March 1, 2013

Location: Asia, Disney's Animal Kingdom

It's time to talk Disney history and how it connects to the parks today! When Disney's Animal Kingdom first opened, the Asia section of the park was still in the construction phase and wouldn't open up until early in 1999 with the signature attraction which was to be known as Tiger Rapids Run!

I know what you're thinking, "Tiger Rapids Run!?!?" That's right, Tiger Rapids Run was originally the planned name for Kali River Rapids (and it was continued to be known as Tiger Rapids Run until shortly before Asia opened). So why did Tiger Rapids Run switch their name over to Kali River Rapids?

The answer is quite simple: Although guests could see tigers while trekking through the woods on the Maharajah Jungle Trek next door, no tigers could be seen while white water rafting. Due to this, Disney opted for a name change so they would not confuse guests and give them false hope of seeing tigers on the attraction when in reality there were none to be seen.

So how does this history lesson connect us to current day Kali River Rapids? Well, despite the lack of real tigers seen throughout the attraction, there is one visible tiger guests can find, which is located at the top of the first lift of the attraction:

As soon as you reach the top you'll find one of the details that never disappeared from the original theme: a tiger. Once at the top of the lift you will find a rock formation, along with waterfall, directly in front of your path. If you pay close attention to the rock formation you will realize that the rockwork actually forms the face of a tiger!

So there you have it, while Tiger Rapids Run never came into being, you can still find one tiger on Kali River Rapids just waiting to be seen!