Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<They both give you superficial glimpses of rather complex issues>> That may be true, but what can you expect from a place where they only have a few minutes to "teach"? The value I always found in Disney's style of edutainment was that it exposed people to new things and ideas - and hopefully inspired them to go home and learn more about the things they had seen on their vacation.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> That may be true, but what can you expect from a place where they only have a few minutes to "teach"? The value I always found in Disney's style of edutainment was that it exposed people to new things and ideas - and hopefully inspired them to go home and learn more about the things they had seen on their vacation. << I think there's a difference between being exposed to a "new" idea (or an idea that is new to you) and an idea (or a message) that has been adopted by many mainstream voices. Conservation is one such idea. You have companies like Disney greenwashing themselves to reassure the consumer that these corporations "care" about the environment. I see DAK as a rather interesting manifestation of this trend. Disney cares about the animals. They want us to care about the animals. In this way, Disney is just maintaining the middle-of-the-road politics that has characterized so much of the company's history. You'll notice that DAK doesn't touch controversial environmental issues, like climate change (which, to some, is still controversial). I'm sure if I'm wrong on this point, someone will correct me. But it feels like DAK is committed to all the "safe" environmental messages. I doubt many of us actually believe that any substantial number of guests arrives at DAK thinking, "I want to trash this planet and watch species die off," and leaves thinking, "Wow, I really need to be concerned about the environment." Okay, maybe that was a straw-man argument, but you get my point. Do we really think that DAK encourages people to change their living habits?
Originally Posted By Christi22222 I find that Leo is making such excellent points that I could not have framed my thoughts better. Does this mean I should spend more time in Disney restrooms? Is that where this enlightenment comes from?
Originally Posted By wahooskipper My kid didn't know anything about the disappearing rainforests until we went to DAK. I didn't intentionally NOT tell him about that...but at 7 years old it just didn't come up. Coincidence or not he started taking a bigger interest in the Discovery Channel and recycling after that visit. I agree to an extent that most people won't have a "lightbulb" moment because of a trip. My memory is hazy on the opening of DAK. Did they get animals that weren't already in captivity?
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I don't know as I ever heard the details but just prior to opening the had a number of animals die (of something). I don't think that it was ever revealed. I could be wrong about that, but, I know I never heard what it was.
Originally Posted By brotherdave I remember hearing about reports of the free roaming captive birds (cranes, I believe) being hit be the Kilamanjaro vehicles in the early years of DAK. I think that the trucks now have sensors and mirrors installed to help drivers detect the birds if they happen to cross the road in front of the vehicles. I also recall hearing about one or two large animals (not sure if they were rhinos or elephants or something else) that happened to die from disease during the first year or so, too. Of course, all of the animal rights groups (PETA in particular) got involved in protesting Disney.
