Discovery River Cruise

Disney's Animal Kingdom

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"Beautifully boring" 18 years ago by jamierobins

Originally this was a relaxing cruise which to me, was beautiful, but a little pointless, with very little to see...and yet people queued like they had never been on a boat going in as circle before...oh, hang on, they probably hadn't...nor will they again

"Dead in the Water" 21 years ago by MickeyMoose15

Is there any real surprise that this attraction was taken offline? The real question has to be why Disney decided to re-theme this ride so many time before they actually took it offline. The ride was dumb from the beginning. Had they done what they originally wanted to do which was to include an audio-animatronic dragon and somewhat of a real storyline then this might have worked but considering you went around in a circle around the Tree of Life and only made one stop then it was just stupid. Completely idiotic for Disney to put this ride in. It will not be missed by anybody, I think.

"Discovery River Cruise" 22 years ago by Elaine

This was never supposed to be a thrill ride but comparable to the steamboat ride in the MK. The Radio Disney thing didn't work for me but I wish they would bring it back and make it a mode of transportation like the boats at Epcot. Any way to save your feet works for me.

"A relaxing trip around AK" 22 years ago by wdwmagic

The original River Cruise was a very relaxing boat trip around the rivers of Animal Kingdom. The boat trip was never meant to be a "ride" or show, but was intended to provide a leasurly cruise to take in some wonderful views of the park. Many guests interpreted the cruise as being some kind of major attraction causing huge lines, and then complaints when they found out it was not a thrill ride! This caused the cruise to eventually close after going through various efforts to create more than just a cruise. A great shame in my opinion. The boats were wonderfully "aged" to fit the theme, and hopefully one day they can return!

Description

The Discovery River cruise was an opening day attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom that is now unfortunately closed. The attraction was originally a relaxing river boat cruise around Discovery Island, essentially circling the Tree of Life. Over the few years that it operated, guests became unhappy with long waits and lack of "thrill", and ultimately the attraction was closed. Disney did attempt to rescue the river boat ride by adding animal exhibits, and even renaming it Radio Disney Cruise, but none of these measures ultimately saved the ride. One of the loading docks has since been used as a chacrater meet and greet for Pooh characters. One of the original boats routinely brings chacraters out into the water around the Expedition Everest area of Asia.

Details

Boats

There were a total of seven boats, each seating 62 guests. The boat names were Manatee Maiden, Leaping Lizard, Scarlet Flamingo, Otter Nonsense, Hasty Hippo, Crocodile Belle, and Darting Dragonfly.