New "Caring for Giants" $30.00 Experience Debuts at Animal Kingdom on March 12 2017

R

RandySavage

Well-Known Member
The Empress Lilly said:
A new viewing area?

I felt the safari had been seriously compromised already. Too many viewing and trek areas. The sense of being on a wide open plain or isolated forest in Africa is all but destroyed when the horizon does not fade off into the distance, but onto a platform filled with upcharge event theme park tourists.
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Well said.

They've been degrading this once stellar attraction for many years now. There is lazily-exposed, man-made fencing visible throughout the ride now (why not use rockwork to hide it, Disney?): some due to vegetation cutback (cheetahs, okapi), some due to new animal paddocks (zebras, wild dogs), some due to private tour add-ons (hippos, gators).

Tour groups & their facilities, coupled with visible fencing, coupled with story-watering down/removal - I feel you now get only a vestige of extraordinary feeling the attraction delivered in the first half of its existence: that you were in the wilds of Africa.
 
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GeneralZod

GeneralZod

Well-Known Member
wannabeBelle said:
Hey there General, check out the pricing on the Tours. I recently paid just about $89 for the Keys tour and that was with an AP Discount. According to the Disneyworld website it is $99 dollars and I'm sure that pricing didn't include tax. I wonder which other ones have gone up in price that I haven't looked at lately!! Marie
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Yeah, sorry. I was just grabbing a quick list and understand that is probably out-of-date. I was simply curious as to the response as many of these have been around for a considerable amount of time.
Thanks for pointing that out though.
 
DisneyDebRob

DisneyDebRob

Well-Known Member
ford91exploder said:
Umm, no Behind the seeds at one time was a free first come first served experience. I remember being surprised when it became chargeable
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For me the Behind the Seeds tour was fantastic. Throw I n the cheap price and it is well worth it.
I believe DVC gets a 15% off for the new tour in AK. I may give that a try. Disney usually does tours very well, although some are way overpriced.
 
wannabeBelle

wannabeBelle

Well-Known Member
GeneralZod said:
Yeah, sorry. I was just grabbing a quick list and understand that is probably out-of-date. I was simply curious as to the response as many of these have been around for a considerable amount of time.
Thanks for pointing that out though.
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I did the same when I was looking into doing this tour again, I thought it was around $79, so it was a bit of a surprise!! Marie
 
Sonconato

Sonconato

Well-Known Member
The Empress Lilly said:
If I'm positive:

- This sort of experience is exactly what DAK should be all about! Animals, calm reflection, cultural representatives, a focus on a Disney as 'exquisite placemaking' rather than Disney as 'meet your favourite celeb toon character!' I would be genuinely excited about doing this tour.
- Tours are not upcharge events.
- I've always regretted that you can see many of the most charismatic animals only for twelve seconds from the discomfort of the truck. Whereas this tour allows for an up and close viewing with African elephants. Animals which, by their size and need for vast territory, are either absent from most zoos or miserably unhappy there.

If I'm negative:

- Why should it not be included in admission? If this is what DAK is all about, then why should it not be included? Lest we forget, even without any upcharge a WDW day is a fantastically expensive expenditure. Why should every experience be an extra charge?
- When the extraordinary becomes upcharged, nothing extraordinary will eventually be designed as included. One day, you will need to buy the $69.95 lightsaber to trigger any of the fun stuff at SWLand. (With an in-built chip that makes the saber valid for just 14 weeks, just like your cup)
- At the two treks there are animal experts explaining what's on view. Around DAK and World Showcase there are cultural representatives eager to share their culture with you. I learned all about Indo-European Hindi and Sanskrit right at DAK. Plus some Indian dance moves that give me immense swag on the dance floor! All of this is...normal. This is a premium and hugely expensive theme park.
- This further undermines the safari from an artistic and immersive perspective:

This could serve as an allegory for what happened to all of WDW: you build something exquisite, then you destroy it piece by tiny piece for a few pennies more, every quarter.

The Safari is one of WDW's crowning achievements. They had made their little Florida swamp look like you are riding out of the Congo forest onto the East African open plain. Yet, when you ride it now, you now have amateur Tarzans overhead on the rope bridge, there are viewing platforms everywhere, the view of the plain gives out on a platform filled with those people who look like they live in a trailer park but who fill up the luxury resorts and upcharge events.

You feel hemmed in. The illusion is shattered. It is still a good ride, but, similar to what has happened with EPCOT, Kilimanjaro risks going from a deep primal sensation to a fun theme park experience. The difference is subtle, very difficult to articulate, but somewhere along the way an elusive essence can be lost, with neither management nor most guests understanding or even being aware of what happened.
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Very well said.
 
Sonconato

Sonconato

Well-Known Member
GeneralZod said:
Were these all added to make up for the shortfall too?

"Backstage Magic- MK: Hollywood Studios:$243.89
Backstage Tales:$90
Behind the Seeds:$20
Disney’s The Magic Behind Our Steam Trains:$52.19
Disney Family Culinary Adventure:$175
Disney's Family Magic Tour:$34
Dolphins In Depth- Living Seas-:$206.61
Dive Quest-Living Seas-:$186.38
Seas Aqua Tour:$149.10
Escape to Walt's Wilderness:$109
Family Magic Tour:$34.00
The Floral Experience:$50
Gardens of the World:$63.90
Holiday D-Lights Tour:$199.00
Keys to the Kingdom- Magic Kingdom:$78.81
Savor the Savanna: Evening Safari Experience:$169
Sense of Africa:$249.99
Starlight Safari -:$70
Star Wars Tour:$129
The Ultimate Day of Thrills - A VIP Tour Experience:$299
The Ultimate Day for Young Families - A VIP Tour Experience:$299
The Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour:$199
The Undiscovered Future World:$58.58
Walt Disney: Marceline to Magic Kingdom:$35
Wanyama Safari:$170
Wild Africa Trek:$189
Wilderness Back Trail Adventure Segway Tour:$95.85
World Showcase DestiNations Discovered:$116.09
Yuletide Fantasy(Seasonal):$79.00
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Thank you for posting the prices, seeing them altogether is quite telling.
 
CJR

CJR

Well-Known Member
I don't mind these things really. I would never do it, but if someone really wants to spend $30 to see elephants at WDW, that's their choice. If no one bought tours, they'd either lower the price or not offer them. Might as well provide it for those who want it. If anything, that's a small group less ahead of you in line for Everest.

I do find it funny though that people will (and they will) pay $30 to see elephants. The Keys to the Kingdom tour doesn't really compare, because you see things you can't really see anywhere else. Elephants? Pretty sure they're at most zoos. I mean, some people will be like "but it's Disney" and to them, I offer my guide map for $20.
 
Minnesota disney fan

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
I just had to chime in and say that I found the remark by a previous poster that the people on the viewing decks at the safari ride looked like people living in a trailer park offensive. What? That remark was totally uncalled for. There are people who do actually live in all areas of this land, and trying to insinuate that those who live in trailer parks are somehow subpar is offensive to a lot of people. Just saying....................
 

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