Disney's Abandoned Boat Ride: The Discovery River Boats
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- Animal Kingdom's Discovery River Boats at Disney World was one of the strangest, short-lived attractions at the park. And is to this day, one of the few abandoned remnants of Disney World history that still sits in the parks to this day. So let's go through the history of the ride, what it was supposed to be, what it actually became, and what eventually happened to one of Disney's worst ever rides, the Discovery River Boats Tours!
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The thumbnail image was taken by Steven Miller: www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75...
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The background music for this video comes from Epidemic Sound (referral link): share.epidemicsound.com/imrsqv
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:52 The Cancelled Beastly Kingdom Land
4:41 The Original Plan for the Ride
7:01 The Ride We Actually Got
12:19 The Many Problems of the Discovery River Boats
15:59 The Radio Disney River Cruise
17:16 The Closure of the Ride
18:28 The Abandonment and Remnants of the Ride - Zábava
DISCOVERY RIVER BOATS VIDEO LET'S GO! My family gets so tired of me pointing out the rock bits
I rode this when I was young during the Radio Disney re-theme. Even as a Disney-loving kid, I just kept thinking "Wow, this is bad" while riding it.
As someone who's done a ton of research into the history of cancelled Disney attractions this somehow completely passed me by. Great research on this!
That scene with the mangled Knights is shockingly disturbing especially for 1990s Disney.
& if that's the preview, how far did they intend on going with the dragon coaster?
@@jackclark4598 It seems it was still planned until a couple years after the park opened.
@@Solo13508 I meant how far were they going to take the dark themes & gruesome violence in the ride itself
@@jackclark4598 Oh. Yeah I don't know. Usually I'd say that anything particularly dark or gruesome would be at a minimum if even present. But I also wouldn't have expected all the Knight corpses either so I don't really know. If anything had Disney planned on including anything of that nature in the ride it likely would've been either reduced or removed after the backlash over the Knights.
90s Disney was pretty hardcore actually. Way more than now or before the 90s.
Wanted to come here to add, the boats are neither in storage nor at Epcot.
They were bought by the Magic Kingdom (yes they had to pay for them) and used for the pirate themed fireworks cruises, and then used as regular transportation after Covid.
Afaik they aren’t being used at all right now, they are very slow and quite old.
Source: you’ll just have to trust that I know
ah that's strange, the sources I read said they were used for Epcot's World Showcase Lagoon. Thanks for clarifying
That is some really cool facts!
@@GeorgesSpace I would assume that’s confusion with the friendship boats (which are similar in design but wholly different boats
You can actually see one of the boats on Google satellite maps if you know where to look…
I’m not saying one should look for a dock slightly northeast of the contemporary… but If one were to look in that area they may find a familiar boat
@@GeorgesSpace hi! I’m a cast member that used to work on the boats at Magic Kingdom and that user is right. We had the option to learn how to drive those boats for the pirates firework cruise. They’re very fun! They were also occasionally brought out for our “purple route” which was for the contemporary resort to magic kingdom after Easter Service (for Easter Sunday Disney would hold a Christian service in one of the convention halls)
The closest thing to a visible abandoned attraction I can think of is the tracks for the People Mover/Rocket Rods at Disneyland. I actually rode both attractions, and will always point out the abandoned tracks, and loading dock just out in the open.
Or the old Motor Boat Cruise loading dock used as food seating across from the matterhorn
In disneyland in the tommorowland cafe there's a paintjob for the abandoned redo on the ceiling.
I love how he’s roasting the ride mid vid and then the image pans to the animatronic dinosaur and he’s like “Your cool” 😂
They just made the boat available in Disney Dreamlight Valley and it comes in two versions, the nice boat and the abandoned half sunk version 😅
I always wondered what the rock feature was at that walkway from Pandora to Africa in Animal Kingdom. Never knew it was supposed to be a "cave" for a dragon.
This video has cleared up so many questions I have had about what was on that river, why is it so wide and what about those "abandoned" barely used buildings along it's shores. Crazy how many things at Disney World are built and abandoned on their huge property, just barely visible under the overgrowth.
I got to ride this during a park preview! It was my dad’s favorite attraction at opening. Next time we went to animal kingdom, we asked a CM about it and they repeatedly denied that a boat ride ever existed!!! It was wild! No pun intended..
Biggest Disney World let down as a kid was that dragon cave - I had been promised a dragon! Even had (still have) the promo Happy Meal toy of it!
Such a lovely unicorn statue. I'd like to think it's just in someone's backyard garden somewhere, still being admired and preserved.
Nvm I just reached the end of the video that reveals the unicorn's fate! Happy for mister unicorn! He's getting a good life
Get onto this slow-ass boat and get a sunburn! Sights & sounds may vary.
Also, really disappointed that the beastly kingdom was completely cancelled. Another reason to dislike Eisner, I guess.
stay away from animals
@@JohnathanWilliamson849???
@@skychaserthedragon2046 I know what furries do to animals
@@JohnathanWilliamson849?huh??? First, that's completely unrelated to my comment. Second, that's very presumptuous of you. And also, you're thinking of bestiality, which is gross. Pretty sure furries are different.
@@skychaserthedragon2046 haven't you heard of the zoosadism leaks?
the knights death is the coolest part beside the dinosaur
The failure of EuroDisney had so many weird knock-on effects, I wanna see someone do an alternate history story where the park succeeded
the radio disney renev... that was so comically disney... gotta love it (sarcastically)
Got to ride the original version and the radio Disney version. Too bad they still aren’t running. I remember when they started having cast members on the boat with small animals or insects in small containers and would educate guests about the creature during the journey.
YES! My poor teen! I always point out the loading dock area over the bridge every time we enter AK as I quiz her on what used to be there. She was not amused when I got excited about this video! I absolutely loved it! There was so much history packed in it! Thank you for making my day/year!
That would have been awesome if beaustly kingdom happened.
of course its forgotten even by explorers, because whats even there to explore? the one animatronic is gone, and the unicorn barely was there to begin with. thats already 90% of the attraction
I’m glad I can watch a video on this ride’s history, as it had such a short life no one else who had been in those early years really remembered it. I believe it must’ve been when the attraction was supposed to be a “taxi” and there were no animal handlers, I remember the drivers wanting us to wave and shout a saying at people passing by on bridges as we approached. I thought it was so cheesy even being fairly young.
Effects at the Dragon Cave were still present through like 2014-15. I can’t remember exactly which ones, but I recall it lighting up or smoking.
Honey come quick! The new George Browning video just dropped!
I knew that a river ride was originally planed for AK, but wow I had no idea it actually existed and operated very temporarily. Very Interesting to see!
*R.I.P.,* Aladar animatronic (😢).
6:33 bro recording with the flip brings so much nostalgia lololololol
I had never heard of this! Great video. I'm planning to see what remnants I can spot on my next trip!
I’ll never get over them cancelling Beastly Kingdom 😢 it would have been incredible!
This was fascinating!
another great video :)! love the work you do, keep it up!
God I love this video
You know its a good day when george uploads. Second to defuntland ofc sorry love
I think the renments of Discovery River Boats should be revived for those haven't rode it when it comes to those born in the late 90's with proper animatronics. Including the revival Aladar, the water sculptures turn into actual sea monsters, the dragon rock's make up and working again, the return of the original boats, the first dock should the only dock there because it's colorful, not to mention renaming Beastly Kingdom Land of Legends. Cause I think the concept of light and dark shouldn't be unbuilt. Just in case Pandora expires. Also I hope you caught my comment on the King Arthur water show video where the show gave me Cirque du Soleil's O vibes. And must I say about the decency to have two rides with dark context from the body of Big Red to the fate of the knights, in the year of one of few Disney crushes of all years of the Renaissance.
Love this content.
this has always been my favorite defunct ride!!!!!
My grandparents paid extra to get into Animal Kingdom early, when we took our Disney trip. The tree wasn't done yet, they were still building it. we took that stupid boat ride, and i remember being absolutely miserable, it was so hot and boring. Highlight was a kiosk selling baboon plushes that me and my cousins got, and had a blast messing around with. I'm in my 40s now and still lament we wasted a day on this park. Yeeeesh.
I just watched pretty much all your Disney videos man great content! The 3 times I went on Expedition Everest I have seen loads of hair ties thrown by guests on the top of the mountain when the ride stops. Maybe you could look into this for a video idea?
I went on those. I was there opening day. Wish they brought them back. It was weird to me they got rid of them so quickly.
We got on them with the thought we can buzz through the park to get a quick visual on everything. My biggest complain about this is how low it is compared to the river in magic kingdom, or the lake in Epcot. The river is a good 20’ below walking level. Impossible to see anything in the park from there.
oh i’m early?!?😍 excited for this one!
Awesome video
This was such a weird ride, it wasn't very fast, and I forget about it regularly. I have a picture on it somewhere but I can't ever seem to find those old Disney photos (family pictures and all)
i think i was too young to have ridden the river boats, but ill have to ask my parents if they remember us riding them. what a neat remnant! next time i visit animal kingdom ill definitely have to seek out the dragons cave rocks
I was trying to remember if I rode this when my family visited AK in it's first year of operation. When the Radio Disney version was mentioned in the video, the memory came back. I was the type of kid who loved Disney but found Radio Disney to be cringey - I did not enjoy the ride because of the Radio Disney aspect.
Yes I did this year 1... 1998. Skewered knights and a roaring hole with fire effect. We left the park to go see Buzz Aldrin go up in the space shuttle.
I think we technically did get beastly kingdom but as avatar. The boat ride is the unicorn cave and the flight is a dragon ride in a castle.
Went on that boat ride during an industry preview with a friend. Afterwards, we were both like "Wtf was that supposed to be?"
Really didn't mean to call it a little bit of a boring ride after getting clear of the boat talking to a ride cast member, so when it stopped running, I really didn't miss it.
in 1996 my mom made the Jaws ride operator break character by petting the shark when it popped up.
(while stifling a laugh)
"Mrs.. Please don't pet the Giant Man Eating Shark..."
(My Mom)
"But Bruce looks sad!"
(open Laughter)
"That is besides the point!"
The part with the elephant joke actually made me laugh because of the emoji
I want to see the home video of the unicorn moving! It's probably bad though...
Babe wake up, new George Browning video
11:08 the town was named WHAT now
The knights looked so fucking cool! 🔥
I am still so bummed that the Beastly Kingdom never fully materialized. I would easily take it over Pandora
Oh nooo poor Disney they were running low on money 😢 It's ok, we understand, the colored plaster rocks are fine...
I think the river is wasted space especially since they recently stopped even the character barges. They should reinstate a boat ride, make it awesome, market it properly.
If I had a nickel for every time a major chain Florida park from the late 90s lost their opening day boat tour attraction leaving abandoned stations throughout the park I'd have 2 nickels
Which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice
fun fact i went to disney land with my family in 2016 and animal kingdom is still active
Would have loved Beastly Kingdom
Discovery riverboats was not originally meant to be an attraction. They tried to make changes to keep the boat “afloat.“ The fact that people took it as an attraction rather than a transportation is what ultimately did it in.
"That was so scary! I was sure we were gonna crash and die at the dragon rocks!" - Libby & Valerie, Sabrina the Teenage Witch 1998 Disney Special
budget cuts like ... we make it but bad instead of just do nothing, save money and spare everyone the bad experience
11:08 D- oh this is a different thing 😂
15:06 👱🏼♀️”be sure to try a $16 slice of frozen pizza and $8 juice box after your sense of underwhelming fizzles”
yea, as I call it the profit kingdom!
If I was Bob Iger I'd announce a Beastly Kingdom revival then turn off my phone lol
EARLY FOR ONCE
Those boats need to come back because I am sorry but Animal Kingdom is barely walkable. We need the fucking transport.
Perhaps put the current Disney executives on a continuous loop trip until they make a profitable movie
Why don’t they just make a better boat ride?
Boooo Michael Eisner booooo
If guests didn't like the impaled knights, then I hope they stay off Pirates or never ride Mr. Toad's in Anaheim. From the start, Disney never avoided violence or danger, but they will make it comedically palatable. ....to all but the overly sensitive and PC, and God forbid if we offend them. Reeee!!!
The Best Laid Plans Of Mice And Men , to me everything that is defunct, should be reopened and thought out more thoroughly, to me it so sad , it really is poor upper management planning, to me they don’t really care about the ideas and fun , they really care more about corporate greed . I feel sorry for the visitors and workers, visitors don’t really get what they pay for, and workers don’t get paid right. Truly Budget Cutting is just a poor excuse, for what is really going on pure GREED .
I love how they killed the only cool part of the ride by scrapping the Dinosaur, even if the movie it is from is really boring.
I did animal kingdom in 2000. It was a half day park. Most of the areas were hot and miserable. I didn't want to ever go back. If I had the extra money today, I wouldn't do it again. Except for It's Tough To Be a Bug, the park was forgettable just as if I was back at work filing papers that no one would ever want to see again. I don't remember the entrance/exit. I don't remember the sidewalks. I hardly remember the zoo tour ride. I do remember one of the African Themed cafeterias that sold $10 ricecripy treets at the cash register. I was hot. The experience was miserable. I couldn't wait to leave the park and I didn't want to be there because the park wasn't fun. The fun disappeared like the only fun part, It's Tough To Be a Bug. Even though I enjoyed that movie, I think that park's fund disappeared like the butterflies on the screen. The main feature of that parks is broken like the park. The Yeti was shut down ind is only scary based on a strobe effect. 1/2 day park. My advice is don't waste your money. Wait until Universal brings a huge amount of competition to the Amusement park industry. Universal's going to raise the bar. Disney won't be able to cut corners on riders and they'll have to raise the bar too. Disney will have to reinvent itself or die. Wait for the renaissance. It will come. Boo Hoo, poor Disney, they'll have to take their parks more seriously and invest some bucks.