Conservation Station
[Disney Vacation Planner]
| At A Glance |
Educational area with an ecological
message, and a Small "petting" style zoo housing
kid-friendly animals, and designed to allow the animals and
kids to get close. |
Note that the Conservation Station area can only
be reached via the Wildlife Express.
Conservation Station is a one-stopping shopping
storehouse of every kind of environmental effort. Park patrons
can learn about everything from global work being done to repair
the environment (and Disney's part in that effort) to specifics
as to what they can do to help the earth in their own backyard.
The Wildlife Express (an old-style train) takes
you to and from the Conservation Station area, a storehouse for
educational exhibits on the environment and our place in it. Unusually
whilst on the Wildlife Express instead of sitting facing forwards
in the direction of travel, or backwards, you sit sideways, facing
towards the loading and unloading area, whilst behind you a series
of tightly louvered panels almost entirely obscures the view.
The reason is that the area to the right of the
train (in the direction of travel) is mostly backstage area consisting
of some animal housing, and some of the park management buildings,
and it's simply Disney's way of hiding some of the less exiting
but very necessary parts of the park from guests eyes.
The locomotives used to haul the "Wildlife
Express" give the impression of being old style steam trains
although in reality they are steam-outline diesel-powered trains
which means their basically diesel powered. The locomotives were
built by Severn Lamb in the UK, however. they were designed by
WDI Imagineers.
The Affection Section allows guests to get up close
and personal with smaller animals and talk to trainers. Rafiki's
Planet Watch is a giant map that teaches about places in the world
where animal extinction is the worst. Disney's Animal Cam gives
viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the new park, and visitors
can watch zoologists and botanists at work in the Wildlife Tracking
Center.
Conservation Station is still getting its bearings.
The conservation message throughout Animal Kingdom is overshadowed
by the "fun" aspects of the theme park. It is bumped up at "The
Station," and might be too preachy for younger kids. The "Affection
Section" petting zoo is somewhat scarce at the moment, but as
more and more of the park's inhabitants start having babies, it
will grow.
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