Kali River Rapids reopens.... and guess what??

[WDW1974]

DAK's original rides are even more elusive experiences than any obscure EPCOT Center or 50s Disneyland ride!

Who has ridden Countdown to Extinction (Dinosaur before it was crap), had the Yeti lunge at him, seen Kali with fire, walked the secret path from Africa to Asia, sailed the Discovery River Boats?

All of the above. All of them.

Oh, and I even saw a real woman's partial breast in DCA's Golden Dreams and watched some Chinese railroad workers perish in an explosion before Disney's politically correct/afraid to offend anyone but people with brains decided those scenes had to go.

 

[WDW1974]

No, it was seriously like an "up into the landscaping and over a stream" kind of path. Marked enough that you could tell it was meant to be there, but wild enough that it probably felt like you weren't supposed to be there. Never had the chance to do it myself. It was plantered off a while ago.

Edit:
http://www.parkeology.com/2010/02/lost-in-animal-kingdom.html
http://www.parkeology.com/2010/06/even-more-lost-perhaps-for-good-in.html

Have no idea why ... but I'd venture to say it lasted from about 1998 to 2003ish before they did their damndest to make it seem like it never existed.

It's so bad because it's like they create MAGICal places and then seek out to destroy all the reasons they're magical to begin with.

 

[Longhairbear]

Have no idea why ... maybe fanbois were giving each other oral pleasure in the bushes (that is wrong for so many reasons), but I'd venture to say it lasted from about 1998 to 2003ish before they did their damndest to make it seem like it never existed.

It's so bad because it's like they create MAGICal places and then seek out to destroy all the reasons they're magical to begin with.

That path had a keep out sign of some sort that just begged you to ignore it. We used that path all the time, sad to read it is actually blocked off now.

 

[marni1971]

Anyone have any pictures of video of the fire effects working? Or video of the truck working? I know I saw it back in the day, but its been a long time so I don't really remember.

Fast forward to 1:50

 

[Tom Morrow]

Was there more fire than what that shows? Also neat to see the lift hill and first half still shrouded in mist and a thick tree canopy.

 

[djkidkaz]

Six weeks of not paying anything for CM's or operational costs!

Those cast members are just deployed to do other jobs around property, so they are still being paid. Its not as if they give them 6 weeks with no work.

 

[djkidkaz]

Just add in lap bars like they did Splash Mountain and your done. Simple as that. You can thus remove the CM at the top and turn all the effects back on.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Isn't there some way for tigers to make more tigers?

I believe they are all the same gender. I had also heard that they are "mutts" (hence the description as Asian Tigers). I would suspect that any breeding would be controlled.

 

[RSoxNo1]

DAK's original rides are even more elusive experiences than any obscure EPCOT Center or 50s Disneyland ride!

Who has ridden Countdown to Extinction (Dinosaur before it was crap), had the Yeti lunge at him, seen Kali with fire, walked the secret path from Africa to Asia, sailed the Discovery River Boats?

I predict that these will become the most exclusive Disney Park experiences around, the stuff of legend, of bragging rights at D23 conventions.

Och, poor DAK! Overdesigned and underbuild. Reliant on discovery but nothing there to discover. The Discovery Park turned Disco Park. It is for a reason that the Yeti is always mentioned. It is such a potent symbol for all of DAK. So much ambition, so close, almost greatness, and therefore all the more painful in its lacking. A small raccoon AA that doesn't work is fine. A small modest park that doesn't work is fine too. But DAK is one big Yeti, one massively ambitious project whose A mode fails to deliver, and which to add insult to injury is forever stuck in B mode too.

Check on everything listed. BTW, the Discovery River Boats were nothing special because they were given very little money to put anything of substance on the river banks.

 

[Alektronic]

DAK's original rides are even more elusive experiences than any obscure EPCOT Center or 50s Disneyland ride!

Who has ridden Countdown to Extinction (Dinosaur before it was crap), had the Yeti lunge at him, seen Kali with fire, walked the secret path from Africa to Asia, sailed the Discovery River Boats?

I have:

CTX: both finales
Safari: original poacher finale w/ Big Red and the night safaris
Dragon's Cave with fire effects and smokers
River Iguanodon

Here is a list of Kali's original effects:

Lift Hill HPW(High Pressure Water) foggers
Rain Forest HPW fogger
3 geysers atop the lift hill
Tiger Falls waterfall
2 burnt smell machines
Teetering Truck that actually tilts
Truck spinning wheels
Logs swinging out from truck
12 fire effects
8 smoke machines w/ associated flre effects on left and right hand side
Downramp waterfall on right hand side
Leaking pipe
Dripping cave
Tri-jets shooting across the flume
Elephant gag - elephant trunk squirters

 

[djlaosc]

Lift Hill HPW(High Pressure Water) foggers
Rain Forest HPW fogger
3 geysers atop the lift hill
Tiger Falls waterfall
2 burnt smell machines
Teetering Truck that actually tilts
Truck spinning wheels
Logs swinging out from truck
12 fire effects
8 smoke machines w/ associated flre effects on left and right hand side
Downramp waterfall on right hand side
Leaking pipe
Dripping cave
Tri-jets shooting across the flume
Elephant gag - elephant trunk squirters

So, how many of these effects are currently working?

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Check on everything listed. BTW, the Discovery River Boats were nothing special because they were given very little money to put anything of substance on the river banks.

That off-topic post is strangely the most on-topic remark since the opening post, bringing this thread full circle.

"...the Boats were nothing special because they were given very little money to put anything of substance on the river banks."

 

[Alektronic]

So, how many of these effects are currently working?

I don't know I haven't been on the ride for quite a while, but sound like just the water effects. Last time I rode Dinosaur I was severely disappointed. It was just painful.

 

[Alektronic]

Check on everything listed. BTW, the Discovery River Boats were nothing special because they were given very little money to put anything of substance on the river banks.

They were just part of the same budget cuts, the original plans had a lot more effects and animal interactions.

 

[Absimilliard]

Just add in lap bars like they did Splash Mountain and your done. Simple as that. You can thus remove the CM at the top and turn all the effects back on.

Actually, river rapids rides in Europe and elsewhere around the world usually don't feature seatbelts or lap bars. Even the ones with drops, like River Quest I posted in an earlier video.

Why? They consider the risk of a boat sinking or flipping a bigger risk than someone who stand up on the ride. I tend to agree with them. I can only remember one incident in France where a boy stood up and fell in the water, sadly drowning when he reached the deep portion at the end. The park since then rebuilt the boats to feature fall protection, to make it nearly impossible for someone to fall out of the boat. No seatbelts were added.

In the late 90's, there was a few incidents where a few river rapids rides flipped. In one case, at Six Flags Over Texas, the seatbelt trapped someone and caused the rider to drown.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

We've always always hated this ride. It's boring, long, and you get drenched. Grizzly River Run in CAA was more exciting. I mean, we don't like water rides anyway (we're the family always requesting the back 2 rows on Splash Mountain so that we won't get wet!) and this one is terrible.

My younger brother is the only one who likes it, and so my mother went on it with him last August. Both had ponchos. Well, I was standing at the end at one of the elephants that squirts the cars. My mother puts her hood down at the end, not knowing she's about to get nailed. My father and I just stood there and laughed.

 

[doctornick]

Check on everything listed. BTW, the Discovery River Boats were nothing special because they were given very little money to put anything of substance on the river banks.

Hypothetically, is there anything limiting Disney from bringing back the Discovery Boats? Like has there been construction that makes the river path unpassable for the boats at this point?

Just seems to me that if they were willing to spend some money on effects along the route (yes, I know, that's asking TDO to invest $$$), this would be a relatively easy addition to the park. I guess I still don't understand how a park that is hurting for attractions/capacity wouldn't try to add as many simply options as possible to give people stuff to do and fight against the "half day park" rep.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Actually, river rapids rides in Europe and elsewhere around the world usually don't feature seatbelts or lap bars. Even the ones with drops, like River Quest I posted in an earlier video.

Why? They consider the risk of a boat sinking or flipping a bigger risk than someone who stand up on the ride. I tend to agree with them. I can only remember one incident in France where a boy stood up and fell in the water, sadly drowning when he reached the deep portion at the end. The park since then rebuilt the boats to feature fall protection, to make it nearly impossible for someone to fall out of the boat. No seatbelts were added.

In the late 90's, there was a few incidents where a few river rapids rides flipped. In one case, at Six Flags Over Texas, the seatbelt trapped someone and caused the rider to drown.

While I agree with you, I think that I could get out of the boat should it flip (on Splash Mountain) seeing as how I could get out if the lap bar were not there. Plus I figure there has to be some sort of release there.

I think I could also get out if need be on River Rapids. They are more necessary there. My mother nearly fell out of Grizzly River Run in CAA and would have had the seat-belt not been there.

I trust that Disney has made their rides safe, so I'm not too worried about it.

 

[RSoxNo1]

They were just part of the same budget cuts, the original plans had a lot more effects and animal interactions.

Right, the original plans featured many mythical animals along the Discovery River. I think the concept could still work although I don't think it would work along the river - I think it would have to be a separate boat ride.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Hypothetically, is there anything limiting Disney from bringing back the Discovery Boats? Like has there been construction that makes the river path unpassable for the boats at this point?

Just seems to me that if they were willing to spend some money on effects along the route (yes, I know, that's asking TDO to invest $$$), this would be a relatively easy addition to the park. I guess I still don't understand how a park that is hurting for attractions/capacity wouldn't try to add as many simply options as possible to give people stuff to do and fight against the "half day park" rep.

The extra Asia loop that includes Expedition Everest takes away some of the hidden areas. As would the new location of Festival of the Lion King. Having said that, I've suggested adding elements along the river so that the Discovery River Boats could be brought back, and use that "new" addition to absorb crowds during much needed refurbs to Expedition Everest and Dinosaur