Poor DAK! Recent Trip Observations

jakeman

Well-Known Member
But recently all of the effects that are broken on almost everyride in the park kind ruins some of the once great theme.

As far as I know there are only two attractions that have major elements missing at the moment: E: E and Dinosaur. While unacceptable, it is far from "all of the effects...on almost every ride in the park".

The frozen Yeti and countless missing effects in Dino beg to differ.:lookaroun:lol:
Please see above.

Two attractions with, albeit serious, effects problems does not constitute DAK "falling apart".
 
The effects on Everest are very annoying. I could forgive Disney for the issues with the Yeti if everything else worked. But no waterfall 1. No snow (mist) effect on the peaks. No bird on a stick - which is an effect so basic and simple Walt could have done it 55 years ago at DL and he would have done it better. I don't get it. There has to be some reason why Disney spent untold millions on this ride only to neglect it just 3 years into its life!

I just got back yesterday, and while I was on Everest I was thinking the same thing. I've only seen the bird on the stick and the Yeti work maybe once or twice and I go to Disney twice a year. It's ridiculous that they let this ride go so early in its life. I don't get it. I wish they would fix all the problems ASAP I totally agree.
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
I spit my drink out to that. Job well done.

*takes bow* Hope it wasn't pop though, I'd imagine that would be hard to clean off a computer.

I think there is a simple solution for animal kingdom, but for whatever reason TDO is unwilling to throw the fund in this direction. All that is needed is a people eating attraction. Just something to hold down the fort while they are able to take down E:E for a refurb, then Dino, then KS. These attractions need help, but without a new attraction, they will not be able to take them down.

The year EE opened the park saw an 8.6% increase in attendance. As much as the park existed before then, it probably wouldn't handle the crowds now with EE down well, or maybe a drop in attendance would happen?

I agree AK needs more of everything at this point (especially a people eating attraction) and closing Pocahontas without a replacement doesn't help capacity.

Maybe a new show there could help? Then again, we saw what happened last time when Disney made a "distraction show" while a major E-Ticket was down.
 

rodserling27

Well-Known Member
I really just can't believe the Yeti has been down for so long. Sure, there was an increase in attendance at the park, and yes, it was miserably hot and crowded before E:E, but it would be better for ALL of us in the long run if they fixed the problems and just freaking delt with the pain in the butt in the short run.
I'm not even that impressed with E:E as a coaster...sure it's fun, but what really made it for me were the special effects the first time I rode it. The Yeti at the and made the whole wait worth it. And now it's just a fun coaster with mediocre, or sometimes NO, special effects. Nothing better than Hershey Park or Six Flags, in my opinion.

My thoughts: Shut it down for 6 months from January - June. Re-open with fixed things and new Yeti, and we will probably stop complaining.
 

pheneix

Well-Known Member
If you felt that you had a subpar driver then I hope that you spoke to guest relations about it. It does sound like you had a bad driver that missed several of the audio pucks. The one that now triggers the African music can be tricky to hit sometimes.

That would be a pretty good explanation. The driver was simply awful. She sounded completely uninterested in the experience and even blew the pronunciation of several animal names.

You're right that the old script wasn't spectacular either, but at least it gave the ride a decent ending and to an extent did a pretty decent job of exposing guests to the horrors of poaching (especially in the really old days when Big Red died). They could have corrected the flaws in the story and made the experience even more meaningful. Instead they took the cowards way out and dumbed the whole thing down.

When it comes down to it, most guest don't want to chase poachers. They didn't before the script changes and they don't after the script changes. They just want to see animals.

The ride could have accomplished both goals handedly, and for not a lot of money too. With regards to guest expectations, the guest has no idea what they want. They can't imagine in their wildest dreams the experience that Kilimanjaro Safari was and in many ways still is. Do they read the description of the ride on Disney's website and approach the ride with the singular goal of just looking at animals? More than likely. Could Disney have fulfilled that expectation while also delivering an experience above and beyond just seeing animals in a pretty landscape? Hell yes. Rhino Rally's finale is MUCH better than Kilimanjaro Safari's ending has ever been. The water element catches everyone by surprise and completely salvages what is otherwise a pretty awful safari tour.
 

Kev1417

Active Member
quick question...why can't they just light up the Yeti even though it's not working? you can't see anything with just the strobe lights going, especially during the day when your coming from bright sunlight into a dark room. I have heard countless people ask where the Yeti was while getting off the ride. So just light up the thing even if it's not working properly. It's still impressive even if it's not working the right way.
 

MythBuster

Active Member
I really just can't believe the Yeti has been down for so long. Sure, there was an increase in attendance at the park, and yes, it was miserably hot and crowded before E:E, but it would be better for ALL of us in the long run if they fixed the problems and just freaking delt with the pain in the butt in the short run.
I'm not even that impressed with E:E as a coaster...sure it's fun, but what really made it for me were the special effects the first time I rode it. The Yeti at the and made the whole wait worth it. And now it's just a fun coaster with mediocre, or sometimes NO, special effects. Nothing better than Hershey Park or Six Flags, in my opinion.

My thoughts: Shut it down for 6 months from January - June. Re-open with fixed things and new Yeti, and we will probably stop complaining.

But are you complaining to the right people? You need to complain to Guest Relations about maintenance issues or things that are broken Then it will get forwarded to management and if enough people complain it will be noticed and maybe they will do something about it. People only complain when a ride is broken down for a while, but never complain about show items, so maintenance thinks as long as the ride is running it doesn't affect guest satisfaction.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
We were riding Kilimanjaro Safaris in the first week of December, and we got on the ride, right at parade time. We were the only people on the ride so we got to talking up the driver, and asking him all sorts of questions on the ride.

One of them was about the bridge and he said that on busy weekends (and he used Thanksgiving weekend as an example) they will dispatch the vehicles at a quicker rate than the cycle time for the bridge. For that reason they will shut it off, as it's not deemed an integral show element.
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
I think the strobe is supposed to make the Yeti look like he's moving as you wiz by it.


either that or it's a tribute to the disco era.
 

rodserling27

Well-Known Member
But are you complaining to the right people? You need to complain to Guest Relations about maintenance issues or things that are broken Then it will get forwarded to management and if enough people complain it will be noticed and maybe they will do something about it. People only complain when a ride is broken down for a while, but never complain about show items, so maintenance thinks as long as the ride is running it doesn't affect guest satisfaction.

Excellent point. I should start sending my e-mails to Guest Relations instead. Thanks!!

We should ALL do it! :)

either that or it's a tribute to the disco era.
This. Absolutely. C'mon, you know how they love to boogie down!
 

EpcotServo

Well-Known Member
While it's a major shame, Special Effects have never been even a moderate fraction of what makes Animal Kingdom special.

I do wise they'd revise the decisons they made on Safaris' story though. Namely returning the radio to it's previous location.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Worst part of all is that during initial construction of the Animal Kingdom the plan was to build either Beastly Kingdom or Countdown to Extinction, with the other being added later. Team synergy won out on this one and CTX/Dinosaur was built. Just think, we could be having the 400th thread of "Dinoland coming to AK!!" Of course, Michael Eisner would have gone over to Islands of Adventure and realized, "uh oh, they have Jurassic Park, we can't build a Dinosaur themed area..."
Kind of... BK was being built along with the Dinosaur Discovery land. Said land had a sedate indoor / outdoor Dinosaur AA ride. BK was axed, Excavator was axed, and the park needed a thrill ride. The Dino ride went indoors, and borrowed the tech and track being built for Indy at DL. A cheap fix, a new thrill ride, and CTX was born.
 

Exprcoofto

New Member
It's pretty bad when I'll be stopping by nearly every Guest Relations to complain about something. I'm not a person that likes to complain, but if it takes the guest voices to get things changed, them I'm game.

Magic Kingdom will probably be the largest complaint. From the horribly executed Space Mountain refurb, to the crappy tour narration on TTA, and finally, all the stupid M&G's coming to Fantasyland. I have many points I want to bring up to them too.

At Animal Kingdom, basically everything said here in this thread is what I'll address. (besides the vegetation, seeing that it may be fixed after Mother Nature takes her course) But all the problems on Everest & Dino need to be complained about, and I'll also bring up the point about another new E-Ticket attraction. While it's not a complaint, it's something that I feel should be brought up more often.

DHS & EPCOT also have flaws (of course) which I'll bring up, but they are not as major as AK & MK. I'm sure they'll love me after my trip in April :lol:
 

misterID

Well-Known Member
Kind of... BK was being built along with the Dinosaur Discovery land. Said land had a sedate indoor / outdoor Dinosaur AA ride. BK was axed, Excavator was axed, and the park needed a thrill ride. The Dino ride went indoors, and borrowed the tech and track being built for Indy at DL. A cheap fix, a new thrill ride, and CTX was born.

*sigh* That's exactly the problem. That's the way its been all the way to the Space Mountain refurb.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the other parks weren't getting actual love and original attractions.
 

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Magic Kingdom will probably be the largest complaint. From the horribly executed Spam Mountain refurb, to the crappy tour narration on TTA, and finally, all the stupid M&G's coming to Fantasyland. I have many points I want to bring up to them too.

City Hall doesn't take these kinds of complaints anymore. If you try, you'll get a business card with Guest Relations email and regular mail addresses.

If you want to be heard, send the snail mail.
 

Exprcoofto

New Member
City Hall doesn't take these kinds of complaints anymore. If you try, you'll get a business card with Guest Relations email and regular mail addresses.

If you want to be heard, send the snail mail.

That's just even more stupid than the complaints itself. I would've said that the best way to file a complaint is in person, then the next level would be snail mail, then finally the easy email way. Maybe I'll complain about that too.

So... snail mail it is. Does anyone have the address to send all of these complaints to? And... do I send a different letter for the different issues, or not?
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom