Genesis Gardens

Genesis Gardens was an early concept of the Oasis at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was supposed to be used as the park entrance themed around Noah's Ark and the Garden of Eden - both themed around elements from the Book of Genesis, but ended up getting scrapped.
==History==
One of the ideas considered for the entrances of Disney's Animal Kingdom was a gigantic version of Noah's Ark proposed by Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde as one of the concepts for Walt Disney World's newest theme park in the 1990s. The ark itself would feature a large number of animal displays when guests were entering the park representing the animals that were saved by Noah, tying in with the overall conservation message that Walt Disney, who was an animal lover, wanted to have animals for a Disney Park.
The first land that guests would have passed through would have been envisioned as Genesis Gardens, representing the Garden of Eden from the story of Adam and Eve. The land would also have had several experts showing smaller animals to viewers and that said garden would have become a great spot for guests to observe the flowers they would find within the land as well as the area itself providing photo-ops for guests during their visit to the park. It was unclear if this area would have lead guests to Discovery Island or if this concept was made before the the concept for the Tree of Life would be made, although it could have lead guests to DinoLand U.S.A. or the unbuilt Beastly Kingdom area.
Other ideas considered for the entrance to Animal Kingdom included a wasteland area where a large pterosaur perched up on a rock formation overlooked at guests walking in. However, the dinosaur-themed tie-in was seemed to be a bit early for guests expecting lions or tigers. Another concept for the entrance of Animal Kingdom was a caged-zoo type, although this was a very early concept before the Imagineers decided to focus on more natural habitats for Animal Kingdom. As a result, the concept of a Noah's Ark-themed entrance was the most considered early entrance of the park. Despite the lack of excitement that the entrance had to offer, the idea of having a Noah's Ark and Eden-themed entrance was completely reworked into "The Oasis", as Disney felt that the name was very strong for a religious connotation and decided that said name was less controversial and more true to the area's purpose. An occasion similar to this was when Epcot planned to build an Israel-themed Pavilion in the World Showcase area, but scrapped the idea to avoid controversy.
==Trivia==
*Disney would later make another adaptation of Noah's Ark in the "Pomp and Circumstance" segment in Fantasia 2000, but was completely unrelated to the scrapped entrance of Animal Kingdom.
==External links==
*Info about the scrapped Genesis Gardens of Animal Kingdom found here.
Category:Unbuilt Disney parks and attractions
Category:Disney's Animal Kingdom
Category:Unused concepts
Category:Cancelled projects