Discovery Island is an abandoned 11.5 acre island, it’s located on the property of Walt Disney World. This attraction opened on April 8th, 1974 as “Treasure Island” but in April of 1978 Disney changed the name of the Island to “Discovery Island.” They redid the island and got rid of all the pirate-themed references. When it reopened they changed the focus of the attraction to its botanical settings and wildlife, they put in flamingos, pelicans, eagles, alligators, and much more.
Before Discovery Island opened it was originally going to be named “Black Beards Island” but Disney went with ” Treasure Island” off the book by Robert Louis Stevenson, a movie was also made based on the book in 1950. They made the whole island pirate-themed, they had put ship recks on the beach, and 600 different types of birds, plus eliminates of the movie. But sadly not many people were going because it was a half-day attraction. Due to the attendance not meeting Disney’s expectations they closed Treasure Island and put it under renovations. They then changed the name to “Discovery Island.”
Before Disney owned the property of the land a family lived there from 1900-1937, they named it “Raz Island.” In the late 1930s, a man named Delmar Nicholson bought it for 800 dollars, then renamed it “Idle Boy Isle.” Delmar ended up living there for 20 years with his wife and pet crane. It got sold one more time before Disney bought it, and was turned into a hunting retreat and renamed “Riles Island.”
Disney never officially said the reasons for Discover Island closing, but probably due to poor attendance and high maintenance costs. Plus a year before it closed a bigger Disney park opened called Animal Kingdom.
No one is sure what is going to happen to the island and most likely nothing will because it will cost a lot to build on again. A few people have gotten caught sneaking onto the island, you can actually find videos of people exploring the abandoned place, I find them very cool so ill have one linked right below.
And here’s where you can learn more about Discovery Island!