Wild Africa Trek - Animal Kingdom Behind the Scenes Tour



There are so many amazing things to see and do at Disney World - rides, shows, characters, food. There are also many great tours that allow you to journey behind the seeds, I mean scenes, and learn things that you wouldn't be able to learn about or see otherwise.

One such tour is the Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom. This three hour tour is offered a few times a day and takes you behind the scenes and over the top.

* The experiences on each tour are different due to the fact that live animals are involved. This post will detail what we experienced on our tour.*

** Participants must be at least 8 years old and ambulatory to take part in this tour.**

The tour starts in a "secret" area next to the entrance of Kilimanjaro Safaris. Here you will meet with your tour guides and the rest of our tour group. This is also where you will don your vest, harness, and headsets. You will also receive a name tag and when we took the tour each person received a personal water bottle.

After introductions our group headed to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. On our way there our guides shared jokes and various facts with us over the headsets. There were probably some people that thought that we were crazy since we were laughing at things that only we could hear.

Once we arrived at the trail we took a few group photos and then learned about a few animals that we passed.

The next part of our tour was one of the most exciting parts. We went to a back stage area where we got to see one of the trainers feed the hippos. To get there we had to walk through the woods a bit which really made us feel like we were no longer in a theme park.

If you’ve been on the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride then you have seen the wooden bridges that cross the water. Well, on this tour you get to cross those bridges. Normally the crocodiles are under these bridges, but during our tour they were all away at the doctor’s. Crossing the bridges was definitely still cool though. If you do not like heights or are not especially fond of crocodiles, then this tour may not be for you. After crossing the bridges we got to take off the harness vests and be a little bit more comfortable.

After the bridges we boarded a safari vehicle that is different than those used for the ride, but just like the ride we got up close with the animals. Just like on the safari attraction interesting facts about animals were shared on the ride to lunch. Did you know that a group of zebras is called a dazzle?

Now, I’m sure that you have noticed an outlook location near the flamingos and giraffes while on the safari. This is where we stopped for lunch. The lunch which was filled with delicious sampling sized treats to include pitas and hummus, chicken salad, fruit, meats, and shrimp is include in the price of the tour.

During our lunch stop our tour guides took photos of us all with giraffes in the background. We also got a special treat – a rhino was angry and we got to see it pacing and hear it. If you’ve never heard a rhino before, they sound like a lion.

Following lunch we boarded the safari vehicle again and headed back onto the road. A few rhinos were in the road and stopped the flow of traffic for a good twenty minutes. This was a great opportunity to get some photos of the lions which are often hard to see as you pass their pride lands. Did you know that simba is the word for lion in Swahili?

We traveled to an exit from the safari and walked back to the tour start. When we exited the vehicle we were given a stone. We were to place this stone in the box that corresponded with the group of animals we wanted our donation to go to. A portion of the tour proceeds go to the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund.

At the tour start location we retrieved all of our belongings that we didn’t take with us on the tour. Loose items are not allowed – all loose items and bags can be stored in lockers at the tour start free of charge. We also received a card with an access number so that we could retrieve the photos taken by our guides.

The cost of the tour may seem slightly high- it was about $150 per person when we took it, but it is a three hour tour. A water bottle, a cool towel upon boarding the safari vehicle, lunch, and all of the photos taken by the guides on the tour are included in the price. Also, as I mentioned a portion of the proceeds go to the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund.

We highly recommend taking this tour – we learned a lot, got some awesome photos, and some amazing memories.


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