Trip Report: Animal Kingdom

[Chad]

Just a quick note...Not meant to rattle anyone, just my opinions on some of the things said here:

EPCOT and Animal Kingdom are REALITY type parks, they are both about education of some sort. Would you rather be spoon feed some sugar-coated FAKE story? Or be told the truth?

I'm proud that the American Adventure stresses both the negative and the positive, America has done some horrible things in the past, and it would be wrong to just *gloss* over them. While we are still a great country, we need to learn from our mistakes..

As for Animal Kingdom...Once again, it is the truth...Rain Forests are being burnt to the ground every day, poachers are driving animals to extinction..I hardly think they are CRAMMING anything down your throat by adding a 3 minute story to a 30 minute ride..And I could further argue that the logging scene adds not only an educational element, but also, an element of thrill. Fire is always thrilling.

I know it may be ugly, but sometimes ugly things need attention, this happens to be one of the things.

Disney's Show was called 'True life adventures' not 'Candy Coated happy stories' life isn't a walk in the park, and Animal Kingdom is a Different species of park, not just a fantasyland.

 

[no2apprentice]

Great trip report. Makes me feel like I was there just last week. Wait! I was!:lol:

There was one complaint my whole family had about the safari ride...too fast! I know that they need to keep the trucks moving on schedule, but it seemed like when everybody got their cameras focused to get a great shot of a lion...CLICK went the shutter along with the gas pedal, and you had a great shot of the head of the passenger next to you or the roof of the truck.

I agree that the burning rainforest needed to be somewhere else, not on the Kali River Rapids. As far as the poaching skit, I don't mind it, but I do think it could be presented better.

After all, EPCOT has rides that are supposed to educate, as well as entertain. Why not use the same concept for AK? I don't want to be hit over the head with P/C stuff either, but poaching is a serious threat to some magnificent animals. It would be a tragedy if 50 years from now, my sons were taking their grandchildren on the "African Elephant and Gorilla: Countdown is Over to Extinction" Ride at the AK.

 

[SilentRascal]

Originally posted by njchris65
SilentRascal... no offense, but you don't seem to like much about the Disney parks unless it has thrill rides. Don't get me wrong, I *love* thrill rides, but there are MANY ways to enjoy yourself in life, that's just one of many.

I didn't go to AK on the two trips after it opened. I thought there was nothing to do there. On my third trip after AK was already open, I went and am glad I did! It's now part of my parks to visit when I go to orlando (I go to MK, EPcot, MGM, AK, IOA, USF)

I loved the safari and the animals. I got closeups of the gorilla and baby gorilla on my camcorder. I was in awe. How could you not appreciate these amazing animals? I don't see the same theming at a zoo. Nor any of the shows/rides either. So to compare it to a zoo is silly.

I love the theming of all of the Disney Parks. Even AK. I find it to be a beautiful place, but just don't feel that most of the attractions there are anything special that would separate it from a local amusement park. I've never been one for live shows, I feel they're a waste of time. Some of my favorite Disney rides can hardly be included as "thrill rides", so your assumption there is quite inaccurate. Regardless of how AK is dressed up....it IS a zoo. You can see those same gorillas at a zoo, or any of those other animals for that matter. Animal Kingdom is one of the prettiest zoos anyone can go to, but in the end, that's what it is. It's not ALL it is, but it is a zoo. To say otherwise is wrong.

 

[figmentbaby]

Ok. I just want to add that I LOVE the AK, but, like every Disney park that had recently opened, lacks the amount of rides compared to the other "built up" parks. It takes about 5-10 years (approximately, maybe less) to have a fully developed park. I mean don't get me wrong...I think the AK is wonderful and exciting, but I could not spend the entire day there like I could at Magic Kingdom. It is honestly still a great park!

 

[Maria]

Originally posted by njchris65
Maybe it's me, but I don't understand how anyone can go on one of the rides with the CMs doing a bit and not enjoy it even if they are bad actors/actresses. For me, it's a matter of letting go of the cynical eye and just enjoy being on vacation!

I didn´t mean to criticize the cm´s working the safari. I was saying that the recorded part is not that good, and when cast members make very obvious that it is a recording, it doesn´t produce the same effect and makes you actually want to shut that recording off, and let the cm explain by himself what you are seeing.

As opposed to that, Great Movie Ride has a very good speech. The cast members there have to memorize the whoooole thing and act it too, and I don´t see why they couldn´t do the same with Kilimanjaro Safari and let the cast members tell the message and comment on the ride when they want to as well.
:animwink:

 

[Chad]

But what if you get a CM that is kinda boring because he's been working for a long shift? The recording gives a little variation. I think the ride is wonderful, defintely one of the bets on property. You are in Africa when you're on that ride

 

[Maria]

Originally posted by Chad
But what if you get a CM that is kinda boring because he's been working for a long shift? The recording gives a little variation. I think the ride is wonderful, defintely one of the bets on property. You are in Africa when you're on that ride

Oh well.. that´s another story and the managers should take care of that. I had 10 hour long shifts at the mexican boatride and it did get boring, monotonous, etc., and we tried our best to make it fun and to convince the managers that we needed shorter shifts. I´m almost positive that since these guys and girls are driving, the shifts should be shorter, and hey, excuse me for saying this, but no matter how bored you are, the guests should´t notice it. I personally would be more fed up working with the same recording for a whole shift, than if they allowed me to interact more with the guests.

 

[Chad]

True But if I remember correctly, it did allow ALOT of interaction, there where only a few radio interjections, and most of it WAS the CM...

 

[Disneynutcase]

Hey, for you CM's and former CM types:

I like Maria's logic, and a thought just popped in my head. Why is it that Jungle Cruise has worked so well over the years? It's not the script (which is relatively good) or even the bad jokes (some of which we've heard in various forms again and again). It's the interaction.

So the question is, this ride's been around forever. Why is it that in almost all cases the CM's performing on this ride seem so much better than on things like Safari and GMR?

Think back. How many times has your Jungle Cruise guide ever really looked ahead at the actual ride? Mostly they have their backs turned to everything and are facing us. And they'll groan along with us with every bad pun they make. It's all part of the interaction.

That's what makes this ride fun. GMR seemed to want to do something like this, but gets a little weird with the "switch-off" drama. It's not jokey enough, I guess, and it doesn't really involve the passengers. Yet I thought that our guide eventually did a nice interaction with the Wicked Witch of the West that made people chuckle. In fact, this was everyone in our party's favorite part of the ride.

Kilimanjaro Safari's is just such a great ride as it is. How often do we get to see wild animals like this?

And I guess Maria and Chad made me realize, at least on my ride, that the CM/Guide never really got us riders involved in the poacher story. Part of the problem is the zoom-zoom format of the ride. We're always dashing to the next animal. And it's a lot to take in.

Now I've only been on the ride just one time. But it seems as if the poacher story doesn't really interact well with the riders--not like it should--and I guess that's were it offends me. It's like they want to cram a message in, but are fence-sitting on how to go about doing it. Therefore, some rides on Safari obviously end up kind of half hearted and, to me, the message about poachers and endangered species seems to get diluted. It is indeed an important message. But the failure here is all in the lack of how they actually engage us with this message.

For a guy like Dogsrule, he's sensitive to these issues so he's already in an "Amen, Brother" mode when this scripted stuff goes down. For others caught off guard, which I kind of was (I knew they did this kind of drama but expected it to be more effectively done), it makes you kind of go, "Huh? What am I supposed to be paying attention to here?"

Deep down, I have a feeling that they will eventually re-do this ride in some way--come up with a better routine or a better script or a more engaging way to make their message come across.

AK is still a baby. It has plenty of room and time to grow and should at least be commended for trying to make things both fun and educational.
And they should also be applauded for having the guts to take these kind of chances with their patrons. Mistakes and small errors in judgement are okay, just as long as they keep tooling with the ideas to get them better and better.

After all, if they didn't change anything, we'd still be seeing a dead baby elephant at the end of the ride. And all I gotta say about that is "Ew!" which I think is what they were going for, but again grossing people out and making children cry (which was happening) to that extent isn't the most effective way to get the message across.

If only one or two people about it, then it's probably their problem. But if it creates mass negativity (even if it's just slightly negative posts like on this thread), then it just ain't well done. It's all in the execution, baby!

 

[TURKEY]

One thing when the Jungle Cruise is that it is on a track and really can't go anywhere. The big problem with interacting with guests on the Safari is that everything around is real. Animals can walk in front of the trucks at any time so much more attention has to be paid to the surroundings than somewhere like JC.

 

[Maria]

Good point Turkey! That´s a good reason why now....

 

[Chad]

Since you've only been on it once, perhaps you got a dud?
I've been on it 20+ times, and I've gotten maybe, 2 CMs who werent very convinicing..One of which was on his first day, and stilll not completely familiar with the script, perhaps you got the same.

I haven't heard many people '' about this ride until you brought it up, other then this, I've heard nothing but wonderful comments.

Excluding the plane and poacher script would leave the ride....barren in my opinion, it wouldn't be nearly as fun..The poachers give it a story, and I don't think it should be altered.

 

[cm1988]

Nahtarant

Originally posted by DogsRule!
...Done ranting.

If that was a rant, Dogs, we need more of them. Great post. Full of information and insight... thank you.

 

[cm1988]

Originally posted by Disneynutcase
......they orignally had a way too jarring end effect with an actual dead elephant (apparantly "Little Red" once bit it). But our friend claimed that a lot of people found it very upsetting, therefore the dead elephant was removed....

One wonders what ever became of that prop.

Perhaps this was to be the next generation of the "Bambi's mother" tragedy. Regardless, my hat's off to the writers and designers who felt so strongly about the tragic, criminal poaching of ivory as to want to 'bring it home' to others. Maybe it shouldn't have been done at DAK... but I do believe their intentions were good.