Updates on Kilamanjaro Safaris Refurb?

Brian_WDW74

Brian_WDW74

Member
According to the South Florida Water Management District site, an application for "Animal Kingdom Kilimanjaro Safari Modification" was received on April 19. But it is still under Initial Review and has not yet been approved.
 
fillerup

fillerup

Well-Known Member
Just wanted to throw in some info from two days ago from riding KS twice and talking afterward to some CMs. The drivers who are contributing to this thread can feel free to confirm, deny, or amend what I'm repeating.

As others have said, both sides of the ride - both before and after the geysers have been sodded. Lots of underbrush that could have been poisonous to the animals needed to be removed and sod was needed to prevent erosion. To be honest, if you threw in a couple benches and a picnic table you'd have yourself a darn nice little park - it looks really nice and green in there.

In addition to the Grant zebras that we're used to, there will be a second species (or subspecies I guess) in the new area. If I was told what the second one will be, I don't remember.

As of 4/30, the drivers will be delivering a temporary spiel until September when a new permanent spiel begins. The temp one will be something along the lines of "As you can see, the reserve is being prepared to get some new animals." The people I talked to said they thought it was a little lame but probably the best that could be done given the construction.


Side note - these two rides may have been the best ever out of the more than a hundred we've been on. Great drivers and I can't think of a single animal we didn't see.

I don't know if it's new procedure or luck of the draw, but both drivers came to a complete stop at almost every point that animals were visible. In fact, our second safari, which ended a little past 7pm lasted almost 40 minutes.

And finally, whatever the handlers are doing to keep animals visible until the bitter end is great. Even going on 7pm, there were lots of giraffes and elephants to be seen, along with the lions and cheetahs and rhinos.
 
dreamscometrue

dreamscometrue

Well-Known Member
fillerup said:
I don't know if it's new procedure or luck of the draw, but both drivers came to a complete stop at almost every point that animals were visible. In fact, our second safari, which ended a little past 7pm lasted almost 40 minutes.

And finally, whatever the handlers are doing to keep animals visible until the bitter end is great. Even going on 7pm, there were lots of giraffes and elephants to be seen, along with the lions and cheetahs and rhinos.
Click to expand...

These 2 paragraphs are really interesting. I can't imagine that they are planning a permanent 40 minute safari, although adding some time to the current length would be great. Do you have any idea why your safaris were longer?
 
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
dreamscometrue said:
These 2 paragraphs are really interesting. I can't imagine that they are planning a permanent 40 minute safari, although adding some time to the current length would be great. Do you have any idea why your safaris were longer?
Click to expand...

We went on one of the last safaris of the day last June, and our driver stopped a number of times. At one point he commented that it was because there weren't more trucks coming up behind us. It may have been 5 minutes longer than a typical safari, but it certainly wasn't 40 minutes long...

Sounds more like a "magical moment" type of thing as a bonus to the Guests.

-Rob
 
Tip Top Club

Tip Top Club

Well-Known Member
fillerup said:
Just wanted to throw in some info from two days ago from riding KS twice and talking afterward to some CMs. The drivers who are contributing to this thread can feel free to confirm, deny, or amend what I'm repeating.

As others have said, both sides of the ride - both before and after the geysers have been sodded. Lots of underbrush that could have been poisonous to the animals needed to be removed and sod was needed to prevent erosion. To be honest, if you threw in a couple benches and a picnic table you'd have yourself a darn nice little park - it looks really nice and green in there.

In addition to the Grant zebras that we're used to, there will be a second species (or subspecies I guess) in the new area. If I was told what the second one will be, I don't remember.

As of 4/30, the drivers will be delivering a temporary spiel until September when a new permanent spiel begins. The temp one will be something along the lines of "As you can see, the reserve is being prepared to get some new animals." The people I talked to said they thought it was a little lame but probably the best that could be done given the construction.


Side note - these two rides may have been the best ever out of the more than a hundred we've been on. Great drivers and I can't think of a single animal we didn't see.

I don't know if it's new procedure or luck of the draw, but both drivers came to a complete stop at almost every point that animals were visible. In fact, our second safari, which ended a little past 7pm lasted almost 40 minutes.

And finally, whatever the handlers are doing to keep animals visible until the bitter end is great. Even going on 7pm, there were lots of giraffes and elephants to be seen, along with the lions and cheetahs and rhinos.
Click to expand...

All of this is correct, there will actually be at least three different species of zebra in the new area, from what I've gathered. Unfortunately I've not been able to confirm exactly which, but honestly, it doesn't matter so much, they're Zebras.

I can pretty much guarantee that you forty minute tour was due to some animals in the road, There have been no procedure changes as far as that goes, it's still 22 minutes. That being said, at night, when there are less trucks out there, I'm sure they feel free to take their time if they are not causing delays to the trucks behind them.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Tip Top Club said:
All of this is correct, there will actually be at least three different species of zebra in the new area, from what I've gathered. Unfortunately I've not been able to confirm exactly which, but honestly, it doesn't matter so much, they're Zebras.

I can pretty much guarantee that you forty minute tour was due to some animals in the road, There have been no procedure changes as far as that goes, it's still 22 minutes. That being said, at night, when there are less trucks out there, I'm sure they feel free to take their time if they are not causing delays to the trucks behind them.
Click to expand...

Well, I assume one will be Grant's Zebra.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Tip Top Club said:
All of this is correct, there will actually be at least three different species of zebra in the new area, from what I've gathered. Unfortunately I've not been able to confirm exactly which, but honestly, it doesn't matter so much, they're Zebras.

I can pretty much guarantee that you forty minute tour was due to some animals in the road, There have been no procedure changes as far as that goes, it's still 22 minutes. That being said, at night, when there are less trucks out there, I'm sure they feel free to take their time if they are not causing delays to the trucks behind them.
Click to expand...

So I understand they are going to have the black zebras with white stripes and the white zebras with black stripes but what is the third species? Zebras with no stripes? :p

Seriously though, I am more excited about these changes to the Safari than the progress at DTD so that is saying something. :sohappy:
 
drew81

drew81

Well-Known Member
fillerup said:
Just wanted to throw in some info from two days ago from riding KS twice and talking afterward to some CMs. The drivers who are contributing to this thread can feel free to confirm, deny, or amend what I'm repeating.

As others have said, both sides of the ride - both before and after the geysers have been sodded. Lots of underbrush that could have been poisonous to the animals needed to be removed and sod was needed to prevent erosion. To be honest, if you threw in a couple benches and a picnic table you'd have yourself a darn nice little park - it looks really nice and green in there.

In addition to the Grant zebras that we're used to, there will be a second species (or subspecies I guess) in the new area. If I was told what the second one will be, I don't remember.

As of 4/30, the drivers will be delivering a temporary spiel until September when a new permanent spiel begins. The temp one will be something along the lines of "As you can see, the reserve is being prepared to get some new animals." The people I talked to said they thought it was a little lame but probably the best that could be done given the construction.


Side note - these two rides may have been the best ever out of the more than a hundred we've been on. Great drivers and I can't think of a single animal we didn't see.

I don't know if it's new procedure or luck of the draw, but both drivers came to a complete stop at almost every point that animals were visible. In fact, our second safari, which ended a little past 7pm lasted almost 40 minutes.

And finally, whatever the handlers are doing to keep animals visible until the bitter end is great. Even going on 7pm, there were lots of giraffes and elephants to be seen, along with the lions and cheetahs and rhinos.
Click to expand...

I love going on KS towards the end of the day. The lions and cheetahs always seem to be more active and you can actually see them.
 
Tip Top Club

Tip Top Club

Well-Known Member
mickeysaver said:
So, we are thinking very seriously about going to AK tomorrow for the day. Will we see or hear about Little Red or not?
Click to expand...

The Poacher storyline will run all day tomorrow. First thing Monday morning the new interim spiel will be presented and Wilson will no longer check in with you.
 
S

staceNspace517

New Member
Was there today and Little Red is completely gone, there is no talk of poachers, but the geysers were all there and working. The bridge didn't rock, and we walked right on to the ride (no wait) so I'm not sure that it was a capacity issue. Also, the Tommies are still there!
 
Tip Top Club

Tip Top Club

Well-Known Member
It seems the Tommies relocation has been delayed, but suffice it to say that their days are numbered and many of them have already been relocated (I have no idea why some are gone and some stay, but there you are).

The Tilting bridge has been down for almost two months now, There is still talk of it returning, but honestly I would be shocked, considering the story line and script changes on the way.

I'm surprised to hear the geysers are still working, but I imagine their days are numbered as well.
 
Scuttle

Scuttle

Well-Known Member
I rode it today and I have to say no poacher story, no bridge shake and no geysers equal one hell of a dull attraction. I know a lot of people think that KS is an attraction in itself, but after riding today I disagree. The zebras will be a great addition, but I guess I didn't realize how much I liked the poacher plot until it was gone.
 
T

Tim_4

Well-Known Member
Scuttle said:
I rode it today and I have to say no poacher story, no bridge shake and no geysers equal one hell of a dull attraction. I know a lot of people think that KS is an attraction in itself, but after riding today I disagree. The zebras will be a great addition, but I guess I didn't realize how much I liked the poacher plot until it was gone.
Click to expand...

I thought the joke about "our long-time park ranger Wilson has decided to retire" was pretty clever. I don't know if it's in the official spiel but our driver worked in a lot of inside jokes for people familiar with the ride about how Harambe officials were finally "cracking down on that pesky poacher problem."
 
Tip Top Club

Tip Top Club

Well-Known Member
The entire story now depends on the driver with no Wilson to lean on...That means that some safaris are great, and some...well...we all know how that goes.
 
C

CndleontheWater

Member
So, are they not driving quickly through the geyser area or the poacher camp anymore? I can imagine that when the zebras arrive, they will drive at a slower pace so you can see the animals. I'm really curious because we'll be down there in Oct, and I am pregnant. I'd love to be able to ride it, and I'm thinking that if they remove the bumpy part of the end, then they will also remove the pregnancy warning. The rest of the ride is pretty tame.
 

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