Changes
/* Changes Since Opening */
The original story that Imagineers created for Kilimanjaro Safaris, involved guests racing after poachers while trying to rescue a mother and child elephant named Big Red and Little Red <ref name= "hill"> http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2001/01/01/282.aspx#.UK7NfIeCmSo </ref>. In the original plans for the attraction, guests would be involved in a high speed chase for the last third of the ride. Along the way, they would pass the bloodied corpse of Big Red who was killed by poachers for her tusks. This was done in order to stress the conservation message that Michael Eisner had championed for the park. Unfortunately, Cast Member previews proved that the sight of the dead elephant was too much for kids (and some adults) <ref name= "hill"/>. After receiving a lot of complaints, Imagineers removed the elephant and instead implied Big Red's death in the script. The elephant corpse was no longer a part of the attraction when it opened on April 22, 1998 <ref name= "hill"/>.
===Changes Since Opening===
[[Image:Zebra.jpg|350px|thumb|Zebras were added to the Kilimanjaro Safaris in 2012]]
During the holiday season of 1998, Disney decided to allow the safaris to remain open at night <ref name= "jambo"> http://www.jamboeveryone.com/2015/04/coming-soon-nighttime-kilimanjaro.html </ref>. The "new" attraction, known as Kilimanjaro Night Safaris featured animal sounds, reflectors meant to represent animal eyes, and an African dance troupe who performed around a bonfire <ref name= "jambo"/>. Following the holiday season however, it was decided that the attraction would be discontinued due to guest complaints about not being able to see the animals, as well as the additional costs of keeping the attraction open. <ref name= "jambo"/>
In February of 2012, Disney announced that beginning in the fall, the Little Red story would no longer be featured in the attraction <ref> http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-02-14/the-daily-disney/os-disney-aniimal-kingdom-safari-changes-20120214_1_disney-s-animal-kingdom-theme-park-zebras </ref>. On April 29th, the Little Red Audio Animatronic was removed, and construction began on the attractions final scene <ref> http://exploringwdw.com/disney-info/kilimanjaro-safaris-update/ </ref>. On October 23, 2012, Plains Zebras were added to the attraction <ref> http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/10/guests-are-seeing-stripes-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-zebras-out-on-new-kilimanjaro-safaris-savanna/ </ref>and all mentions of Little Red or the poachers were now completely removed. Four months after their addition, the Plains Zebras were removed from the attraction due to “acclimation issues” and replaced with the addax <ref> http://wdwnt.com/blog/2013/03/zebras-removed-permanently-after-4-months-from-kilimanjaro-safaris/ </ref>. The zebras were subsequently returned in June 2013 <ref> http://www.jamboeveryone.com/2013/07/the-return-of-zebras.html </ref>.
In May of 2013 Disney announced that a nighttime version of Kilimanjaro Safaris would begin running in the future <ref>http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/10/first-look-avatar-to-come-to-life-at-disneys-animal-kingdom/ </ref>. As part of this new experience, in 2015 Disney announced that spotted hyenas and African wild dogs are expected to be added to the attraction <ref> http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/08/new-details-released-on-rivers-of-light-sunset-kilimanjaro-safaris-at-disneys-animal-kingdom/ </ref> which was given a opening date of spring 2016. At this time, Disney announced that the nighttime version of the attraction would be called Sunset Kilimanjaro Safaris <ref> http://www.jamboeveryone.com/2015/08/sunset-kilimanjaro-safari.html </ref>. The Sunset Kilimanjaro Safaris began running in May of 2016 <ref> https://yourfirstvisit.net/2016/08/02/review-sunset-kilimanjaro-safaris/ </ref>.
