By Tom M. Parker Today, April 22nd, 2013 its Disney's Animal Kingdom 15th Birthday! The fourth park built at the resort, it opened on April 22, 1998, and it is the largest single Disney theme park in the world, covering more than 500 acres (202 ha). It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely around Animal conservation, a philosophy once pioneered by Walt Disney himself. The park consists of seven themed areas, with all but one connected to Discovery Island, which contains The Tree of Life, a sculpted 14-story (145-foot-tall [44 m]), 50-foot-wide (15 m) artificial tree that serves as the centerpiece and icon of Disney's Animal Kingdom. A new area based on the 2009 film Avatar and its planned sequels is set to begin construction this year. In 2010, the park hosted approximately 9.7 million guests, ranking it the fourth-most visited amusement park in the United States and seventh-most visited in the world. Construction started on 1995 with ground removal and site cleaning, after that the Theme Park layout started construction and finally on 1998 the park was ready for opening day. An elaborate grand-opening ceremony was attended by a crowd of 2,000, with primatologist Jane Goodall, Ph.D., playing a special role in the festivities. Then-CEO Michael Eisner introduced the theme park to the world, calling it “a kingdom we enter to share in the wonder, gaze at the beauty, thrill at the drama and learn.” Although the park opened in 1998, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park actually has a lot of ties to Walt Disney, and the passion and respect he displayed for animals and nature throughout his life. Growing up on a farm in Marceline, Mo., the subject of some of Walt’s earliest sketches were local animals. Later on in his career, Walt cast many animals in important roles in his animated films, and took a more serious look at life in the animal kingdom in his “True-Life Adventure Series” documentaries, which were considered to be groundbreaking at the time of their release. If you want more information about the events happening today click Here
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