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Although the plans for Disney's Animal Kingdom began in full 1990 <ref> http://disneydose.com/joe-rohde/#axzz4AT6WmacW </ref>, the idea A theme park about animals was not high on Disney’s list of the park can be traced back to Walt Disney himself. When designing the attraction the [[Jungle Cruise]] for Disneylandideas, Walt wanted guests to see real animals. He felt but surveys showed that being in close proximity to real Disney and animals would give guests tested well, and Disney had a unique and exciting experience. Eventually however, it was decided lot of intellectual properties that real showcased animals would be too unpredictable and each guest on the attraction would not get an equal experience. Because of this, when Michael Eisner sent the Jungle Cruise opened it featured Audio Animatronic animalsidea for an animal theme park to Imagineering. In 1990, which were much more predictable and consistent than live onesImagineer Joe Rohde met with Eisner to discuss the new park. Although Walt never got to see Rohde’s vision for the park was threefold, itwould feature traditional theme park components, an Epcot Center syle pavilion, Disney's Animal Kingdom took his basic idea and expanded it to a much larger scalenontraditional zoo.

When Walt Disney World was ready Eisner agreed to expand again in 1990, Michael Eisner (the CEO basic premise of Disney) met with Imagineer Joe Rohde to hear a proposal for a new theme the park , commenting that would feature live animals <ref name= "all"/>like the Magic Kingdom, Disney should also have an Animal Kingdom. In 1990 a With this objective in mind, Rohde and his team of six Imagineers led by Rohde began brainstorming different ideas (Kevin Brown, Zofia Kostyrko, Kevin Brown, Christopher West, Tony Marando and Patsy Tillisch) set out to create a basic outline for the park and in 1992 the park layout was finally adopted <ref name= "all"> http://allears.net/ae/issue187.htm </ref>. It was decided that the park would be part zoo and part theme new park.

The idea for a new animal theme park was put on hold however during In July 1990, Joe Rohde and his team flew to Africa to get first hand experience of the early 1990stype of environment that they wished to create. A recession had hit In total, during the countrydevelopment of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Rohde and theme parks were hit especially hardhis Imagineers visited Africa six times. Also complicating mattersUsing these trips as inspiration, Disney's newest park, Disneyland Paris, was not doing as well as Disney had expected. However in 1994 with the economy picking up and the recent success team eventually used much of the Disney movie “The Lion King” plans for a new theme park were once again put in motion. To this end, from 1992-1995 Disney Imagineers studied wild animals in their natural habit, focusing on Africaexperience when creating [[Kilimanjaro Safaris]].

Although the As plans were now moving forward, within Disney there was much debate over whether for the new park was continued to develop, Michael Eisner wondered if simply encountering animals would be a good ideabig enough draw for guests. Many worried To prove that the public would this was not want to visit a zoo while on vacation. Besides the fact that there were zoos all over the countrycase, Disney also worried that people thought of zoos as depressing places Joe Rohde brought a 400 pound Bengal tiger into a meeting he was having with caged animalsEisner and Frank Wells. Despite this, Joe As Rohde and gave his Imagineers still believed in their ideapresentation, the tiger sauntered around the room. They explained that After feeling the animals would be living in effect of being so close to a re-creation of their natural habitat. There tiger, Eisner and Wells relented and live animal encounters would be no fences, but natural boundaries (such as moats or rocks) that the animals would not cross. focal point of Animal Kingdom would not be a zoo, but a place of conservation that taught guests the importance of nature.

Although the idea of the park was eventually seen as feasible, Michael During another meeting with Eisner and other executives worried , the Disney CEO told Imagineers that simply seeing animals would not be exciting enough for guestshe wanted a DinoLand. Joe Rohde and his Imagineers however felt Other ideas stemming from these meetings included the Oasis (like Walt Disney decades before) that being in such close proximity to wild animals which would be thrilling to guestsserve as the entryway) Safari Village (the parks hub) and Discovery River. To prove his pointBy 1992, Joe brought a 400 pound tiger into a meeting. The tiger walked around the table while Joe was giving a speech to persuade the company to build basic layout of the parkwas in place. The tiger went right next to Michael Eisner before eventually exiting Guests would enter through the roomOasis before arriving at Safari Village. After From there, guests could explore the demonstration Eisner had park’s other lands including DinoLand, Africa, Asia, and the land dedicated to agree with Joe Rohdeimaginary animals. He announced the park in  Finally, after years of development on June of 21, 1995 and Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom (was officially announced. When discussing the new park, Michael Eisner stated: {{Quotation|“This is to the traditional zoo as it the motion picture was then called) was green lit to the stage play. A leap forward that keeps the concept of combining education and entertainment alive and well. The need for constructionawareness of endangered animals and their environments has never been greater. We are in a unique position to promote deeper understanding and love for all animals.}}