Disney Plans New Park, Paper Reports

   ORLANDO, Fla. -- Walt Disney Co. plans to open a fourth theme park in 
Orlando, Fla., as early as 1997, mixing wild animals with nature walks and 
elaborate thrill rides, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel.
   The newspaper, citing a confidential Disney marketing video, said the 
500-acre animal park will have a strong conservation theme.  It will compete 
with other animal-themed parks and rides in central Florida, including Tampa's
Busch Gardens and Universal Studios' planned "Jurassic Park" attraction in 
Orlando.
   Disney executives in Burbank declined to confirm the report on Sunday.
   "We haven't announced anything yet," said Tom Deegan, a Disney spokesman. 
"Until we announce it, we look upon it as speculation."  But he said Disney 
has considered adding a fourth park in Orlando since 1990.
   Disney sources said the park's design is constantly being revised.
   Disney already has three theme parks in its complex near Orlando: the Magic
Kingdom, Epcot Center and the Disney-MGM Studios.
   Like the Magic Kingdom, the newest park will be divided into several lands 
with a central hub, according to the video, which has been shown in a marketing
study.
   A giant Tree of Life, the park's icon, rises in the midst of the setting, 
in the style of the Sleeping Beauty Castle.
   The lands may include a Beastly Kingdom, which features imaginary animals 
from storybooks and fairy tales; Dinoland, Disney's answer to "Jurassic Park,"
which invites guests on an archeological dig; Africa, where guests can see 
wild animals and witness the capture of poachers, and Asia, which features 
rides through simulated rain forests.

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Subject: Disney's animal instincts
 
    Fourth Florida theme park reportedly centers on wildlife, dinosaurs
 
    LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) -- The official line is "nothing definite," but 
 plans are well-developed for a fourth theme park at Walt Disney World, a 
 newspaper reported Saturday.
    A former San Diego Zoo chief has been hired and small groups of visitors 
 are seeing a promotional video for a Busch Gardens-style attraction featuring 
 roller coasters, gorillas and exotic settings.
    But Walt Disney Co. is almost mum on the subject.
    Disney spokesman Greg Albrecht said only, "We've made no decision to 
 announce a fourth theme park, and we are still looking at all different 
 options."
    But a detailed outline obtained by the Orlando Sentinel describes a park of 
 thrill rides, fantasy figures, dinosaurs and an animal park with a strong 
 conservation theme.
    The 500-acre park, which could open as early as 1997, is detailed in a 
 confidential video shown to small groups of tourists as part of a marketing 
 study.
    Insiders say the design is constantly being revised at Walt Disney 
 Imagineering in California, but the basic concept remains the same.
    Like the Magic Kingdom, the proposed park is divided into several lands off 
 a central village.
    Visitors enter through a lush garden and cross the Safari River, which 
 meanders through the park, to Safari Village and its Tree of Life, an 
 environmental accent piece.
    From the park's hub, visitors fan out to four themed lands: the Beastly 
 Kingdom, Dinoland, Africa and Asia.
    Rick Barongi, a former director at the acclaimed San Diego Zoo, was hired 
 recently to work on the project, and Disney has contacted zoos about helping 
 with endangered animal survival programs.
    Even with the park very much on the drawing board, the repercussions for 
 other Florida tourist attractions are already being calculated.
    "It's got more of that fun for the younger adults and older kids that 
 Universal has," said Alan Gould, who researches theme parks for Kidder, 
 Peabody & Co.  "And I would have to think this is going to be huge competition 
 for Busch Gardens."
    He sees expansion as essential for Disney, considering nearby Universal 
 Studios' plans for a second park, hotels, shopping and nightlife.
    Bill Sims, chairman of the Florida Commission on Tourism, said Disney 
 expansion is good for the state in general but could hurt individual 
 attractions.
    Attendance at Busch Gardens in Tampa could drop by as much as 20% in the 
 first year of a new Disney park, he predicted.
    "It will hurt Busch -- hurt it bad," Sims said.  "And depending on how 
 effectively Disney structures its tickets, it could really hurt other Orlando 
 parks."
    Instead of expecting a smaller piece of the pie, Joseph Fincher, general 
 manager of Busch Gardens, sees the pie growing.
    "One good thing that has happened with all Disney expansions is that 
 tourism in Florida continues to grow," Fincher said.
    Lands in the proposed fourth theme park at Walt Disney World would include 
 these details:
 
    o Beastly Kingdom: Filled with storybook animals.  Top draw is Dragon's
      Tower, a suspended roller-coaster ride through a wrecked castle inhabited
      by a fire-breathing dragon.  Quest of the Unicorn maze.  Musical boat 
      ride past the dancing hippos from Disney's "Fantasia."
 
   o  Dinoland: Disney's answer to Universal's "Jurassic Park."  Simulator ride
      back in time to rescue dinosaurs from extinction.  Excavator roller 
      coaster through a perilous section of a paleontological dig.  Hands-on
      Boneyard Playground.
 
   o  Africa: Jeep safari into jungle and grasslands to see gorillas, 
      elephants, gazelles, zebras and other plains animals.  Attacking poachers
      are captured.  Nature walks.
 
   o  Asia: Simulated rain forest aboard river rafts passing leopards, 
      rhinoceroses and monkeys.  Careless logging produces river erosion and
      muddy rapids for a journey ending safely at a conservation area.  Nature
      walks.
 
   o  Preservation Station: Behind-the-scenes look at Disney's facilities for
      conservation and rare animal breeding.
 
 
 _The Hollywood Reporter_
     March 28, 1994