Kilimanjaro Safaris question

[pjammer]

The story just gets in the way of the reason I go on that ride anyway - I just want to see the animals roaming the savannah.

What's the IBM television ad say? Stop talking - start doing!

Or in this case, Less talk - more watch!

Totally agree, I don't go to Disney for theme and storylines. Don't be preachy and talk while I want to look at animals. The nerve that they even try to add a storyline while I look at animals. I mean look at Epcot. It used to be so preachy, telling me that we had to act a certain way to perserve a good future for future generations. Now they keep it more simple and just put Disney character everywhere. Good job Disney. We want rides and characters, leave that storyline stuff for Six Flags or Bush Gardens.

BTW, I'm glad they closed PI also. I go to Downtown Disney to shop! PI just got in my way when I was trying to go to the West Side. And even if I do want to enjoy nighttime entertainment, they had that stupid Adventure thingie Club. It wasn't even a club.:shrug: And all that stuff on the walls and people talking...boring!!!:snore: No wonder no hardly ever went there! Thanks for listening to the masses Disney and not the lame fan boys that blog all the time about you!!

 

[MKCP 1985]

Totally agree, I don't go to Disney for theme and storylines. Don't be preachy and talk while I want to look at animals. The nerve that they even try to add a storyline while I look at animals. I mean look at Epcot. It used to be so preachy, telling me that we had to act a certain way to perserve a good future for future generations. Now they keep it more simple and just put Disney character everywhere. Good job Disney. We want rides and characters, leave that storyline stuff for Six Flags or Bush Gardens.

BTW, I'm glad they closed PI also. I go to Downtown Disney to shop! PI just got in my way when I was trying to go to the West Side. And even if I do want to enjoy nighttime entertainment, they had that stupid Adventure thingie Club. It wasn't even a club.:shrug: And all that stuff on the walls and people talking...boring!!!:snore: No wonder no hardly ever went there! Thanks for listening to the masses Disney and not the lame fan boys that blog all the time about you!!

:lol: lighten up, Francis.

If you are telling us that you go on KS for the "Little Red" spiel, then my message to you is to look beyond the spiel and see the real animal behavior right in front of your eyes.

If the hippos are being active and putting on a show, give the safari driver the freedom to let the guests experience that instead of rushing ahead to the next point.

If the safari captain has the freedom to give us a little more information so that when I get off the ride, I know the difference between a kudu and a wildebeast the next time I see them on the Discovery Channel, then I've gotten a REAL experience and not some predetermined jungle cruise style canned theme story. But maybe you like the Jungle Cruise better, being that it is all themed for you.

 

[Disneyfanman]

I also like the current, less restrictive story line. Since the changes I feel like the guide has more time and flexibility to point out the wildlife, and I enjoy the repeat trips much more. This is such an incredible attraction that I want to ride it every trip....sometimes multiple times. Before the changes the only variation was which animals would be out. Now the guides seem to have more time to add their own unique personalities and (for me) the repeat factor has been upped a bit more!

I am convinced that nobody will EVER create an attraction like this one again. Other attempts pale in comparison. For me, this is truly Disney at its finest. I just wish the AK had more attractions in general because it's truly a unique and wonderful theme park. Just not enough to do.

 

[pjammer]

I also like the current, less restrictive story line. Since the changes I feel like the guide has more time and flexibility to point out the wildlife, and I enjoy the repeat trips much more. This is such an incredible attraction that I want to ride it every trip....sometimes multiple times. Before the changes the only variation was which animals would be out. Now the guides seem to have more time to add their own unique personalities and (for me) the repeat factor has been upped a bit more!

I am convinced that nobody will EVER create an attraction like this one again. Other attempts pale in comparison. For me, this is truly Disney at its finest. I just wish the AK had more attractions in general because it's truly a unique and wonderful theme park. Just not enough to do.

Umm, they got the idea for Safari from Busch Gardens, they had been doing it since 1965. So if you want to see animals why don't you go there or your local zoo. The only thing that made Safari different was the storyline. One of the slogans for AK is NAHTAZU. But unfortunately it pretty much is, and the cuts to Safari prove it even more. I don't ride Safari to see animals. I thought it had a neat plot. Now I don't even go on it. I could care less about animals. Probably why I don't bother to go to DAK. I think they took a neat story and ruined for some lame Busch Gardens rip off.

 

[DDAY]

:wave::wave:The storyline was and still is about Poaching and how we can deter or stop it. Yes if you ride it over and over again you will get tired of hearing about Big Red and Little Red but there are still people in this world who have not experienced it. Try not to only think about yourself. The message is real. Poaching is a real problem and people should get educated on it. That is what Joe Rohde invisioned for Animal Kingdom. It was not designed to be another Magic Kingdom or Epcot. The vision was Adventure. Take the storyline out and all you really have is the animals and hey that's great. But we all know that there would be somebody out there complaining about that and saying that it is boring and it needs to have something else. In the end do you really think people would know about the situation in Africa had there not been someone out there trying to educate us about it. If us drivers could, we would slow down and talk about animals more and include more of our personalities into our spiel, but we are not allowed to. Remember, you can't always please everyone but of course you try. It's a good message and the true message is about the animals and if you can help them by entertaining others then I think it's a very good thing. Ultimately, KS just needs to get back to basics. Go back to the beginning when KS was the #1 attraction at Disney. By the way, it was a lot better before Eisner got a hold of it. In the words of Warden Wilson Matua, "Nobody in Africa calls them Thompson's Gazelle, They are Tommies, Tommies, Ova"!

 

[sillyspook13]

A lot things changed on the Safari after the Eisner visit, he thought some things looked too violent.

They removed the half eaten Zebra in front of the Lions pool.

I thought the zebra was at Gorilla Falls, even after the park opened to the public. I seem to remember when somebody here posted a funny picture of their family with the bloody mass.:shrug:

 

[bluefaery]

Wow, I never realized there was a storyline on KS. I mean I know all WDW attractions try and have a story line it's just that when I was on KS back in 2005 I paid more attention to the live animals then I did the story line.

 

[disneychic71]

I like the ride both ways, but I miss the shaking bridge bit--anyone know why that doesn't happen anymore?

 

[C&D]

The 'shaking bridge' still happens (it must have been 'down' at you last couple visits).

 

[The Pauper]

I like the ride both ways, but I miss the shaking bridge bit--anyone know why that doesn't happen anymore?

It breaks down all the time. Maybe they'll start using a strobe light effect to make us "forget" that it is broken

 

[Vernonpush]

I do miss the jeep that used to go speeding by, shooting at you, it gave the scene a little more excitement. I can't really say I miss the plane, because I always thought the wardens thumbs up looked so fake, but it did add a little more depth to the last scene. I would love to find some pictures of the dead Big Red, it would be very interesting. As far as the Dinosaur on the boat ride, I've seen pictures, and a tiny clip of him on a special that was made for the opening of AK. BTW, anyone else here that some of the old Dinosaur parts were used for the Yeti? :wave:

I miss the poacher's jeep effect too. I wonder if it just broke and not fixed, or was removed post 9/11?

Hey, no offense to the vision or the message, but I'm on vacation and I just want to enjoy seeing the animals. And not all of DAK is about conservation and protection - some of it is just about celebrating the animals and enjoying being around them, or what's left of them. I think a guy gets chastised for trying to protect and preserve a dinosaur on another ride. :lookaroun

If given the option of bypassing the "poaching is a problem" message and going with a driver who drives slow and tells me what type of animals I'm seeing and points out the hiding cheetahs, I'll take that second tour every time.
See, I'm not going to solve the poaching problem in Africa. And when I go home from vacation, I'm going to return to the real problems I have in the world I live in, which doesn't include hippos in the lake or giraffes in the park. So running that "poachers are after Little Red" storyline every single time I ride Kilimanjaro Safaris is, pardon the expression, overkill. :shrug: I don't MIND that the Little Red storyline is there, but if given a choice, I'd skip it.

Have you tried the Sunrise Safari? The "poaching is a problem" theme is still there, but the drivers are allowed to stop (often and for long periods) along the route for photo ops and there is an experienced "guide" that talks about each animal seen on the trip.

 

[trendicoff]

:lol: lighten up, Francis.

If you are telling us that you go on KS for the "Little Red" spiel, then my message to you is to look beyond the spiel and see the real animal behavior right in front of your eyes.

If the hippos are being active and putting on a show, give the safari driver the freedom to let the guests experience that instead of rushing ahead to the next point.

If the safari captain has the freedom to give us a little more information so that when I get off the ride, I know the difference between a kudu and a wildebeast the next time I see them on the Discovery Channel, then I've gotten a REAL experience and not some predetermined jungle cruise style canned theme story. But maybe you like the Jungle Cruise better, being that it is all themed for you.

You make a good point MKCP, but two quick points to you:

1) Safari drivers have the freedom do give you nearly any of the information you could want, and encouraged to do so. It's just impossible to do so in only 20 minutes. I'm sorry if your safari driver neglected some of the animals to interact with the script, I always made a point of talking about the animals as much as possible as well as encouraging questions.

2) The script interactions are (were) almost negligible until you reached the ostritch and warthog area which is the last area with animals. Therefore, yes its possible you could miss some info on those two animals if they were around but the next part of the attraction, "the chase" was simply to reinforce the message of conservaton as well as practically to get you back to the docks.

Great point btw Vernonpush, the sunrise safari, although it costs more, is an incredible experience. Also, if you hang out at Rafiki's you're always able to find animal programs experts who can talk to you endlessly about the animals.

just my 2 cents

 

[MythBuster]

I thought the zebra was at Gorilla Falls, even after the park opened to the public. I seem to remember when somebody here posted a funny picture of their family with the bloody mass.:shrug:

I think you are thinking about the gazelle, where it had drag markings on the walking path and it was stuck up in the tree.

 

[Testtrack321]

The majority of the old poaching storyline was done around areas with no animals anyway, so why are people complaining about it? I liked it and thought it added something to the ride that is now missing. Poaching is real, and you're in "real" Africa, so yeah. Kali has the logging problem, Kilomanjaro had poaching, CTX has extinction, etc.

 

[sillyspook13]

I think you are thinking about the gazelle, where it had drag markings on the walking path and it was stuck up in the tree.

That's exactly the one I'm thinking of! Thanks!

 

[Rob562]

That's exactly the one I'm thinking of! Thanks!

And it was probably my pic that you were remembering:

It was sort of a "storyline in footprints" along the beginning of the Pangani Forest Trail before you got to the first animal display. As you walked along, you could see tracks in the cement, criss-crossing the trail. First, it was the gazelle and lion walking separately. Then it was the gazelle being tracked by the lion. Then it was gazelle and lion running, ending at a section of brush to your left that had broken and disturbed branches. Finally, you had just the lion prints with drag marks, leading to the dead carcass in the tree to the right of the trail.
I haven't been on the trail in a while, but I've heard that all this has been removed for a new display along the trail.

-Rob

 

[Jerm]

And it was probably my pic that you were remembering:

It was sort of a "storyline in footprints" along the beginning of the Pangani Forest Trail before you got to the first animal display. As you walked along, you could see tracks in the cement, criss-crossing the trail. First, it was the gazelle and lion walking separately. Then it was the gazelle being tracked by the lion. Then it was gazelle and lion running, ending at a section of brush to your left that had broken and disturbed branches. Finally, you had just the lion prints with drag marks, leading to the dead carcass in the tree to the right of the trail.
I haven't been on the trail in a while, but I've heard that all this has been removed for a new display along the trail.

-Rob

That is where they put the Black & White Colombus Monkeys desplay. Everytime I walk by them I think of the best theming they ever had along those trails......

 

[sillyspook13]

And it was probably my pic that you were remembering:

It was sort of a "storyline in footprints" along the beginning of the Pangani Forest Trail before you got to the first animal display. As you walked along, you could see tracks in the cement, criss-crossing the trail. First, it was the gazelle and lion walking separately. Then it was the gazelle being tracked by the lion. Then it was gazelle and lion running, ending at a section of brush to your left that had broken and disturbed branches. Finally, you had just the lion prints with drag marks, leading to the dead carcass in the tree to the right of the trail.
I haven't been on the trail in a while, but I've heard that all this has been removed for a new display along the trail.

-Rob

That's it! I searched all over and couldn't find it... Thanks!