DAK Segment - a couple of thoughts

[HootDad]

Hi all,

First, I LOVED the DAK segments by Dustin and Holly. I actually listened to them both on my iPhone and went back and watched them on YouTube. A couple of things I noticed that were said that (I think anyway) have interesting points to clarify and were not mentioned.

First, the reason why "Kali River Rapids" was originally titled "Tiger Rapids Run" (or something similar), and the reason you see tigers in the queue, was because originally the ride was going to go through the Tiger enclosure. Supposedly you can even see the blocked off turn where the rafts were to go there (I've never noticed). The rumor is this was changed for safety. And it explains why the ride is so short.

Speaking of tigers, I saw a documentary on cats once that pointed out something interesting. In the show they talked about how the behavior of the tigers reminded them of house cats. According to this documentary, with the exception of swimming, the behavior of tigers is more similar to domesticated cats than any of the other big cats. Well, I thought it was interesting.

Finally - I'm really wondering if I remember something correctly. As I recall, the bat enclosure originally did not have any netting or anything. The reason that the bats stayed in the enclosure was because there are bamboo rods placed in strategic places. I have heard that bats will not fly between two obstacles if the distance between them is smaller than their wingspan. I actually speculate that the reason they added the netting was because people got freaked out. But that's just a guess.

 

[SA mom]

I heard the same thing about Kali and the tiger enclosure on a podcast by The Official Guide with Jim Hill. Hill said the original designers didn't realize that tigers could swim. Now THAT would have been a thrill ride!

 

[rmm7e]

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

 

[Otter49]

I really enjoyed this segment on my second favorite park and especially glad that the hidden gem of Flights of Wonder got some love.

But I do have a couple questions and observations I'd like to throw out there. Feedback would be welcome.

The walkway from Africa to Asia was described as a Middle Eastern sort of desert transition between the two continents. I can't picture the few small buildings there (even though I was there five days ago), but with the lushness of the area, I'm trying to figure out how that was an intentionally themed desert area.

Then something was said along the lines of after you leave Flights of Wonder that you arrive in the village of Anandapur. Now clearly the FoW script includes a couple of references to the birds being in the ruins of Anandapur, but I've never heard the next area referred to by that name. So is the area with shops and restaurants supposed to be the modern incarnation of that town? Just curious.

Tigers: I believed the Jungle Trek maxed out at 6 tigers at any given time. Unfortunately, two have died so there are only currently four. I was told that they're working on getting more but are trying to figure out the logistics of acclimating new animals to the habitat as well as the current occupants.

Also, the remaining four are reaching the end of their natural life expectancy so this area could be in a real transition for a while before long.

The thing I'm most curious about though is the statement that Flights of Wonder is operated by a company other than Disney. Does anyone know anything more about this, such as who the company is?

In the years this attraction has been open, I've never heard this before. And no amount of googling got me any more info. I'm not doubting it, but it seems to be a very well kept secret and for the life of me, I can't figure out why Disney would turn over just one area of animal care to a vendor. Clearly, they are experienced at bird care given the two aviaries and all the other avian exhibits in the park.

I'd appreciate being enlightened.