Disney's Animal Kingdom celebrates first decade

Disney's Animal Kingdom, the fourth park built for Walt Disney World and the largest Disney park ever, celebrates its 10th anniversary today. Founded on Earth Day — April 22, 1998 — the park has seen both success and challenges in its ten years of operation. The park, which tries to create a balance between the realities of wildlife management and fantasy of its attractions, has seen a rapid increase in attendance figures the last two years, largely in part due to massive investments in Expedition Everest and Finding Nemo: The Musical. While it pushes towards 10 million visitors a year, the AK has also garnered respect and acclaim for its wildlife conservation and research efforts.

"In fact, years will go by as we build out toward this master plan in which the park should end up being pretty level, balanced between live animals, imaginary animals, prehistoric animals, fantasy," said the park's chief designer, Joe Rohde, executive designer and senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering. "That's our long-term goal for the park -- that we have this very balanced presentation of the entire world of animals as you would expect to receive it from the Disney company."

Despite its animal-oriented nature, the park has at times tried to fight the idea that it was simply another zoo. "We wanted to ensure that [what] our guests understood is that this is a theme park," said Valerie Bunting, vice president for Disney's Animal Kingdom "There are great attractions and shows, restaurants. We have the animal component that added to it. And I think we're just trying to make sure that the message got out there that this is a theme park."

Despite the marketing, the Animal Kingdom is an accredited zoo, and is often cited as one of the top zoos in the nation. According to the Orlando Sentinel, it has 1,500 animals, representing more than 300 species, including 35 species listed as threatened or endangered. The park also employs most of Disney World's 550 animal-care specialists, ranging from technicians to Stetter, one of only 100 board-certified zoo-and-wildlife veterinary specialists in the world; Savage, a conservation biologist who serves as a vice president of the International Society of Primatologists; and Hohne, whose titles include special survival-plan coordinator for the North American pygmy hippopotamus. "We can say with pride that now we really are viewed as a leader in conservation and animal care," said Jackie Ogden, Disney World vice president of animal programs and environmental initiatives.

The park opened in 1998 with few rides or attractions, only one full-service restaurant, and one entire section yet to open. Soon after the park opened Disney added water fountains, misters and shade, and enclosed and air-conditioned a couple of theaters to help fight the heat. Asia was the first major expansion in 1999 with both an animal trail and a thrill ride, followed by the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort hotel and time-share units, the Expedition Everest roller coaster and the big-budget Nemo show.

"Disney is finally coming to terms with what it wants Animal Kingdom to be," said David Koenig, author of the unauthorized 2007 history book Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World. "When it first opened, it wasn't quite sure -- is this a classroom education and conservation center, or is this a wild theme park? About five years ago, it finally made up its mind and said, 'All of our parks are now Disney-branded theme parks, and we're going to put as many [Disney] characters and as much fun and adventure [in them] as we can.' "