Mouse Extra

WDWMagic.com is reporting on the changes to the storyline at Kilimanjaro Safaris reportedly in use this past weekend.  There appears to be many, but also a bit less sweeping then I would have liked.

Apparently Ms. Jobson is gone completely, and thankfully the banter between her and Wilson the warden.  Also, there is no more mention of Big Red and Little Red, another bit of welcome news.  However, it seems the basic plot is mostly intact.  Here are some important bullet points from the report…

The story of helping to force the poachers towards Wilson’s plane is still in place.

The truck with the baby elephant has been repositioned, making it much more obvious that the elephant is in the back.

From this information, it is hard to see exactly what has been accomplished here.  Some of the silliness may have been removed, but the story, which was the root of the problem, is still there.  The report does not offer an opinion or any sort of detail as to how the change has affected the experience.  After reporting this rumor for ages, I was personally hoping to hear of something more exciting and different. 

If anyone has information on this, and has experienced it first hand, please post a comment or send an email to info@mouseextra.com.

Mouse Planet’s Mark Goldhaber is reporting that we are finally getting very close to a significant story change at Kilimanjaro Safaris at the Animal Kingdom…

The long-promised changes to the storyline of Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom are now in process. Work is winding down on adding the ninth row of seats to the loading docks and the trucks, and the cast is in the process of learning the new script. Some trucks are currently using the new script and some are still using the old one. The story line featuring Miss Jobson will officially retire completely on June 1. The finale scene changes are in process and the plane may be removed at any time, as Disney filed paperwork with Orange County last Monday to “extend existing fiber and power for prop relocation” for the finale scene.

I have been actively rooting for such a change for years.  The Safari ride is one of the best creations Walt Disney Imagineering has ever produced, but the storyline has always been had a “thrown-in” feel to it.  The story never impressed like it should.

It certainly needs to be said that a change may not turn out to be a good thing when all is said and done.  While much information has leaked about this, almost nothing is being reported dealing with new story elements.  Keep an eye open for more to come.  According to Mr. Goldhaber, this is only a few weeks away.

This article from the Orlando Sentinel managed to sneak under my radar, but I think it is too interesting to let it go unmentioned.  Writer Scott Powers credits Expedition Everest for a big turnstiles boost at Disney’s Animal Kingdom during 2006, and compares it to the struggles that Universal faces amid declining attendance figures.

Whatever Universal has up its sleeve, Expedition Everest will be a tough act to follow. The new ride, which opened in April 2006 and mixes a roller coaster with a story about a Yeti creature and a mountain, helped Animal Kingdom in two key ways, theme-park-industry observers said. It gave the park the “Next Big Thing” in Central Florida, and a ride that could please teenagers and young adults without scaring away their parents or younger siblings.

Yes, Expedition Everest is truly one of the great creations in Imagineering’s history.  It is just intense enough to keep it exciting, but tame enough to appeal to a much larger audience than an extreme ride.  Rather than comparing it to Rock n’ Rollercoaster or Tower of Terror, Everest is more in the same family with Space Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  It is loaded with story, and the theme is so wonderfully immersive it truly outpaces those that came before it.

The big question surrounding the enormous investment into Expedition Everest was whether or not it would pay off.  Many set the bar at whether the Animal Kingdom would become a night time destination as well, a subject we have discussed before.  But it is obvious now  that this is not the only bar.  An 8+% increase is an 8+% increase whether the people came at night or not, and Expedition Everest has apparently delivered the goods.

For those of you who are fans of Universal Studios, read the rest of Mr. Powers article, as he talks in great length about the investment the park needs to make to turn their attendance trends around.  It also speaks about smaller investments that Sea World and the Mouse have made this past year.

When Expedition Everest opened at the Animal Kingdom, the talk by the experts was that this was the attempt, or even the key, to turning the park into a full day park capable of drawing guests deep into the nighttime hours. So far that has not entirely happened, as the park is not regularly open after the animals go to bed. So what needs to happen in order for the Animal Kingdom to shed the dreaded “half-day park” tag”? Let’s take a look… Read the rest of this entry »

The deep jungle of equatorial Africa is what gave the area the name “The Dark Continent.” It is where Joseph Conrad set his great novel the “Heart of Darkness”. It was the center of the nightmares of the slave trade and colonialism. It is currently a hotbed of civil war and a place troubled by poverty and epidemics. It is also home to one of the most diverse and endangered ecosystems on the planet, the Congo basin rainforest. And it is home to the gorilla. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been all over the internet discussion forums and podcasts lately.  A literal torrent of whining and complaining about the perceived Pixar invasion that seems to be underway at Walt Disney World’s theme parks.  For purists, the recent revelation of Imagineering projects in the latest Annual Report, many themed with Pixar characters and the confirmation of Toy Story Mania going into the Disney-MGM Studios, have launched these folks into an amazing frenzy of hysterical exaggeration.  They simply cannot understand why “everything has to be Pixar”.  A refrain too often repeated whenever this subject comes up. Read the rest of this entry »