One of the coolest things that happened for me during
Widen Your World's newsletter days (stay mindful that some
of us have significantly lower thresholds for coolness than
others) was a series of discoveries that led to the
pinpointing of Walt Disney World's first "extinct" attraction.
It was called the Safari Club, and it was by all tangible
accounts a game room that briefly resided in the space that
would soon be home to Colonel Hathi's Safari Club, the
shop, for many years. That location is now the Island
Supply Co. shop.
The record bearing out the game room's existence
consists of the following:
* An article in the April 1971 issue of "Orlando-Land"
magazine discussed the upcoming arcade as a "shooting
gallery" where guests would bag simulated animals with
air-pellet guns. At the time, the intent was probably to
replicate Disneyland's Big Game Safari Shooting Gallery,
which opened in 1962.
* The first printed guides to the park and its attractions,
which from October 1971 to April 1972 were contained in a
publication called Walt Disney World News, listed the
Safari Club as an Adventureland attraction. By May 1972,
when the first true "guide book" was published, the Safari
Club was no longer listed as an attraction, but its
replacement (Colonel Hathi's Safari Club) was added under
"shops."
* The first poster-size souvenir map of the park, printed in
1971, also listed the Safari Club as one of the numbered
features of Adventureland.
* Detailed blueprints for this location indicate that it was
not actually a shooting gallery, but an arcade along the
lines of the later Caribbean Arcade (1974-1980)
in Adventureland's Caribbean Plaza.
According to those prints, the Safari Club contained a
variety of freestanding games arranged about a rectangular
room. There were about 24 games in all, most designed
for one player. The walls of the room were sparsely
decorated, with textured gypsum board and rough-hewn
wood supports giving an "African outpost" effect. Guests
could enter the arcade the same way they now enter Island
Supply Co., through the large arched doorways (now
obscured by a covered patio that was added in the
mid-1990s) facing the Adventureland street or coming off
the west side of the Adventureland/Frontierland
breezeway. Toward the back of the arcade was a door that
led to a long, narrow room that sat between the arcade and
the Frontierland Shootin' Gallery. This room still serves as
base of operations for the shooting gallery today, and for a
brief period in time it probably served as headquarters for
two arcades.
I am still seeking a credible source who can state that
they remember this attraction from the park's first six
months and aren't confusing it with any other game room
they've seen in the past 28 years. That's a tall order. Once I
come across that, a better description of the park's first
extinction should follow shortly.
If anyone viewing this page has further information on the
Safari Club, I encourage you to write me at Widen Your
World. |
|
The Safari Club
Extinct WDW Attraction
Located in:
Adventureland,
Magic Kingdom
Opened: October 1971
Closed: c. Spring 1972
Ticket Required: None
Descendant of:
Disneyland's
Big Game Safari
Shooting Gallery?
Space later became:
Col. Hathi's Safari Club,
Island Supply Co.
Remnants:
Exterior appearance not
too greatly changed
Images copyright
The Walt Disney Company.
Text copyright 2001
Mike Lee
I would like to
acknowledge the
thoughtful assistance of
Dave Smith
with my research on
the Safari Club
|
