Rant: Kilimanjaro Safari from Hell!

[MSTINKHERBELL01]

Wonderful Post!:sohappy: Thank you Sweetheart!

I was a Safari Driver back in 2002-2003. I was part-time and trained for two weeks. My trainer let me move at my own speed. He commented that I caught on better than others, but that the training was tailored to the student. If you needed another day, you got one. If you just were not cutting it, you were transferred. It happens to a lot of people because of the difficulty of the ride.

The trucks are relatively easy to drive once you're comfortable with them. I think the hardest thing about it is that you only have 4 feet of room around them to maneuver. Once you're used to it though, it's second nature.

It is inevitable that everyone driver isn't perfect everytime, but I do think that continually problems is another item. I can remember when they forgot to bump me off a truck and I was on my 8th safari... figure about 23 minutes a safari - I was looking at almost 4 hours and I really had to go to the bathroom. I received a magical moment on that ride because I made someone's experience. That is what disney is about. It certainly isn't about negativity as I've seen from this post.

Please report the CM's that do not give you that experience. It is what makes our job worth it.

They pay safari drivers 6.70 an hour to be responsible for 30 guests every 23 minutes while giving a 20 minute spiel supplemented by large amounts of animal facts. The drivers need to master not only driving the vehicle, but also show... and the ability to be alert and identify animals. They're responding to radio calls, while interacting with guests, animals, and a spiel.
I love that ride and I loved that job. It was all about the Experience though. Cast members that forget that ruin it for the rest of us.

-Megan

 

[JoeyGuacamole]

Man that's bad, I had an experience on the Safari, not nearly as bad though.

I had been working as a CP and my parents had come down to visit me, the whole time hypeing them up for the safari. When I finnally get them on the ride, the driver (I forget her name) didn't know her lines, and seemed very nervous. At the end, she swerved and hit a rock, nearly sending the entire car on to it's side. I got them to go on the ride again near the end of their stay and everything was better, including a giraffe coming right up to the car.