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Kilamanjaro Safari - Route Change
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Irrawaddy Erik
Well-Known Member
The I <3 Potholes is from a bumper sticker on the safari trucks.aklodge said:
Irrawaddy Erik
Well-Known Member
Here ya goaklodge said:
Irrawaddy Erik
Well-Known Member
No problemaklodge said:
Irrawaddy Erik
Well-Known Member
That's what happens with wild animals. Sometimes I will not see some animals for a few safaris and then BAM they just appear out of no where. Even two back to back safaris you see drasticly different shows.disneyfamily said:
bcampione
Member
That is great! Trying to spot cheetahs and showing them to guests has always been a difficult task. Hopefully now it will be easier to spot and show.
Erik, when are you headed down there again? Im going to visit in May and I hope you will be there. If not, I guess Ill be getting rides from Laurie, Jill and the others. Also, did you hear that Kristen is gonna be the new "Anthony"? He's going to HKD like JVB.
BTW, KSR, in my opinion, should keep the tilting bridge working all year round. When I was there, they stopped it to get the OSR better. Just a little vent
Erik, when are you headed down there again? Im going to visit in May and I hope you will be there. If not, I guess Ill be getting rides from Laurie, Jill and the others. Also, did you hear that Kristen is gonna be the new "Anthony"? He's going to HKD like JVB.
BTW, KSR, in my opinion, should keep the tilting bridge working all year round. When I was there, they stopped it to get the OSR better. Just a little vent
Irrawaddy Erik
Well-Known Member
I'm heading down in the middle of May to the middle of June.....I cannot wait to head back down.bcampione said:That is great! Trying to spot cheetahs and showing them to guests has always been a difficult task. Hopefully now it will be easier to spot and show.
Erik, when are you headed down there again? Im going to visit in May and I hope you will be there. If not, I guess Ill be getting rides from Laurie, Jill and the others. Also, did you hear that Kristen is gonna be the new "Anthony"? He's going to HKD like JVB.
BTW, KSR, in my opinion, should keep the tilting bridge working all year round. When I was there, they stopped it to get the OSR better. Just a little vent
Well, been on 2 more Safaris since starting this thread, so here is a sort of confusing update.
We reluctantly decided after 4 go arounds that the route change gets a modest 1 thumb down. Main reason being loss of view of the Cheetahs, and losing about 40% of the Pride Rock drive-by - and this is not quite balanced out by the modest gain in elevation going over the hill. Both lions were in view, sacked out, and the view wasn't much better from on the hill (you're farther away) than we would have had from the original road.
Had a good talk with a CM afterwards to give our opinion, and while he acknowledged that he wasn't allowed to say much, he did tell me twice that the route would return to its original form.
This sort of squares with the idea that part of the Cheetah habitat (currently out of view) is being reworked to give a better view of the new cats. A total of 8 or 9 if what I was told is correct.
Anyway, we're hoping the original route is restored.
On another note - a small herd of Ankola cattle (5 or 6 I think) have been added to the Savannah in the past four days. Unless I'm unaware - these animals have only been seen at the AKL before now.
They were standing very very tightly bunched together near the termite mounds and a CM told us they'd been standing in that spot since they came out 3 days ago, but everyone was sure they'd get acclimated to the new surroundings shortly.
We reluctantly decided after 4 go arounds that the route change gets a modest 1 thumb down. Main reason being loss of view of the Cheetahs, and losing about 40% of the Pride Rock drive-by - and this is not quite balanced out by the modest gain in elevation going over the hill. Both lions were in view, sacked out, and the view wasn't much better from on the hill (you're farther away) than we would have had from the original road.
Had a good talk with a CM afterwards to give our opinion, and while he acknowledged that he wasn't allowed to say much, he did tell me twice that the route would return to its original form.
This sort of squares with the idea that part of the Cheetah habitat (currently out of view) is being reworked to give a better view of the new cats. A total of 8 or 9 if what I was told is correct.
Anyway, we're hoping the original route is restored.
On another note - a small herd of Ankola cattle (5 or 6 I think) have been added to the Savannah in the past four days. Unless I'm unaware - these animals have only been seen at the AKL before now.
They were standing very very tightly bunched together near the termite mounds and a CM told us they'd been standing in that spot since they came out 3 days ago, but everyone was sure they'd get acclimated to the new surroundings shortly.
Last Update on this Subject
As of 3/18/05, the Safari detour near the cheetah habitat is no longer in effect - this part of the trip is back to the original design. No obvious changes to the habitat except the addition of more of these beautiful animals.
Some of the oryx were grazing right next to the containment ditch no more than 30 feet or so from the cheetahs and five of these big cats were going absolutely nuts pacing and prowling trying to figure out how to get across for a great big dinner.
However, there's now a new temporary detour in the middle of the Savanna. This one is needed so the trucks can drive around an area of approximately 40 by 40 feet surrounded by a green chain link fence smack in the middle of the habitat.
It's a pretty big distraction from the African Savanna illusion but the fence has been erected to keep the animals away from drainage/sewerage work that is underway - that was according to a CM.
As of 3/18/05, the Safari detour near the cheetah habitat is no longer in effect - this part of the trip is back to the original design. No obvious changes to the habitat except the addition of more of these beautiful animals.
Some of the oryx were grazing right next to the containment ditch no more than 30 feet or so from the cheetahs and five of these big cats were going absolutely nuts pacing and prowling trying to figure out how to get across for a great big dinner.
However, there's now a new temporary detour in the middle of the Savanna. This one is needed so the trucks can drive around an area of approximately 40 by 40 feet surrounded by a green chain link fence smack in the middle of the habitat.
It's a pretty big distraction from the African Savanna illusion but the fence has been erected to keep the animals away from drainage/sewerage work that is underway - that was according to a CM.
ballewclan
New Member
When i visited over Christmas i dont recall the change in route. Was it there? But what was kinda cool was 3 zebra's walked out in front of the truck and we were stalled for about 2 minutes of going really slow. Yet i never saw a truck in front or behind us. It was REALLY cool cause they were going as a herd so like there was some standing RIGHT next to truck. But i kept wondering where all the other trucks were, like do they have dif routes cause we sat there a LONG time. The CM didnt act weird at all or nervous, he just kept saying facts about the zebra's. He did do the walkie talkie thing once though. Another cool thing was right after that we went past a rhino also standing right next to the truck. The guy said not to make any "sudden" movements and we drove by real slow. lol, i loved the CM cause he kept cracking jokes and stuff.
imagineersrock
New Member
thanks for the thorough updates, fillerup!
glad to see the route is pretty much back to normal, and can't wait to see the new cheetahs.
glad to see the route is pretty much back to normal, and can't wait to see the new cheetahs.
ScrapIron
Member
Master Yoda said:
Jim Hill was not the only source for this. From www.mouseplanet.com today:
"They opted to go for an economical (read inexpensive) drainage system at Disney's Animal Kingdom… oops it's collapsing… so now money that would probably be spent on attraction expansion will now be used to refurbish the drainage system."
Cheers.
