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Okay. So maybe the glass IS half empty after all …

Jeese, now I REALLY don’t know what to think.

For over a week now, we’ve been running these stories here at JimHillMedia.com that list various complaints that WDW cast members who work at “Kilimanjaro Safari” have about the attraction.

Well, two more letters came rolling in. Both from Disney World vets who wish to remain anonymous. But still want to add to the debate. First up is Cast Member A, Who says:

Dear Jim,

I must admit, I am a first time visitor to your site. I’m very impressed! The reason I’m writing to you this evening is that a friend of mine told me there was an article posted on your site I just had to read. I don’t think he’s ever been more correct.

I was an opening crew cast member at the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Yes, it was rough. Yes, it was difficult. But it was also the most rewarding experience in my nearly 10 year career with Disney.

Opening a new theme park is not painless. There are challenges. What I find most interesting about the letter posted by a current driver is that this person believes that the people who came before him or her didn’t suffer at all.

When I got there, we checked in at a pitched tent on the side of the ride path and had to hike a good 5 minutes into Africa to the breakroom. When you got there, you could sit for about 5 minutes before hiking all the way back. Drivers today have a nice air conditioned break room just off to the side of the ride path.

When I started driving, the seats were regular truck seats, which was great if you were over 5’6.” Some of our shorter drivers had to sit on the boxes the microphones came in to see properly. Drivers today have adjustable hydraulic seats.

Driving up to 8 trips? My record was 13 and I know of drivers who did more than that. And, never, on my best day, was I able to seat 40 people safely and comfortably in a safari vehicle. While I agree the driver is an essential part of the show, no one paid $52.00 to come see the driver take a truck around a path with no animals on it.

On a side note: I ran Dumbo a long time ago. It’s not any less difficult than working at any other attraction at Walt Disney World. All of them have quirks and nuances that make them unique unto themselves. I’m wondering if this person has worked anywhere else on property. If they have, you’d never know by reading this letter.

Thanks for your time, Jim!
An intrigued reader

And next up is Cast Member B. Who also has kind of an interesting take on this tale:

As a long time cast member I have to say that one of your writers needs to step back before he suggests that anyone who like their jobs in attractions hasn’t been there long enough. I have been in attractions for over ten years, and I still love my job.

I was a safari driver at Kilimanjaro and I have to say that it was not the “hell” job that the original letter writer suggests that it is. In fact, it is one of the best I have ever had.

I would get to work in a place where everything changed all the time. Unlike other spieling attractions where you do the same thing every trip around, Kilimanjaro has the advantage of being a little different every time. The author of that first letter would suggest that this increases the stress level. I find however that it keeps my brain active and engaged, and therefore more alert. I guarantee that you are more likely to have a safe cast member when their brain is focused on where they are and what they are doing at that moment.

I get to see beautiful animals every single day. At the Great Movie Ride I could go an entire day without seeing sunlight, arriving before the sun was up and leaving after the sun went down. At KSR, I get to see Giraffes galloping across a mist shrouded savannah as the sun cast a golden glow across a herd of Wildebeest grazing on a nearby hill. People spend thousands of dollars every year to go to Africa and experience what I see every day, and most of the time they won’t see half of what I do.

Is it hot at KSR? Sure, but try to drive or spiel on a Backstage Tour Shuttle, where you are sitting directly above the engine. Backlot Express restaurant is not the only place in the studios to find toasted buns! Backstage tour drivers have to deal with many of the same things, unexpected cars suddenly darting across the route, no A/C, entertaining more than 40 guests at a time, and constantly changing spiels.

Does KSR carry more guests than anyone else? Without question. It also spreads those guests over more cast members. KSR is the most labor intensive attraction anywhere. Each cast member though is only responsible for entertaining an extremely small portion of those guests. At 20 minutes a trip and 40 guest per truck (just for easy estimates) that is about 120 guests an hour. Now go to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, each cast member is charged with delivering meaningful, individualized conversations to every guest that comes through, sharing with them both animal facts and a rich storyline and working to engage them in the plight of the animals. The Jungle Trek is cited for its sensational cast just as often as KSR, but they each do it for over 1000 guests an hour.

We won’t even get into how much more break time the average KSR driver gets in a day over their other attraction counterparts. Three hours of driving in an eight hour shift must be rough.

I guess to sum it all up, is in my many years with Disney I have found that a quality of a job is most greatly affected by one’s attitude towards it. The management at KSR truly cares about the cast and wants them to have the best experience possible. I can say from personal experience that they are some of the best leaders on WDW property. You also have to understand that in almost every location, there are those cast members that even if their jobs consisted of resting in a Lazy-Boy drinking lemonade, and watching their favorite shows all day, would scream about the hell of sitting in a chair that didn’t have a massage function, while drinking beverages that have far too much ice, and watching a TV that only gets one channel.

You knew what the job was when you signed on, and you can leave at any time. If it is too much to bear to leave your friends, well then maybe it is not so bad being there after all. Life is full of tradeoffs, make your choices, and stop complaining if you choose poorly.

Just my thoughts.

Hmmn … Could it be that working at DAK’s “Kilimanjaro Safari” is the toughest job you’ll ever love? We may have to rethink this whole thing.

Your thoughts?

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