Kilimanjaro Safari- Poaching story line: Do you miss it ?

[jme]

I do miss it, as I felt it was a valuable message for animal conservatorship and directly highlights a genuine problem. Is it a bit uncomfortable? Yes, but that is the world we live in. By juxtaposing an enjoyable safari tour teeming with wildlife, against the harsh realities of human impact, it delivers a more visceral message.
Preservation messaging aside, I think it also added a small element of danger and turned a safari park tour into a themed ride.

 

[UNCgolf]

I thought I would miss the poaching storyline, but the Safari is actually significantly better without it. The animals are now the stars, as they should be. In the poacher version, they were basically set dressing instead of the main focus, as though the ride would have worked just as well as a dark ride with AAs instead of real animals.

I liked the conversation education/messaging, but while it was one of my top 10-15 rides with the poaching storyline, now that it's been removed I think it's my favorite attraction at WDW.

 

[ppete1975]

I think there needs to be more attention to poaching everywhere. We have already lost so many species and in 30 years we will prob have lost most zoo animals in the wild. So i like the intent and message. And do we need another ride through a zoo (although this is what walt wanted jungle cruise to be albiet on a boat). But not sure this was the right approach, maybe a film or something somewhere or have an A and B version. Because although poaching should traumatize you and make you want to do something to prevent it, i dont think it should ruin a kids day at a disney park.

 

[networkpro]

The conservation movement has changed tactics (at least in Africa) to focus on engaging its inhabitants to manage the wildlife resources that surround them as sources of income. As the drivers sometimes point out, elephants play a pretty large role in the ecosystem.

The saga of Little Red, IMHO was just for shock value.

 

[bubbles1812]

I thought I would miss the poaching storyline, but the Safari is actually significantly better without it. The animals are now the stars, as they should be. In the poacher version, they were basically set dressing instead of the main focus, as though the ride would have worked just as well as a dark ride with AAs instead of real animals.

I liked the conversation education/messaging, but while it was one of my top 10-15 rides with the poaching storyline, now that it's been removed I think it's my favorite attraction at WDW.

Wholly agree. I like to see and learn a little about the animals. They should be the focus. And I think the conservation blurble most of the CMs do before the end, hearing ways we could contribute (whether through the Disney Conservation Fund or otherwise, is good enough)

I hope at some point they bring back the Behind the Scenes Animal tours. We did the Rhino Tour two years ago for my mama’s birthday. It was really enjoyable.

 

[91JLovesDisney]

I do not miss it and am glad they changed it. While I personally don't remember it when I was younger, I can easily imagine being traumatized as a young child by the theming, or by seeing hurt animals/animals in cages. Maybe I was just a sensitive kid. I get that poaching is an actual issue and I think we can all agree it's a terrible thing, but I don't think there should be anything at the Disney Parks that has the risk of traumatizing/disturbing any guests. Just My Opinion

 

[EagleScout610]

Is Little Red still backstage? Just curious.

 

[WDWFanatic]

I loved it. We enjoyed being bounced around in the truck. It was fun addition to the ride and poaching was something that needed to be talked about.

 

[91JLovesDisney]

poaching was something that needed to be talked about.

That's where I'm gonna have to disagree with you - how is telling Disney guests about poaching (something that I'm sure most people are aware is an issue) going to help stop poaching?

 

[FettFan]

I do miss Wilson flying around and sending in radio reports. If the point of the ride is that you’re touring an actual game preserve in Kenya, it really helps with the immersive storytelling.
I remember some kids craning their necks to look at the sky, thinking that there was an actual warden patrolling in a Cessna thanks to the sound effects.

As for the final poacher chase and shoot out, I could take it or leave it.

 

[TotallyBiased]

Let's hope her parents don't show her The Lion King or Bambi...

Or Finding Nemo
or UP
or Cinderella
or Tarzan
or The Hunchback of Notre Dame
or The Good Dinosaur... or... or...

 

[91JLovesDisney]

Or Finding Nemo
or UP
or Cinderella
or Tarzan
or The Hunchback of Notre Dame
or The Good Dinosaur... or... or...

 

[graphite1326]

I think it’s just fine without. While I appreciate their efforts to throw in a little anti-poaching storyline, I don’t think it’s really needed. It seemed a little cheesy too. Usually the guides to a fine job with a few lines stating the significance of protection against animals and what the conservation efforts have done.

I agree. I thought the storyline could have been good but it came off corny for me.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

To add just one argument to the duscussion.

Which of these is a great ride:
1) A ride through meticulously crafted African ecosystems, on a grand scale, that shows you the might and splendour of the natural world at its most emblematic.
2) Chasing criminals on your holiday in Africa, which consists of you sitting passively in a bus with fifty other tourists.

 

[TomboyJanet]

I really liked it, it was like a ride being involved in something I'd want to do in real life (stopping poachers)

 

[J_Carioca]

I do not miss it and am glad they changed it. While I personally don't remember it when I was younger, I can easily imagine being traumatized as a young child by the theming, or by seeing hurt animals/animals in cages. Maybe I was just a sensitive kid. I get that poaching is an actual issue and I think we can all agree it's a terrible thing, but I don't think there should be anything at the Disney Parks that has the risk of traumatizing/disturbing any guests. Just My Opinion

Um, LOADS of little kids are traumatized by stuff they see in Disney films or in the parks. I have a friend who, in his late 40s, still turns away if you show him a picture of the Evil Queen, because it terrified an traumatized him so much as a child. You cant predict or assume what will be traumatizing to a child. Nor can you edit life and pretend the world is all sunshine and roses. I hate to do the "what would Walt think?" thing, but I really think he'd be horrified by the idea that you shouldn't take the opportunity to educate just because the subject matter might be uncomfortable. I doubt very much that anyone who rode the original ride was "traumatized" by the story line. Sad, yes, but quite frankly they should be. Elephants and certainly rhinos WILL be gone in a matter of years and it's because of poaching. We have every opportunity to stop that but instead people turn away from thinking about it because it's uncomfortable.

 

[J_Carioca]

To add just one argument to the duscussion.

Which of these is a great ride:
1) A ride through meticulously crafted African ecosystems, on a grand scale, that shows you the might and splendour of the natural world at its most emblematic.
2) Chasing criminals on your holiday in Africa, which consists of you sitting passively in a bus with fifty other tourists.

You describe them as if they are two completely different rides...come on, we all know that's not the case. The original ride was also a meticulously crafted ride through the splendour of Africa, it just had an added element about conservation. Don't make it sound like the two are mutually exclusive.

 

[J_Carioca]

That's where I'm gonna have to disagree with you - how is telling Disney guests about poaching (something that I'm sure most people are aware is an issue) going to help stop poaching?

Most people actually know very little about poaching. So, teaching them about it by helping them imagine/see its impact might, you know, make them care about it actually DO something about it.

 

[91JLovesDisney]

Um, LOADS of little kids are traumatized by stuff they see in Disney films or in the parks. I have a friend who, in his late 40s, still turns away if you show him a picture of the Evil Queen, because it terrified an traumatized him so much as a child. You cant predict or assume what will be traumatizing to a child. Nor can you edit life and pretend the world is all sunshine and roses. I hate to do the "what would Walt think?" thing, but I really think he'd be horrified by the idea that you shouldn't take the opportunity to educate just because the subject matter might be uncomfortable. I doubt very much that anyone who rode the original ride was "traumatized" by the story line. Sad, yes, but quite frankly they should be. Elephants and certainly rhinos WILL be gone in a matter of years and it's because of poaching. We have every opportunity to stop that but instead people turn away from thinking about it because it's uncomfortable.

First of all, your evil Queen argument isn’t the best because Disney just rethemed Snow White to be less traumatizing

I completely disagree with you that you can’t predict what will be scary to children. You can’t predict 100% and there will probably be some random thing that you never though of that scares one random kid, but injured animals at what’s basically a zoo is a pretty obvious one.

Every day more and more poachers are stopped/apprehended, certainly a lot more than when this theme existed. Making a bunch of tired Disney tourists aware of something they were already aware of doesn’t solve problems.

If I rode this as a young child I wouldn’t want to come off it crying and then be wary of it later in life.

 

[graphite1326]

Um, LOADS of little kids are traumatized by stuff they see in Disney films or in the parks. I have a friend who, in his late 40s, still turns away if you show him a picture of the Evil Queen, because it terrified an traumatized him so much as a child. You cant predict or assume what will be traumatizing to a child. Nor can you edit life and pretend the world is all sunshine and roses. I hate to do the "what would Walt think?" thing, but I really think he'd be horrified by the idea that you shouldn't take the opportunity to educate just because the subject matter might be uncomfortable. I doubt very much that anyone who rode the original ride was "traumatized" by the story line. Sad, yes, but quite frankly they should be. Elephants and certainly rhinos WILL be gone in a matter of years and it's because of poaching. We have every opportunity to stop that but instead people turn away from thinking about it because it's uncomfortable.

As a child Bambi was traumatizing for me. However, when I grew up I realized how inaccurate the film was and was traumatized again by being lied to only for the benefit of someones beliefs.