Disney's Discovery Island (Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida)

This is the story of a place, abandoned in plain sight at Walt Disney World for over two decades. This is the story of Discovery Island. It had a long history before it became Disney property, hosting fruit farmers and hunting enthusiasts and tax delinquents.

As part of WDW, the island had goals to be a pirate-themed adventure. Instead, the focus became one of nature preservation and bird conservation. The dusky seaside sparrow went extinct here on Discovery Island.

When Animal Kingdom was announced, the writing was on the wall for Discovery Island, and it closed 25 years after its opening. The island remained abandoned, with much rumors and very few insights beyond the trees.

Find complete show notes and references for this episode at https://theabandonedcarousel.com/24.

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Credits

• Podcast cover background photo is by 4045 on freepik.com. Image by Sam Howitz, CCby2.0.
• Theme music is from "Aerobatics in Slow Motion" by TeknoAXE.
• Incidental music includes "Virtutes Instrumenti" and "Myst" by Kevin Macleod / incompetech.com; "Sheltered Swan" and "image film 043" by Sascha Ende via filmmusic.io.
• Sound effects via freesound.org: Sparrows by Otad; Chipping Sparrow by jpbillingsleyjr; Tropical Island by rich wise; Hades and Thunder by roadie; oiseaux vautour by roubignolle; Myst Book Homage by cosmicembers; "Construction, Jackhammer, Manual, A" and "Roller Coaster Screams A" (Expedition Everest) by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk).

Timestamps (Beta)I'm testing out methods for including clickable timestamps in the notes attached to the podcast. This section may or may not function - I'm working on it! :)

(00:00) Intro(02:15) A Brief History of Walt Disney World(09:00) Discovery Island Before Disney(17:40) Disney's Treasure Island(21:51) Disney's Discovery Island(23:32) Dusky Seaside Sparrow(32:59) Downfall of Discovery Island(39:02) Abandoned Discovery Island(42:59) Rumors About the Future of Discovery Island(49:58) Outro

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