Hello and welcome to The WDW Radio Show – Your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host, Lou Mongello, and this is show #312 for the week of February 10, 2013.

I’m here to help you have the best possible Disney vacation experience, and bring you some Disney magic to to wherever you by talking about the things that make us happy about Walt Disney World on this podcast, as well as my videos, blog, live broadcasts, events, trivia books, CDs and more. You can find it all at WDWRadio.com.

This week we’re going to take a closer look at an attraction that, believe it or not, has ties to Walt Disney. The Kilimanjaro Safaris in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is an attraction replete with story, details, and important messages. In this week’s DSI: Disney Scene Investigation, we’ll look at it’s very early beginnings, development, changes, and secrets.

I’ll have the answer to our last Walt Disney World Trivia Question of the Week, and pose a new challenge for your chance to win a Disney prize package.

I’ll also recap the WDW Radio Event announcements made during our 6 Year Anniversary Celebration this weekend before playing some of your voicemails at the end of the show so sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s episode of the WDW Radio Show

Thanks for listening! Be sure to tune in next week!

Information and Links from This Week’s Show

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is your favorite part of the Kilimanjaro Safaris? Leave your answer in the comments section below!

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• Disney Meets and WDW Radio Meets of the Month in Walt Disney World – Get dates and locations on our Events page
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The post WDW Radio # 312 – Kilimanjaro Safaris appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

When the attraction first opened, Kilimanjaro Safaris was based upon the story of traveling through the reservation with the guidance of a warden to save Little Red and Big Red the elephants from poaching. As you continued through the preserve in “Simba One,” the warden would guide you on your mission to intercept the poachers who were on the hunt for ivory. You would be in time to save Little Red (sorry Big Red), an animatronic baby elephant located in the back of a truck at the end of the ride. There was even a scene depicting the poachers’ camp, and a final scene featuring cast members dressed as the captured poachers and a preserve worker holding them at gunpoint. During Cast Member testing before the official opening of the park, there was a bloodied carcass of what was supposed to be Big Red missing her tusks after being killed by the poachers. Obviously, many were horrified by the scene and due to the reaction this portion of the ride was removed before ever opening to the general public.

Over the years, the poaching storyline slowly has dissipated from the ride, currently only featuring the original warden in a video played in one area of the queue. The ride now focuses simply on taking in the beauty of each environment and the natural habitats and actions of the animals. The environments themselves are spectacular with the most breathtaking occurring early on in the attraction. The African Savannah scene, prominently featuring the giraffes, is one of the most beautiful views you will see in all of Walt Disney World. To be able to take a clear picture of the scene, try and be seated on the right side of the safari vehicle during your “two week excursion.”

While riding through, you may wonder how all of these environments can hold animals that would…well…eat each other in the wild? The answer lies in what you cannot see. Disney created cleverly hidden fencing systems and moats which ensure that the animals each remain in their own areas while allowing them to roam free where it is appropriate and safe. For the best example of theses hidden safety measures, pay attention when near the lion’s rock habitat. If you notice, you cannot actually see the ground run straight to their rocks. This is because there is a large moat/gap out of view preventing the lions from leaving their rocks and causing trouble elsewhere in the attraction. To a keen eye, you will be able to pick up on some of these hidden barriers throughout the ride.

If you are looking to experience a higher volume of animals, be sure to visit Kilimanjaro Safaris first thing in the morning, especially on an Extra Morning Magic Hours day. Since it is cooler earlier in the morning, more animals will be out roaming before the sun gets too strong. In addition, the animals are fed first thing in the morning by food hidden cleverly in plain view of the guests. This draws the animals strategically towards the ride vehicles in order to allow guests better glimpses. While passing through the savannah, look in the trees for subtly hidden boxes concealed in the trees nearest to the vehicles. These boxes contain food for the giraffes in an effort to have them spend more time in proximity to the guests. In addition to the early morning, visiting towards the late afternoon and evening will also offer better views of the animals as it is usually when the temperature begins to break and cool off for the day.

Did you know that Kilimanjaro Safaris is so large that the entire Magic Kingdom can fit inside this one attraction? That being said, it makes sense that Disney recently introduced an exclusive excursion inside the attraction. The Wild Africa Trek tour features the opportunity to cross a rickety old bridge suspended mere feet above the hippopotamuses and crocodiles. You then are able to board a safari vehicle which can travel freely throughout the attraction and visit many of the animals while stopping to take pictures and simply take in the environment. When Disney announced this tour, I was beyond excited as one of my dream vacations is to go on an African Safari and, being broke, this is probably about as close as I will ever get! If you read my post two weeks ago on Disney resolutions, you know that I am currently working my way through all of the tours that Disney has to offer, and this is the next one on my list. This tour truly sounds like a spectacular inside look at Kilimanjaro Safaris that I can’t wait to experience.

From wild animals, to breathtaking views, and a bumpy ride, Kilimanjaro Safaris is a quintessential experience in the Animal Kingdom to be experienced over and over again. Just be sure to always be on the lookout for those Tommys!

What is your favorite animal on Kilimanjaro Safaris? Have you ever had a special up close encounter with any of the animals? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear from you!

Caitlin Corsello was born and raised in New York. She graduated from Adelphi University with a Masters in Mental Health Counseling in 2012. Her love for Disney started as an infant and has continued to grow with family vacations to Disney parks almost every year since. She holds a particular interest in WDW’s parks and attractions, never passing up an opportunity to visit. She looks forward to continuing to explore and learn about all things Disney and to share that passion with readers.

The post Disney From the Twenty-Something: Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safaris appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

by Don Myers

The witching hour has finally passed, as Halloween is now in the rear view mirror. That means it’s full steam ahead into the Holiday Season…time to start thinking about turkeys and trees! And if it’s the Holiday Season, you know the parks and resorts are overflowing with a plethora of newsbits to report. So let’s waste no further time and dive right in to the latest edition of the WDW Radio Newswire…….

We begin this edition of the Newswire inside Magic Kingdom, or more specifically, Adventureland. It’s here where one of the park’s most beloved attractions, Pirates of the Caribbean, recently saw a few minor additions introduced into the show sequence. Playing off elements from the franchise’s fourth film: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the attraction now features several mermaid references. There is now a skeleton of a mermaid washed up on the beach, and the water ripples and splashes in various places, insinuating there are playful mermaids swimming about. But your sight isn’t the only sense stimulated, as you can also hear the ominous sounds of a singing mermaid. But don’t get confused…this is definitely not Ariel! One final element was also introduced, and this one plays off a similar feature that was previously brought to the attraction back in 2006. Projectors are now in place to give off the effect that there are actually mermaids swimming around the boats! This use of projectors first debuted in the summer of 2006 when the image of Davy Jones first appeared in the mist. It was revised again in 2011 when Captain Blackbeard’s image was brought in as a replacement. When you combine all the new features together, you really get some pretty clever visual effects at the attraction. In addition, no major elements of the classic show were compromised with these introductions. So really, you get a “win-win” situation here as far as I’m concerned. What do you think about it? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section!

Time to park hop over to Animal Kingdom now, where there’s some news to report on Kilimanjaro Safaris. Back in the February 21st edition of the Newswire, I reported that the area containing the attraction’s finale scene was being completely revamped, and would thus result in the removal of Little Red. Well, the baby Audio-Animatronic elephant was indeed removed from the area in the spring, and the section of savanna has undergone quite a transformation. The modifications to the savanna were recently completed, and the new occupants have finally moved in, as the area is now home to a group of plains zebras.

Let’s stop by the water parks now for some news on Typhoon Lagoon. Last week the lagoon closed up shop for a lengthy refurbishment. However this is nothing new for Typhoon Lagoon, as the park always sees a period of downtime at this time of year. The park is slated for a January 6th re-opening, which will put its total closure time at just over two months. And for those of you who may be wondering, when Typhoon Lagoon opens back up on Sunday January 6th, WDW’s other water park, Blizzard Beach, will be closing down for its annual refurb.

Our final stop on today’s adventure takes us to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. It’s that time of year again. Time for NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball to invade the HP Field House for the Old Spice Classic. The 2012 edition of the 8-team tournament will take place over Thanksgiving weekend, beginning Thursday November 22nd and concluding on Sunday November 25th. This will be the 7th edition of the Old Spice Classic, an event that has called WDW Resort its home from the beginning. High profile conferences have been featured in years past, and 2012 will be no exception. This years field boasts its share of heavy hitters from some of the nation’s top conferences, including the SEC, ACC, and Big XII. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) will hold the distinction of being the tournament’s sponsoring conference, an honor it’s held since the Old Spice Classic’s inception back in 2006. The MAAC’s representative for this years tourney will be the Marist Red Foxes. They’ll be joined by two preseason Top 25 teams, the #19 Gonzaga Bulldogs (WCC) and #22 Vanderbilt Commodores (SEC). The other five teams rounding out the tourney this year will be the Clemson Tigers (ACC), Oklahoma Sooners (Big XII), West Virginia Mountaineers (Big XII), U-TEP Miners (Conference USA), and Davidson Wildcats (Southern Conference). Twelve games will be played over the course of the weekend, with the action set to tipoff Thanksgiving Day at noon with Marist vs. West Virginia. Vanderbilt and Davidson will hit the hardwood next, as their matchup is set to begin at 230pm. An intermission for dinner will follow, then Oklahoma and U-TEP will get the evening session going at 7pm. The final first round matchup will tip at 930pm, as Clemson will battle it out with Gonzaga for a coveted spot in the semifinals. All four of the first round games can be seen on espn2, and the rest of the tourney can be found on either espn, espn2, espn3, espnU, or WatchESPN. For more info on the 2012 Old Spice Classic, visit here.

Well, that’s gonna do it for today’s update. But before we call it a wrap, let’s take a look back at the results of our previous poll. The question was:

Who is your favorite Disney Villain?

. Maleficent

. Captain Hook

. Wicked Queen (Snow White)

. Cruela de Vil

. Ursula

. Jafar

. Gaston

. The Big Bad Wolf

. The Headless Horseman

. Hades

. Lady Tremaine

. Dr. Facilier

. Shere Khan

. Prince John

. Pete

And the winner is…..

Ladies and Gentleman…we have our first-ever TIE, as Captain James T. Hook and Maleficent both finished in a dead heat atop the poll with 25% of the total vote! 2nd place was also a tie between Gaston, Jafar, and the Wicked Queen from Snow White, as they each garnered 7% of the votes. 3rd place saw yet another tie between Ursula and Dr. Facilier, as they both captured 5% of the total vote. This was a very fun and exciting poll question, and the results reflect that, as we saw the biggest voter turnout to date with this one! We even had write-ins for Scar and Zurg! Naturally, I wanted to include each and every Villain in the poll. But unfortunately, it had to be limited to fifteen choices. I hope everyone was satisfied with the Villains I chose, and I want to thank all of you for taking the time to vote! Okay, on to this week’s question:

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