News Structure built in Kilimanjaro Safaris?

UNCgolf

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Pi on my Cake said:
Goats?

I know there's been on again off again rumors for the last decade of closing the Planet Watch and just keeping the hospital stuff back stage. I imagine in a post covid world of budget cuts getting rid of the guest areas of Planet Watch would get rid of a lot of extra cast with relatively low negative effects on guest satisfaction.

The Goats are the main draw of the petting zoo. Moving them to the safari would be saving the biggest "loss" of Planet Watch closing.

Plus, that would give a decent sized expansion pad for Animal Kingdom after budgets start to rebound enough to start building new things again.

Obviously I would prefer that nothing was closed until they are ready to start construction on a replacement. But Planet Watch isn't exactly the most popular thing in the park.

(None of this is inside info. All my friend of a friend, grain of salt source has said is they heard a story being added mostly through script/narration changes with maybe small additions towards the end that may or may no include animals. This is just me speculating)
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I don't think Planet Watch is a feasible area for an expansion any time in the near future.

Even ignoring the fact that it would require moving all the veterinary facilities elsewhere, there's no easy way to get people up there. Get rid of the train and build a path and that is a long walk through nothing both there and back -- keep the train and you're severely limiting access. They'd have to do a ton of other construction at Animal Kingdom before it would make sense to build anything new up there.

Some of that area also abuts the Safari, and they really can't build anything there for animal welfare purposes.
 
JoeCamel

JoeCamel

Well-Known Member
Magic Feather said:
I know there is a size limit (minimum and maximum) for what animals can actually be along the safari ride path (able to cross), and for some reason I feel like goats would be too small. Then again, the Springbok are okay, so maybe they would work? Regardless, goats just feel like they would be a weird finale.
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Move a lion in there with the goats and you would have a finale
 
T

techgeek

Well-Known Member
UNCgolf said:
I don't think Planet Watch is a feasible area for an expansion any time in the near future.

Even ignoring the fact that it would require moving all the veterinary facilities elsewhere, there's no easy way to get people up there. Get rid of the train and build a path and that is a long walk through nothing both there and back -- keep the train and you're severely limiting access. They'd have to do a ton of other construction at Animal Kingdom before it would make sense to build anything new up there.

Some of that area also abuts the Safari, and they really can't build anything there for animal welfare purposes.
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I often wish there was some form of walking access to viewpoints for at least some of the more 'far flung' KS enclosures.

The elephants are typically only seen at a relative distance from the Safari, and there's no other viewing access to them at all. Especially if it were under the 'backstage' conceit of Conservation Station, from aerials it looks like it wouldn't be hard to route a walking path over to the Elephant care area and provide guests a way to view them in a static and more leisurely fashion.

Maybe the lion enclosure could be incorporated as well? Getting just a glimpse of a lion while zipping by on a truck is a let down compared to the 'up-close' lion experience at Busch Gardens, for instance.
 
_caleb

_caleb

Well-Known Member
techgeek said:
I often wish there was some form of walking access to viewpoints for at least some of the more 'far flung' KS enclosures.

The elephants are typically only seen at a relative distance from the Safari, and there's no other viewing access to them at all. Especially if it were under the 'backstage' conceit of Conservation Station, from aerials it looks like it wouldn't be hard to route a walking path over to the Elephant care area and provide guests a way to view them in a static and more leisurely fashion.

Maybe the lion enclosure could be incorporated as well? Getting just a glimpse of a lion while zipping by on a truck is a let down compared to the 'up-close' lion experience at Busch Gardens, for instance.
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Disney’s lions are equity performers.
 
Magic Feather

Magic Feather

Well-Known Member
On further investigation, I’m really starting to like the goat theory. Here is a list of evidence that would support it.
  1. Goats are on average larger than Springbok, so they would likely be okay to have access to the truck’s path.
  2. The structure doesn’t appear to have any actual access points (all doors and windows appear purely decorative), so this would just have to be a prop building. So, what kind of animal would need a prop building?
  3. Goats often need stimulating terrain in their habitats whether natural or man made. Think of the raised platforms in the Planet Watch or Goats on a Roof in Pigeon Forge.
  4. The structure recently had a canopy added to the front that added additional flat roof space that goats could be on top of, plus, the elevated space is good for viewing goats from the truck because they are smaller animals.

  5. The only counter evidence that I can think of is that goats would be a rather lackluster finale to the safari, unless they were incorporated into some type of story.
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
It should be my “home park,” I haven’t been in 5 years, I wave at it every time I’m on a trip to Cedar Point, Kings Island or Dollywood all of which I typically visit multiple times a year.
 
T

techgeek

Well-Known Member
Magic Feather said:
The structure doesn’t appear to have any actual access points (all doors and windows appear purely decorative), so this would just have to be a prop building. So, what kind of animal would need a prop building?
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My first thought when I saw pictures of this thing was that it looked an awful lot like a shipping container. Something like that could make a good sturdy 'building block' for such a use, and explain how it showed up so quickly as well. Maybe it's coming from an animal care budget and not a CapEx one, so it could be done relatively on the cheap compared to typical Disney construction.
 

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