The Poachers on Kilimanjaro Safaris

[eeyoreiscool]

The jeep seems to be a hit and miss item. There have been times when we would ride it back to back and see the jeep one time and not the next. I don't know if the drivers get their signals mixed up or if it just doesn't work at times.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

The poacher bit has always seemed a bit cheesy to me, unlike the Jungle Cruise where cheesy is the name of the game.

I have only seen the Jeep a couple of times.

 

[jarestel]

OP, I certainly understand your concern for your child. As parents, I'm sure we never like to see our little ones upset. However, the underlying theme throughout AK is conservation and preservation and the poacher storyline, whether one cares for it or not, does contain a message along those lines. I guess I don't personally much care one way or another if they change the storyline in the interest of freshening the attraction, but I don't know if it's a good idea to change everything that some children may find disturbing. I've seen some kids cowering in fear at the sight of Mickey and friends, but most seem to love seeing them. I guess a few minutes spent by a parent explaining what a child is about to see before going on any attraction might be a good way to gauge a child's potential fear factor.

 

[ladysoleil]

While I don't love the poacher storyline, it serves a purpose, so I think it should be left alone.

Even though it may be a bit upsetting now, and may jar people from their Disney comfort zone a tiny bit, educating children about the realities of animals and their lives may help them to make better choices later. I know it sounds silly, but I'm sure all the animal rescue workers and explorers who do such great work to preserve and protect animals today were inspired by *something* at some point to make them choose that career. Why not a "cheesy" theme park ride?

I agree with a previous poster that it fits in well with AK's theme of conservation and preservation. Granted, they could probably figure out a slightly better way to make it more compelling and less disturbing to some, but Disney on the whole is so clean cut and sanitized that I find it a bit refreshing that they do deal with the reality and educate people about it. I'm sure a lot of us never gave any thought or were even aware about ivory poaching before we saw the attraction.

However, I don't have kids, and I'll freely admit that I might feel differently about it if I did- I'm sure parents feel very differently about things that may overstimulate or frighten their little ones, so I really can't judge that.

 

[In a hurry]

Just because something is hard for kids doesn't mean it should be eliminated, IMO. Conflict makes a story (even though this is a bit cheesy). It is there to involve people's emotions. And it usually works to one degree or another.