get some interesting facts and tales. My favourite attraction is Countdown to Extinction, and my favourite food pick is the Flame Tree barbeque's ribs/chicken. Worth the trip. It's really a good park for self-exploring and discussions with the animal keepers. It's almost all outdoors, so it might not be my first choice on a rainy day.

Click here to go to the Updates Section, with details of the major changes at DAK.

Click here to go to directly to the Tour Entrance Page.

Other Disney Links are moved to the Updates Section.

Disclaimer: Our Disney Diary is for entertainment purposes only. It is not officially connected in any way with The Walt Disney Company or any of its business units. It does not imply any sanction of listed sites. Any Disney character images and logos used in this site are copyright� The Walt Disney Company.