I loved Alien Encounter, positively the most scariest thing I've ever done. Wonderful. Even second time round it got me going.
The stitch thing that's now in it's place is a nice experience, it's very well themed and polished. We enjoyed it.
However, compared to the total terror of Alien Encounter its nothing.
I don't think I've been disappointed by any of the rides. Some of them are dated now and a little bit odd. However, that just adds to the charm.
The only thing that did get me was the "little red" story in the safari at AK. When we went just after it opened the story spoilt the whole thing. It made it so false. When we went back last year the story didn't appear to be so intrusive, it was much better. Personally I'd drop the story and just have a drive around with a decent commentary on the animals, their habitat and stuff like that (particularly those species that are under threat and why).
By all means mention poachers but keep it real and don't ham it up.
As an aside 5 years ago when we were on the safari truck we were sat next to a little old lady who said to my son, when we saw the giraffes, "look at those, aren't they close". They were about 100 yards away. My son, 3 at the time replies with "Oh no, I've been much closer. I had giraffes eating from my hands". At the time we lived near Marwell Zoo and in their new giraffe enclosure you could get close to the animals. We had annual membership and had been going regularly, mainly to see the giraffes. If you went when it was quiet the giraffe would come over to say hello and the keeper, knowing that we were regular locals would let us feed them. A real experience, especially for a 2/3 year old.
Chris.