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Credit: DisneyOver a dozen Walt Disney World Resort guests recently experienced a rare ride evacuation at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. The Disney Park guests were pulled from a Kilimanjaro Safaris truck after barely passing the loading platform.
Kilimanjaro Safaris opened alongside Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park on April 22, 1998. The attraction invites guests on a 20-minute journey through the Harambe Wildlife Preserve, where they can encounter dozens of African animals, including lions, giraffes, cheetahs, and elephants.
Every ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris is different – especially in the early morning or after dark. Animals are most active when it’s cooler outside, so the earlier (or later), the better! However, one group of Disney Park guests accidentally walked into one of the rarest possible experiences on Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Kilimanjaro Safaris rarely breaks down, though it occasionally stalls when animals walk into the ride path. (For safety reasons, Disney cast members don’t evacuate guests in animal habitats.) Because the ride vehicles are repurposed trucks, no complicated mechanics or technical systems are at play. Disney cast members regularly inspect the vehicles to ensure they’re functioning properly. If one truck needs maintenance, there are plenty more to carry guests.
However, Redditor u/beeeees recently had the rare experience of evacuating Kilimanjaro Safaris. They shared their experience and a photo, which is visible below:
evac first ride of the day
In the photo, Disney cast members carefully helped pull a guest out of the lifted truck and down a ladder.
“Our safari vehicle broke down right at the beginning,” the Disney Park guest wrote. “They’re gonna have to tow it, we disembarked and loaded onto another truck. Luckily the road isn’t completely blocked by the broken truck.”
Disney cast members loaded the guests onto another truck, and they continued on their Kilimanjaro Safaris adventure.
“Obviously the cast was great but good grief,” the guest wrote. “I actually feel worse for the people in line and in the truck behind us that are also stuck.”
The Disney Park guest said cast members also emphasized how rare a Kilimanjaro Safaris evacuation is: “The cast member driving said it was her first time in 8 years of working there.”
Have you evacuated a ride at Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park? Inside the Magic would love to hear from you in the comments!