Classact....Mike 17 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 OK, help me Fiends! So we are sitting around talking about visiting the parks when we were "kids". I'm in my 40's and first visited in 1974. My folks brought us kids to Disney World several times and I have memories and pics from Magic Kingdom and Epcot and of course lots from the Fort. But about Animal Kingdom - I did not visit the parks after I moved away from home until I took my wife to Magic Kingdom in 1995. We visited only Magic Kingdom on that visit. We visited Animal Kingdom, for the first time with my wife, this year. Here's the rub - I have VERY specific memories of some of the AK attractions, most notably the Safari, the Tree of Life, and just some physical features of the park itself. In looking up the history of when AK opened, most references date it at 1998. And yet...I have specific memories of seeing some AK attractions well before 1998. So I'm wondering....were there perhaps elements of AK that were part of MK, or even the Fort, back in the day? I"m perplexed. Am I so Disney-fied that I have telephathic memory of events or something? Am I crazy? Well don't answer that. I have tee'd you all up for so many snarky comments, so....GO! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 I never got to see it but I've heard stories and read about it several times. The Discovery island is in Bay Lake which can be seen from the beach at the Fort. They used to have animals and birds on it and I know that the island at AK is called Discovery Island and if I remember correctly there were other aspects of the island that were used at AK. There will be some fiends along shortly to better explain the original Discovery Island. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Hey are you trying to run up your post count?Nice double post! Lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Also, if I remember correctly when they closed it they moved some of the animals to AK. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 1998 was the year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Bump Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 When did Busch Gardens open? Wasn't/isn't there a safari there? Perhaps your "safari" memories are from the Jungle Cruise? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Did you perhaps travel to Disney as a kid in one of these? :drwho-smiley: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lou... 3,118 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Am I crazy? Yes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
h2odivers...Ray 952 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 That could be Carol but Busch Gardens is in Tampa. He really had to be confused for that to be the case. Or crazy. Lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Starbuc71 162 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 The tree of life was originally one of the grand oaks in front of th castle in MK. Due to its size and blockage of the castle pictures it had to be moved by a large group of Iranian arborist who had to track down 12 specially modified Disney buses. The buses broke down off of world drive and the tree landed where it sits today. Michael Eisner came up with the idea to build a theme park around it. To this day when the sun hits the tree in a certain angle, you can see the remains of one of the Disney buses embedded in the roots of the tree that was transporting it when it fell :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 The tree of life was originally one of the grand oaks in front of th castle in MK. Due to its size and blockage of the castle pictures it had to be moved by a large group of Iranian arborist who had to track down 12 specially modified Disney buses. The buses broke down off of world drive and the tree landed where it sits today. Michael Eisner came up with the idea to build a theme park around it. To this day when the sun hits the tree in a certain angle, you can see the remains of one of the Disney buses embedded in the roots of the tree that was transporting it when it fell :) Amazing! I'd never heard that bit of Disney history before. Are these by any chance the same Iranians conducting nuclear experiments at River Country? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AuburnJen 773 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Amazing! I'd never heard that bit of Disney history before. Are these by any chance the same Iranians conducting nuclear experiments at River Country?You weren't supposed to tell that! You didn't ask TCD! :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Classact....Mike 17 Posted April 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 The tree of life was originally one of the grand oaks in front of th castle in MK. Due to its size and blockage of the castle pictures it had to be moved by a large group of Iranian arborist who had to track down 12 specially modified Disney buses. The buses broke down off of world drive and the tree landed where it sits today. Michael Eisner came up with the idea to build a theme park around it. To this day when the sun hits the tree in a certain angle, you can see the remains of one of the Disney buses embedded in the roots of the tree that was transporting it when it fell :) Whewee! And you all are calling *me* crazy?! Love it! But yes, I am proudly Disney crazy. I am determined to locate some family pics from that era and perhaps help solve this mystery of mine. -Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Whewee! And you all are calling *me* crazy?! Love it! But yes, I am proudly Disney crazy. I am determined to locate some family pics from that era and perhaps help solve this mystery of mine. -Mike Yeah, I'd have to agree that you're crazy. The Busch Gardens safari was around in the '70's, but they used a really crappy monorail for that one- so I don't think riding the AK safari would remind you of the Busch Gardens safari. The animals on the Discovery Paths at AK around the Tree of Life were moved there from Discovery Island, but all of the enclosures and such stayed on the island. So that's not it. Still, I would love to see the family pics from that era. I remember your cool photo in front of the log slice. Anything along those lines would be cool. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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