Rumor New ride coming to Animal Kingdom. D23 announcement expected.

[ToTBellHop]

What's the guest satisfaction over/under on this thing? I'm not a big fan of rapid rides but this one is by far one of the worst, IMO. Not that my opinion has any bearing on overall guest satisfaction but I'm certainly one of those guests that don't find it all that satisfying; especially compared to a superior version at DCA and far superior version at Uni.

If memory serves I think I remember reading a quote where Disney even admitted Kali as being fairly tame. (Although I can't find the exact quote) Who wants a tame rapids ride? Should be called "Kali River Tepids"

I don’t think it’s one of the worst. Rapids rides are generally weak. Disney’s are better than most. Kali is merely Disney’s worst. Tiger Rapids Run would have been quite nice. And since the ride was built to be Asia’s E-ticket and the first “expansion” of the park (not exactly since it was already under construction when the park opened, but it opened just before the park’s first birthday) it shouldn’t have been value engineered.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It's ironic that the one raft ride in Orlando with animals is not at Disney's Animal Kingdom, even if it's just a small play area for some birds

 

[ToTBellHop]

It's ironic that the one raft ride in Orlando with animals is not at Disney's Animal Kingdom, even if it's just a small play area for some birds

View attachment 397840

I once saw a duck swimming by the truck before the drop. Does that count?

 

[jt04]

It really is disappointing since it's one of the most beautiful rides on property. The ride would be greatly improved if they brought back the effects and added a few more features in the logging scene. Right now the whole area feels empty and lifeless.

It is supposed to feel lifeless.

Which is why a complete reimagining might be the best option. IMO.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I once saw a duck swimming by the truck before the drop. Does that count?

Only if he was part of the Union.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I haven't ridden Kali in at least two years, but off the top of my head, here are some things that are missing or removed:

1. Originally the long lift was surrounded by bamboo on both sides that formed a canopy over it. Combined with heavy fog/mist machines, it made the ascent like going through a natural tunnel. It was cool and mysterious. These features were removed around 2012/2013. There's still mist, but nowhere near as thick as it was before.
2. Waterfall on the rocks that look like a tiger face after the lift.
3. The truck in the burn zone would spin its wheels trying to regain traction. Logs on the truckbed would slide out toward the rafts.
4. Several actual fire effects and a big fireball explosion as the rafts went down the drop.

Aside from these missing effects, a big reason Kali isn't that great is because of a severe lack of actual rapids. Most of the time the raft is just gently bobbing. What's funny is that the rapids are created by placing devices like tubes to agitate the water on the riverbed. They could very easily drain the water and add more of these. The ride is also pretty short for a rapids ride. It's a shame because the queue and ride are quite beautiful.

 

[Bocabear]

If they are not going to reinforce and restore the conservation story....replace the logging scene with temple ruins and Jungle Book overlay? I mean if they are DYING to get some IP into Animal Kingdom that would at least be non-offensive.. If the inside of the temple had an elaborate AA tableau of King Louie singing with Mowgli... It would add a catchy song to the ride and make it more fun...
Though I have to say this would be a better overlay for re-imagining the Jungle Cruise...

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The ride is also pretty short for a rapids ride. It's a shame because the queue and ride are quite beautiful.

After the Discovery River Boats, Kali River Rapids and Navi River Journey, will AK ever get a boat ride that isn't too short or underwhelming?

 

[raymusiccity]

I haven't ridden Kali in at least two years, but off the top of my head, here are some things that are missing or removed:

1. Originally the long lift was surrounded by bamboo on both sides that formed a canopy over it. Combined with heavy fog/mist machines, it made the ascent like going through a natural tunnel. It was cool and mysterious. These features were removed around 2012/2013. There's still mist, but nowhere near as thick as it was before.
2. Waterfall on the rocks that look like a tiger face after the lift.
3. The truck in the burn zone would spin its wheels trying to regain traction. Logs on the truckbed would slide out toward the rafts.
4. Several actual fire effects and a big fireball explosion as the rafts went down the drop.

Aside from these missing effects, a big reason Kali isn't that great is because of a severe lack of actual rapids. Most of the time the raft is just gently bobbing. What's funny is that the rapids are created by placing devices like tubes to agitate the water on the riverbed. They could very easily drain the water and add more of these. The ride is also pretty short for a rapids ride. It's a shame because the queue and ride are quite beautiful.

I haven't ridden Kali in at least two years, but off the top of my head, here are some things that are missing or removed:

1. Originally the long lift was surrounded by bamboo on both sides that formed a canopy over it. Combined with heavy fog/mist machines, it made the ascent like going through a natural tunnel. It was cool and mysterious. These features were removed around 2012/2013. There's still mist, but nowhere near as thick as it was before.
2. Waterfall on the rocks that look like a tiger face after the lift.
3. The truck in the burn zone would spin its wheels trying to regain traction. Logs on the truckbed would slide out toward the rafts.
4. Several actual fire effects and a big fireball explosion as the rafts went down the drop.

Aside from these missing effects, a big reason Kali isn't that great is because of a severe lack of actual rapids. Most of the time the raft is just gently bobbing. What's funny is that the rapids are created by placing devices like tubes to agitate the water on the riverbed. They could very easily drain the water and add more of these. The ride is also pretty short for a rapids ride. It's a shame because the queue and ride are quite beautiful.

I don't think Disney, or any other Park, is going to go much beyond bobbing and drops. It's been 10 years, but, they all probably took the incident in Texas to heart. There was a terrible accident involving the system that controlled the severity of the raft ride. The raft flipped, killing a woman and injuring 10 others. The accident occurred on the Roaring Rapids ride at Six Flags over Texas.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

If they are not going to reinforce and restore the conservation story....replace the logging scene with temple ruins and Jungle Book overlay? I mean if they are DYING to get some IP into Animal Kingdom that would at least be non-offensive.. If the inside of the temple had an elaborate AA tableau of King Louie singing with Mowgli... It would add a catchy song to the ride and make it more fun...
Though I have to say this would be a better overlay for re-imagining the Jungle Cruise...

There's a long-running joke on this site about King Louie being in The Jungle Cruise.

EDIT: Enjoy...

1971 Jungle Cruise: No More King Louie?

Now, I recently went back to Magic Kingdom after having not been since 71'. I distinctly remember King Louie sitting on the side of the river, he then asked if he could join our boat, (Obviously, he didn't but still). Also, when did they get rid of the crumbling entrance to Shirley's Temple? I...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[Texas84]

I rode Kali once. My memory of it was a slow boring boat ride with nothing to see that continuously dumps water on you. Once.

 

[rle4lunch]

I rode Kali once. My memory of it was a slow boring boat ride with nothing to see that continuously dumps water on you. Once.
View attachment 397953

I just used that gif the other day. I don't know if many people know that movie, so kudo's to you sir.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

I must have the worst luck. I always get absolutely soaked to the bone on Kali, but I'm almost always only one of maybe two guests in the raft who do.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Oh, to add to my previous post, another bad thing about Kali is the disproportion of the distribution of wetness on the raft. two to four riders will get absolutely drenched as they hit the bottom of the drop backwards. The seats around them will get moderately wet. The other half of the boat will end up with only a few splashes and almost completely dry.

I don't think Disney, or any other Park, is going to go much beyond bobbing and drops. It's been 10 years, but, they all probably took the incident in Texas to heart. There was a terrible accident involving the system that controlled the severity of the raft ride. The raft flipped, killing a woman and injuring 10 others. The accident occurred on the Roaring Rapids ride at Six Flags over Texas.

That was due to the raft being not fully inflated. Infinity Falls just opened at SeaWorld Orlando and has plenty of choppy rapids.

 

[No Name]

Another problem with Kali River Rapids is that there’s far more time after the first and only drop than before it, so riders are expecting something else reasonably exciting, probably another drop, and are left thinking “oh, that’s all?”. The poor pacing of the ride doesn’t help the fact that it’s quite short. I hope it’s improved but they’ll probably just add jungle book characters and call it a day.

 

[eddie104]

I think Kali River Rapids is least of AK worries imo.

 

[SaveDinosaur]

I think that it's time for a new @marni1971 tribute and history of Kali River Rapids

 

[BlakeW39]

Since everyone's talking about Kali, I'll bite;

Kali River Rapids was designed to be Tiger River Run - the Asian counterpart to the iconic Kilimanjaro Safaris. So the rapids would presumably tame and the focus and draw of the ride would be that of Kilimanjaro Safaris. I presume that much like the poacher storyline of the Safari, the deforestation story of this ride would havw been secondary to wildlife.

The problem is that Tiger River Run was a poorly thought out ride. Rapids rides are not a good ride system for animal encountering; it's a terrible one. The rapids are problematic for the animals themselves, because they're loud and will cause stress for animal inhabitants, and the speed and general way of a rapid ride takes away from animal viewing; such a ride would need to be done with a boat similar to Jungle Cruise. So with that scrapped, you have Kali River Rapids.

Kali River Rapids is barebones as a concept without the animals. It is barebones because it:

1. Is too tame to rely all too much on thrills.
2. Does not have 'scenes' - only one. Scenes make the ride exciting, grandiose scenes are the fun climaxes of the ride. In Kali, there is only one scene so the rest is just wandering along a river; beautiful filler.
3. Is very thin on plot.
4. Without thrills, is far too short.

That said, if they put some money into it, it'd be a really good ride.

 

[rle4lunch]

Since everyone's talking about Kali, I'll bite;

Kali River Rapids was designed to be Tiger River Run - the Asian counterpart to the iconic Kilimanjaro Safaris. So the rapids would presumably tame and the focus and draw of the ride would be that of Kilimanjaro Safaris. I presume that much like the poacher storyline of the Safari, the deforestation story of this ride would havw been secondary to wildlife.

The problem is that Tiger River Run was a poorly thought out ride. Rapids rides are not a good ride system for animal encountering; it's a terrible one. The rapids are problematic for the animals themselves, because they're loud and will cause stress for animal inhabitants, and the speed and general way of a rapid ride takes away from animal viewing; such a ride would need to be done with a boat similar to Jungle Cruise. So with that scrapped, you have Kali River Rapids.

Kali River Rapids is barebones as a concept without the animals. It is barebones because it:

1. Is too tame to rely all too much on thrills.
2. Does not have 'scenes' - only one. Scenes make the ride exciting, grandiose scenes are the fun climaxes of the ride. In Kali, there is only one scene so the rest is just wandering along a river; beautiful filler.
3. Is very thin on plot.
4. Without thrills, is far too short.

That said, if they put some money into it, it'd be a really good ride.

To make it a good ride, it needs another minute or so ride time.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Since everyone's talking about Kali, I'll bite;

Kali River Rapids was designed to be Tiger River Run - the Asian counterpart to the iconic Kilimanjaro Safaris. So the rapids would presumably tame and the focus and draw of the ride would be that of Kilimanjaro Safaris. I presume that much like the poacher storyline of the Safari, the deforestation story of this ride would havw been secondary to wildlife.

The problem is that Tiger River Run was a poorly thought out ride. Rapids rides are not a good ride system for animal encountering; it's a terrible one. The rapids are problematic for the animals themselves, because they're loud and will cause stress for animal inhabitants, and the speed and general way of a rapid ride takes away from animal viewing; such a ride would need to be done with a boat similar to Jungle Cruise. So with that scrapped, you have Kali River Rapids.

Kali River Rapids is barebones as a concept without the animals. It is barebones because it:

1. Is too tame to rely all too much on thrills.
2. Does not have 'scenes' - only one. Scenes make the ride exciting, grandiose scenes are the fun climaxes of the ride. In Kali, there is only one scene so the rest is just wandering along a river; beautiful filler.
3. Is very thin on plot.
4. Without thrills, is far too short.

That said, if they put some money into it, it'd be a really good ride.

The problems with Tiger River Run are no excuse for Kali to be an extremely weak and disappointing ride.

Grizzly River Run doesn't have any animals, show scenes or animatronics either, but it's still an incredibly fun ride.

If the right amount of money had been spent on Kali, it could've been that as well