Wildest Ride at Animal Kingdom - the safari?

[disneyworlddad]

Good Afternoon, we got back last night from a nice four day adventure to the world. While there we took my parents to Animal Kingdom (their first time ever) and went straight to the Safari as it about the only thing my Dad would ride there. Mom is riding a scooter so they take us up that loading dock and we all get in with other groups.

Something doesn't seem right from the get go. The driver fails to give any safety warning about sitting, standing etc. First one ever to not do the little bit about the phone (put your hand up, I'll put mine up and we will both wave goodbye!) We can't understand anything coming across from the driver except for the occasional word here and there. He is gunning it, and yes I know the trucks have sort of a wonky accelerator. It got so bad a guy in the middle yelled for him to stop going so fast. The driver constantly was hitting overhead limbs and scraping his tires on the barriers.

The worst part was as we were coming off the Savannah towards the elephants he literally put his back tire up on the "rock" retaining wall that separates you from the little pond.

I'm not sure if the guy was new/nervous or if he was literally on something.

Everyone who got off the ride, which included several different sets of pass holders complained to the girl unloading us and management was called over. The girl unloading immediately offered to let everyone ride again as they were switching out drivers but no one took her up on the offer.

I don't want anything out of Disney for this but I'd like to know if something was done. Is there anyway to find out? Best department to call?

 

[baskinthemagic]

I must have had the same driver once. He negligently took our group across a bridge that clearly should have been condemned! It creaked and rocked, and then finally tilted way to the side...nearly dumping us into the river below. He barely got us off of there in one piece!

It has gotten better over the years though. Many years ago we were on the Safari and their security was so bad that they actually let poachers get onto the property. Our crazy driver took off way too fast to try to catch them and could have put us in danger of getting shot at. We even saw one of their trucks with a baby elephant in it and a pile of tusks that had been cut off.

I never reported either driver though.

 

[Anders Limpar]

I must have had the same driver once. He negligently took our group across a bridge that clearly should have been condemned! It creaked and rocked, and then finally tilted way to the side...nearly dumping us into the river below. He barely got us off of there in one piece!

It has gotten better over the years though. Many years ago we were on the Safari and their security was so bad that they actually let poachers get onto the property. Our crazy driver took off way too fast to try to catch them and could have put us in danger of getting shot at. We even saw one of their trucks with a baby elephant in it and a pile of tusks that had been cut off.

I never reported either driver though.

You too...small world.

 

[Baums101]

I must have had the same driver once. He negligently took our group across a bridge that clearly should have been condemned! It creaked and rocked, and then finally tilted way to the side...nearly dumping us into the river below. He barely got us off of there in one piece!

It has gotten better over the years though. Many years ago we were on the Safari and their security was so bad that they actually let poachers get onto the property. Our crazy driver took off way too fast to try to catch them and could have put us in danger of getting shot at. We even saw one of their trucks with a baby elephant in it and a pile of tusks that had been cut off.

I never reported either driver though.

You got me going there for a minute

 

[HoldenC]

I don't want anything out of Disney for this but I'd like to know if something was done. Is there anyway to find out? Best department to call?

Yeah. They're going to give out confidential disciplinary information to a random person on the phone.

 

[disneyworlddad]

I must have had the same driver once. He negligently took our group across a bridge that clearly should have been condemned! It creaked and rocked, and then finally tilted way to the side...nearly dumping us into the river below. He barely got us off of there in one piece!

It has gotten better over the years though. Many years ago we were on the Safari and their security was so bad that they actually let poachers get onto the property. Our crazy driver took off way too fast to try to catch them and could have put us in danger of getting shot at. We even saw one of their trucks with a baby elephant in it and a pile of tusks that had been cut off.

I never reported either driver though.

While I apprecaite your sarcasm this was truly a terrible experience. I have been on the safari many times and know what to expect. This was nothing like that. As I said there were many pass holders on the ride that I was not even connected with who also complained. I am slightly assuming they were pass holders because they had the sliders on their magic bands.

 

[disneyworlddad]

Yeah. They're going to give out confidential disciplinary information to a random person on the phone.

I also apprecaite your sarcasm. And that was sort of my thinking, that any disciplinary action would be confidential and they wouldn't reveal if he was just new or actually inebriated for fear of lawsuits by employee or guest.

 

[juniorthomas]

Good Afternoon, we got back last night from a nice four day adventure to the world. While there we took my parents to Animal Kingdom (their first time ever) and went straight to the Safari as it about the only thing my Dad would ride there. Mom is riding a scooter so they take us up that loading dock and we all get in with other groups.

Something doesn't seem right from the get go. The driver fails to give any safety warning about sitting, standing etc. First one ever to not do the little bit about the phone (put your hand up, I'll put mine up and we will both wave goodbye!) We can't understand anything coming across from the driver except for the occasional word here and there. He is gunning it, and yes I know the trucks have sort of a wonky accelerator. It got so bad a guy in the middle yelled for him to stop going so fast. The driver constantly was hitting overhead limbs and scraping his tires on the barriers.

The worst part was as we were coming off the Savannah towards the elephants he literally put his back tire up on the "rock" retaining wall that separates you from the little pond.

I'm not sure if the guy was new/nervous or if he was literally on something.

Everyone who got off the ride, which included several different sets of pass holders complained to the girl unloading us and management was called over. The girl unloading immediately offered to let everyone ride again as they were switching out drivers but no one took her up on the offer.

I don't want anything out of Disney for this but I'd like to know if something was done. Is there anyway to find out? Best department to call?

Contact Guest Relations. They'll certainly be interested in limiting similar experiences for other guests.

 

[disneyworlddad]

Contact Guest Relations. They'll certainly be interested in limiting similar experiences for other guests.

That was also a thought. I will probably call them this weekend when I have more time. I'm guessing the problem has already been addressed because some sort of management was called over to talk to guests. I didn't hang around to talk to them since a lot of others (including a group of passholders) were and my parents time with us was short and we were meeting other family in the park. Like I said, I wasn't trying to get anything out of it just wanting to make sure the problem was/is resolved.

 

[spacemtnfanatic]

At this stage of the game you'll get a guest relations rep that simply nods and agrees and reads the talking points to you. If you truly believed something was wrong at the time, you would have been best to have stayed and spoken with the manager/coordinator that responded to the unload platform after the ride was over. Do you have the name of the driver? You can call and they'll make you feel as if they are concerned and taking your complaint seriously, but in reality you will be wasting theirs and your own time.

 

[disneyworlddad]

At this stage of the game you'll get a guest relations rep that simply nods and agrees and reads the talking points to you. If you truly believed something was wrong at the time, you would have been best to have stayed and spoken with the manager/coordinator that responded to the unload platform after the ride was over. Do you have the name of the driver? You can call and they'll make you feel as if they are concerned and taking your complaint seriously, but in reality you will be wasting theirs and your own time.


Sort of what I figured. As other people were as concerned as I was I didn't feel like I need to stay as well since I was traveling with my parents who aren't passholders and their time was short. We also had to meet up with other family after our safari.

 

[JIMINYCR]

If a manager was called and the other guests were complaining about the CM's operation of the vehicle, you can be assured it was delt with. Its been my experience that when a higher up gets called in to address a situation, it isnt ignored. Its certain something was done, which would not be revealed to you because its an internal matter concerning the CM and his manager concerning his actions.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Well, if we see this driver in the gator pond later in the week, we'll know the deal...

 

[disneyworlddad]

If a manager was called and the other guests were complaining about the CM's operation of the vehicle, you can be assured it was delt with. Its been my experience that when a higher up gets called in to address a situation, it isnt ignored. Its certain something was done, which would not be revealed to you because its an internal matter concerning the CM and his manager concerning his actions.

We saw the manager walking towards the area where we got off. I've never had to deal with this type of experience at Disney. I can't think of really any other attraction inside a park where the bast member has so much to do with the actual operation and safety of the ride so I'd think the training and safeguards are off the charts. Sure there are trams, monorails, boats, and buses and I'm sure they also have a a lot of training. I was just shocked at how bad this experience was. If he was nervous I don't know how he would have passed all the training. If he was inebretated I dont know how he would have gotten past all the other cast members before he got in his truck that morning.

 

[JIMINYCR]

We saw the manager walking towards the area where we got off. I've never had to deal with this type of experience at Disney. I can't think of really any other attraction inside a park where the bast member has so much to do with the actual operation and safety of the ride so I'd think the training and safeguards are off the charts. Sure there are trams, monorails, boats, and buses and I'm sure they also have a a lot of training. I was just shocked at how bad this experience was. If he was nervous I don't know how he would have passed all the training. If he was inebretated I dont know how he would have gotten past all the other cast members before he got in his truck that morning.

Someone can go through training, get cleared to do the job and still manage to do a poor job. If it was because he was inebriated the manager would have certainly spotted it when he was confronted after the incident. If he was nervous or just a poor driver I assume he would have been written up and probably received more training. Either way be assured that Disney does take CM's bad guest interactions seriously and he received some consequence to your bad experience.

 

[Dead2009]

I dont understand why people wait to file a complaint. If something seems off, either say something to management then or when you go back to a hotel, contact them.

 

[disneyworlddad]

I dont understand why people wait to file a complaint. If something seems off, either say something to management then or when you go back to a hotel, contact them.

Everyone complained. This wasn't intended to be an initial complaint. This was more about follow up. That being said I now realize that I probably wont get any information out of Disney for the many reasons listed above.

 

[jloucks]

You will likely never know. I generally side with the employee by default since customers can be *&$^& flaming &@#*$^%%&, but if you noted other people that were not in your party also showing concern, you were likely right to be concerned. Managers tend to recognize this phenomenon too.. a single compliant.. meh.. but you get 4 in a row from different parties and that is a giant red flag requiring immediate attention.

My money is that this driver was dealt with swiftly. Hopefully he did not just have a stroke! But if he did, your complaint may have helped save his life!

 

[disneyworlddad]

You will likely never know. I generally side with the employee by default since customers can be *&$^& flaming &@#*$^%%&, but if you noted other people that were not in your party also showing concern, you were likely right to be concerned. Managers tend to recognize this phenomenon too.. a single compliant.. meh.. but you get 4 in a row from different parties and that is a giant red flag requiring immediate attention.

My money is that this driver was dealt with swiftly. Hopefully he did not just have a stroke! But if he did, your complaint may have helped save his life!

I'd never even thought about a stroke/medical issue. Makes me feel bad, except the saftey of my children was my highest priority at the time. I have one who is five and another who is 2/12. I was sitting way in the back, second to last row, perhaps if I would have been in the front I might have been able to tell what was going on.

 

[spacemtnfanatic]

so I'd think the training and safeguards are off the charts.

The Safari training is good. But it's not what it should be, nor is it nearly enough. So much of it just becomes "you learn as you go"