Zoo Miami (or Miami Metro Zoo back in the day) has a long standing tradition of immersing guests with huge animal habitats. According to an article, the zoo is being looked at as a centerpiece for a huge entertainment complex. The complex will feature dining, shopping and if one of the two companies putting proposals in…a theme park. The world’s of animals and movies could soon be combined in the warm sun of South Beach, or dinosaurs could once again walk the earth.
The first proposal is a little more educational, and honestly fits the mission of the zoo better. It’s called Dinosaurier Park, and is an open air prehistoric museum. If built, it would feature dozens of life like animatronic dinosaurs, statues and kids play areas. The area could be ready in less than two years from groundbreaking and would have a much smaller financial impact on taxpayers. Read more about it here.
While it’s a great idea, Dinosaurier Park is extremely tame in comparison to the project being proposed by 20th Century Fox.
The area proposed by the movie giant would bring a theme park, a water park, a hotel, sports complexes and a price tag of almost a billion dollars. It would be the only complex of it’s kind and would look to draw a huge amount of tourists away from the Central Florida theme park mecca by combining the thrills of family entertainment with the allure of the Miami Beaches. The ambitious project is being called Miami Wilds and will have one of the most ambitious theme park line ups ever created.
Twentieth Century Fox adventure park
The ambitious new park will feature seven distinct lands, all either featuring or based on popular Fox properties.
The descriptions are from the propsoal:
- “RIO – CALLE CARNIVALE”
One main focus of the Adventure Park will be a festive promenade
based on the characters and designs from the popular Fox
animated film “Rio.” Family attractions line this promenade,
including “Flying Down to Rio,” an imaginative 4D show where
guests soar with the characters of the film, “Blu’s Flight School,”
a children’s interactive play area with special rides just for them,
and the Carnivale Plaza and amphitheater, where music and
live entertainment can be found day and night. Another unique
transportation option available here is a colorful trolley styled after
the “Bondinho,” the Santa Teresa Trolley in Rio de Janeiro, which
transports guests along the promenade.- “THE FROZEN CONTINENT” – “ICE AGE” MAMMOTH ADVENTURES
The entire “Ice Age” family of characters, including Manny, Diego, Sid and Scrat, welcome guests to a whimsical land of adventures and attractions. “Manny’s Wild and Wooly Mammoth Coaster”promises thrills on a classic wooden coaster, while on Crash and Eddie’s Continental Drifters guests can board “Ice Kayaks” and experience a thrilling splashdown with Sid the Sloth. Visitors can explore the Dino Caverns play area- EPIC: THE HIDDEN KINGDOM
Based on the spectacular new Fox animated film, “Epic,” visitors here are part of an immersive environment where they will “shrink” down to the size of a tiny insect to explore a garden where even a blade of grass looms high overhead. Visitors to this area will join the battle between the noble “leaf
men” and a destructive band of rogue insects, in a 4D theater experience with state of the art special effects. Other exciting attractions in this unique and special world include an exciting “Hummingbird Flight” through the garden, encounters with giant hopping frogs and insects and an “Eco Explorer’s Trail” scavenger hunt, which introduces fascinating facts and discoveries about our living planet.- “TERRA VOLCANICA”
South America is home to one of the largest groups of active volcanoes on the planet. At 20th Century Fox Adventure Park, “Terra Volcanica,” the “land of the volcanoes” becomes a key visual focal point and one of the iconic signatures of the park, offering excitement and thrilling attractions. The featured attraction in this land is a daunting roller coaster called “Cotopaxi,” named for one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. This thrilling, state of the art, five inversion coaster will be one of the highest and fastest coasters in the state of Florida. The coaster will climb high above the caldera and descend through breathtaking loops, curves and drops before a temperature-raising finale in a hot and fiery magma chamber. Elsewhere explorers can embark on the “Hot Springs Expedition,” battling rival vessels with streaming geyser streams, or pilot big wheeled explorer vehicles over a fiery lava field.- “THE OUTER WORLDS”
On the far side of “Terra Volcanica,” the terrain takes on a distinctly alien character, resembling the landscape of a distant planet or moon. Prominently nestled into the craggy hardscape is the crash site of a strange looking spaceship. This is the portal to the zone known as “The Outer Worlds.” Through the spaceship gates, intrepid guest astronauts will find attractions based on the hit Fox
films “Alien” and “Prometheus,” including a highly sensory and quite frightening dark ride through the corridors of the Nostromo, and a thrilling high speed Space Launch ride.As they leave “The Outer Worlds” guests pass through a rocky portal and find that on the other side the terrain has changed,
becoming lush and overgrown with thick vegetation. Here they encounter the world of “Predator,” where surprises are often found in plain sight, camouflaged throughout the area with clever
optical illusions and visual tricks. Climbing aboard a small jungle explorer vehicle, guests find themselves in a fast pace ride, turning and spinning wildly, dodging the pursuit of the “predator alien” which appears from nowhere on this new twist on the classic “wild mouse” ride.- “THE RAIN FOREST”
The overgrown jungle at the edge of “The Outer Worlds” forms a seamless transition to the next zone, “The Rain Forest,” a lush tropical rainforest where adventure, mystery and fun grow amidst the lush jungle setting. Rope bridges, suspended pathways and climbing nets penetrate the jungle canopy to reveal unseen adventures. The pedestrian path follows the river, while just downstream a flume boat ride carries guests up and over the edge of a cascading waterfall.A romantically overgrown temple in the jungle is the portal to “The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” based on the successful Fox film franchise. Explorers of the special effects maze inside soon encounter the “new order” of the Apes and the secrets of this jungle enclave. Finally, following the winding river, guests embark on the “Voyage of Pi,” a thrilling white water raft journey inspired by the much lauded Fox film “Life of Pi.” At the conclusion of a thrilling rapids ride, the raft enters a secret cavern where visitors
encounter the Bengal tiger “Richard Parker” under a magical and wondrous meteor filled sky- LOST CITY
The park takes on a charming urban feel in the Lost City, a timeless streetscape evocative of a forgotten Colonial outpost lost in the jungle of the new world. Here on the “Classic Cruise” guests can
drive versions of the classic American Packards, Cadillacs and Desotos, or one of the unique “hybrid” vehicles which combines parts from several different vintages! Nearby, inside the local power plant, guests can take a whirl on “The Generator,” a wild centrifuge ride. Just across the central boulevard, a train depot awaits to carry guests on a more peaceful adventure through the scenic vistas of the park.A colorful and charming traveling circus has set up nearby, with a charming carousel, a rightly lit Ferris Wheel and a giant striped tent. The tent showcases a comedic and charming live “Circo” performance for the whole family, featuring acrobats, clowns and street performers from around the Caribbean and Latin America
Twentieth Century Fox adventure beach
The waterpark is going to be a an interesting proposal of Ice Age and Rio, with each side offering themeing to the different film, and separated by a huge three story waterfall. The Ice Age side will be full of lazy rivers, family slides and kids play areas. Ice caves will have pools of water trailing through for kids to run through and explore. On the other side will be the lush rain forest of Rio, which will have more thrilling rides, including a surf pool, and Aqua Loop-A 360 degree looping water slide. There will also be a huge bird aviary, and more conservation messages.
The project is ambitious to say the least, but 20th Century Fox has already gotten approval to do the same type of thing in Malaysia. While everything sounds great on paper, you do have to wonder if this project were to get approved, would Miami have the type of draw to bring in as many families that are needed to keep a place like that running 365 days a year? If it is approved, I can imagine that we’ll see a lot of the concepts either scaled back or scrapped completely. Still a park with at least 4 coasters, and a huge amount of waterslides, all highly themed, has our attention.
You can read tons more about the project on their official proposal page, by clicking here.
We’ll keep you updated if anything else develops with this project. Be sure to stay tuned to us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest!
