AK Attraction changes. Why?

[Figaro928]

Meant to ask this a while back..

Last time we were at DAK, we noticed many of the rides had plot changes from out last visit.

Most obvious was that KS had no plot any more. Gone was the plot of the poachers and the baby elephant. When the heck did this change? More importantly: WHY?

Also the if you didn't know the raft ride was previously about deforestation, you'd never really know that now. they really gloss over that.

And did Countdown to Extinction change plot too? or am I mistaken on that one?

What was the reasoning for these changes? Anyone have the answers?

Thanks

 

[marni1971]

The plot(s) of KS have dwindled over time. They'd become such a shell of their former self, let alone a bit lame, it was decided to concentrate on real things.

Kali has major budget and show issues that manage to take away from the original story.

Dinosaur hasn't changed since CTX aside from things not working / rushing through the preshow.

 

[Figaro928]

The plot(s) of KS have dwindled over time. They'd become such a shell of their former self, let alone a bit lame, it was decided to concentrate on real things.
QUOTE]

So, in your opinion is the attraction better with or without the plot?

And there were multiple plots?

 

[Phonedave]

The KS story seemed forced, and in some cases upset children (I don't think it was that big a deal, but apparently it did). They sort of removed it in stages, first the dead mother, then then baby.

It does make the ending area a bit strange.

-dave

 

[JohnD]

I've never been to AK with the KS plot. I think people just want to see the animals. My parents and I looked at each other with bemused expressions when we were told we were going over a rickety bridge and it could give way any second!

River ride. Prob the same thing. People just want to go on a raft ride.

 

[Pocahontas]

The KS story seemed forced, and in some cases upset children (I don't think it was that big a deal, but apparently it did). They sort of removed it in stages, first the dead mother, then then baby.

It does make the ending area a bit strange.

-dave

Yep, the old plot made my daughter cry.

 

[jlsHouston]

Um..I sound really ignorant here but what is the KS plot? And there was a plot to Kali besides soaking you and destroying any electronics you didn't protect properly?

 

[belledream]

Um..I sound really ignorant here but what is the KS plot? And there was a plot to Kali besides soaking you and destroying any electronics you didn't protect properly?

It was about poaching. Throughout the ride, the highlight was touted as seeing the elephants (which you did see), but then you had to go on a chase after poachers to save elephants 'Little Red' and 'Big Red'. There was a radio feed where you heard gunfire and a guy telling you to hurry up and help them. I'm guessing it traumatized some.

 

[jlsHouston]

It was about poaching. Throughout the ride, the highlight was touted as seeing the elephants (which you did see), but then you had to go on a chase after poachers to save elephants 'Little Red' and 'Big Red'. There was a radio feed where you heard gunfire and a guy telling you to hurry up and help them. I'm guessing it traumatized some.

I live with a hunter..I have dead things hanging on walls.....but I am one that still sheds tears over Bambi's mother getting shot...

 

[belledream]

I live with a hunter..I have dead things hanging on walls.....but I am one that still sheds tears over Bambi's mother getting shot...

If you don't cry at that, you are made of stone!

Big Red didn't die though - she was only wounded. And they showed you a glimpse of Little Red (animatronic) safe and sound in a truck at the end of the ride.

 

[lazyboy97o]

If you don't cry at that, you are made of stone!

Big Red didn't die though - she was only wounded. And they showed you a glimpse of Little Red (animatronic) safe and sound in a truck at the end of the ride.

Big Red died in the very original version and you saw her corpse.

 

[LostPrincessKarleigh]

Big Red died in the very original version and you saw her corpse.

Now that is terrifying.

 

[disney4life2008]

Now that is terrifying.

LOL I must be made of stone but a child or adult crying over this makes no sense to me. But it is what it will be. I like KS without the plot. I think they also removed the guide overlay and safari music..

 

[gsimpson]

I think some people may have found being preached at after paying for a vacation to be a little much and in the original versions of both these rides the message was rather heavy handed and one sided and in some cases if the parents didn't like the message they wouldn't let their kids go. I went to AK about 2 years after it opened with friends who work on the conservation side of a timber company and they got upset enough about the preaching on Kali they left the park and I got to listen to a good long rant about the half truths, misleading innuendo, and factually wrong statements that they said were part of the "green nut job script". These are people who are actually environmentalists, who sacrifice and work to save the environment, and generally are not prone to the hyperbole you hear on both Fox and MSNBC so I have to assume they were at least partly correct and even if they weren't the fact that it turned part of my vacation into a political discussion was reason enough for me to be delighted when they started toning it down.

 

[Bairstow]

Big Red died in the very original version and you saw her corpse.

As I understand it, the big dead elephant prop was removed before any paying customers saw it.

The "chase" part of the ending was kind of cool, when the vehicle speeds up through some puddles to head off the poachers at the pass, but I can't remember ever seeing the poacher's jeep moving.
I do remember seeing the landed airplane in the climax with its prop still spinning, and a cast member "game warden" holding an AK-47 on a jeep with an animatronic baby elephant in the back.

I can understand why the scripted, fake elements were removed from the Safari ride; people were mostly interested in the real animals, and often rode over and over again to see them in different situations, so the scripted bits were annoying, expensive to maintain and staff, and not especially appreciated.

It's too bad that the "poacher chase" experience wasn't separate from the "animal safari" part of the attraction- it was visceral and smelled of real-world excitement and danger in a way no other Disney attraction currently does.

Also the if you didn't know the raft ride was previously about deforestation, you'd never really know that now. they really gloss over that.

That's all still there, but the story is told to you piecemeal, in the gloriously-detailed queue.
However, since the attraction is now almost always walk-on and has been for years, no one pays attention to the queue, even though Joe Rhode and his team allegdly racked up untold hundreds of thousands of dollars on "research trips" to Asia to put it together.

 

[graphite1326]

I live with a hunter..I have dead things hanging on walls.....but I am one that still sheds tears over Bambi's mother getting shot...

My whole family hunts. My wife shot Bambi's mother. No tears here.

I thought the story was silly at least the way they did it. My kids were young at the time and it didn't make any impression on them at all. I guess it's because we live in the country and seeing a dead animal is no big deal.

 

[Susan Savia]

I never thought that KS needed a 'plot'. I ride it to see the animals.

 

[doctornick]

It's too bad that the "poacher chase" experience wasn't separate from the "animal safari" part of the attraction- it was visceral and smelled of real-world excitement and danger in a way no other Disney attraction currently does.

Interesting point. Makes you think that it would be nice to have a "real animal" Safari ride as currently and potentially a second "rescue the elephant from the poachers" ride also in Africa. Not only would that improve the ride count, but would provide potentially two different types of experiences for guests while maintaining a strong theme to the land.

That's all still there, but the story is told to you piecemeal, in the gloriously-detailed queue.
However, since the attraction is now almost always walk-on and has been for years, no one pays attention to the queue, even though Joe Rhode and his team allegdly racked up untold hundreds of thousands of dollars on "research trips" to Asia to put it together.

You are kidding, right? On hot days, this ride gets very long waits, the longest in DAK. When I was there on a slow day a few weeks ago, we ended up waiting about 45 minutes at around 11am (it was somewhat warm, temps around 80 degrees).

Anyway, I thought the expensive research trips were for Everest specifically. I don't recall hearing about such extravagence when they were building Kali.

 

[jwutony16]

Come in Simba One.

 

[Spike-in-Berlin]

Meant to ask this a while back..

Last time we were at DAK, we noticed many of the rides had plot changes from out last visit.

Most obvious was that KS had no plot any more. Gone was the plot of the poachers and the baby elephant. When the heck did this change? More importantly: WHY?

Also the if you didn't know the raft ride was previously about deforestation, you'd never really know that now. they really gloss over that.

And did Countdown to Extinction change plot too? or am I mistaken on that one?

What was the reasoning for these changes? Anyone have the answers?

Thanks

I was always a little disappointed by KS anyway because it doesn't feature a Kilimanjaro. Honestly, call it Ngorongoro or Serengeti Safari but not Kilimanjaro Safari if there is no Kilimanjaro to see. We always call the ride only the "Kilimandscharo Safari ohne Kilimandscharo" (Kilimanjaro Safari without Kilimanjaro")
Just imagine what it would look like with a fake Kilimanjaro in the background of the ride (you only need to build one side), 200 ft. or higher with the snow cap.