Disney's Animal Kingdom may be the Disney Parks Imagineers' best example of storytelling at the Walt Disney World Resort. Today we will look at just one small element of the story that takes place in the mythical town of Anandapur.
Anandapur Mountaineering Association
Within the FastPass queue for the Expedition Everest attraction you may have noticed a small stand that is set up to sell mountaineering supplies.
Actually, if you were in the FastPass queue you most likely raced past this area and never had a chance to look closely at all there was to see.
The Anandapur Mountaineering Association shop is well organized and it is certainly worthy of some time to stop and check it out. The more time that you spend the more detail that you will notice.
The use of authentic supplies adds to the richness of the storytelling and makes it believable. The Disney Imagineers have added authentic books and maps for the Himalayan region to the wares available at the shop.
Here you can see book titles such as: "History Of The Great Mountaineering Adventures" and "Himalayan Adventure Trekking Gear, A Checklist For Women". I really love the compasses that they have next to the books as well.
If you look closely at the level of detail that is created for this shop you will see that they even sell souvenir T-shirts, hats, and patches with the Anandapur Mountaineering Association logo. Being that this is a totally ficticious organization based in a mythical town, that is well beyond your normal placement of a few props in a ride queue.
The last picture shows two amazing details. The first is a framed 100 Rupee currency note from the Bank of Anandapur. Like many retail location that frame the first dollar that they make, this shop has done a similar act. To actually create this currency is totally over the top detailing.
The second and my personal favorite is the Operating License for the shop. It reads:
His Excellency Mangal Singh Tamang the Minister Of Economic Development hereby grants Anandapur Mountaineering Association license to a professional association to do business in the Serka Zong region for a period of 5 years.
Disney Parks Imagineering Details
The Anandapur Mountaineering Association is but one small example of the details that were created to tell the stories in the Asia section of Disney's Animal Kingdom and more specifically Expedition Everest. Will people still ride the attraction without these details? Probably, but you don't come away with the same experience.
Most people may ride this attraction dozens of times and never notice the details about the Anandapur Mountaineering Association. The fact that Disney Imagineering added that level of detail shows how complete of a story they are trying to tell. They have set the bar high for themselves and I think it really shows in the Animal Kingdom moreso than any of the other Disney World Parks.
Note: As was pointed out to me by George Taylor of Imaginerding.com the Disney Imagineers showed some humor by placing one of their own books on the shelves in the shop. If you check out the picture below: On the top shelf lying horizontally beneath the Wooden Carving is a copy of "Walt Disney Imagineering" by The Imagineers.
Did you see the picture of the book in that display?
http://www.imaginerding.com/2007/12/daily-figment-120-book-updateseriously.html
George - Thanks for the comment. I double checked the other pictures that I took of the Anandapur Mountaineering Association shop and sure enough on the shelf was a copy of "Walt Disney Imagineering". That is a better catch than finding a Hidden Mickey!