Discovery Island is an 11.5 acre island in Bay Lake, Florida. It is located on the property of Walt Disney World in the city of Bay Lake. Between 1974 and 1999, it was an attraction open to guests, who could observe its many species of animals. Disney originally named it Treasure Island, and later renamed it Discovery Island. It currently sits abandoned, but can be seen by any watercraft in Bay Lake. Discovery Island is now the name of one of the lands in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
History
Origins
From 1900 to 1937, the island was known as Raz Island, named after the family that lived there.[1] In the late 1930s, it was purchased for $800 by a man named Delmar "Radio Nick" Nicholson, who renamed it "Idle Bay Isle" and lived there for 20 years with his wife and pet crane. It was later sold, after the island's owner became ill, and renamed "Riles Island,"[2] and used as a hunting retreat. Disney bought it in 1965 as part of its strategic property acquisitions before building the