The Wild Africa Trek experience at Disney World is like the Kilimanjaro Safari on steroids. The first time I did the safari I was blown away by all the animals you can see just around the corner from Mickey Mouse. I’ve been to Africa and it was much harder to get giraffe photos. Walt Disney was a huge animal lover and committed to conservation, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the safari experiences are refreshingly authentic and at the same time thrilling for young kids.
You can stand in line for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride which is a lot of fun, but you are sitting the entire time and it’s only 22 minutes. Plenty of time for little kids, but if you want more time with the animals and a more exciting experience. Also, um, no line, I recommend ponying up for the Wild Africa Trek.
What you get:
- No line, you check in at the time your safari starts to get fitted with a harness, name tag and more.
- A walk through the “jungle” and the chance to see animals up close and personal.
- A private guide who spends time educating you about the animals you are seeing. Did you know a Hippo sound is a wheeze honk? And you can identify a crocodile from an alligator by his fourth tooth (Wilson already knew that). They also tell you cute personal stories abou the animals on safari, they have two lady lions and only one male. The one lady lion could not care less. I love her.
- A private photographer with a serious camera. All the photos and downloads are included in the price of the safari, they take candids as you go and will shoot requests.
- A gourmet lunch on the savannah. About halfway through the safari you stop at a little outpost with tables and a view of the animals and are treated to a lovely lunch.
What you need to know:
- Participants must be at least 8 years and 48 inches tall.
- You need to be able to walk for about an hour and a half on sometimes uneven terrain. There is a stretch of the trek that goes over a suspension bridge with missing boards (it’s perfectly safe – it’s made to look a little dodgy – but it’s not). If you are terrified of heights, this is not the experience for you.
- Wear close toed shoes (a MUST) and clothes that you are comfortable wearing a harness. I showed up in a sporty dress and my Stan Smith’s. I looked cute, but should have read the website. I had to quickly go buy a pair of very mom looking pants and scrunch my dress up so I spent the safari looking like a snake who had just eaten a giant rat. Don’t be me.
- You can bring your iPhone. They will give you a little thingy ma bob (technical term) that keeps it attached to your safari vest.
- Wear sunglasses, it’s bright.
- The entire safari is amazing for Pokemon Go, as explained to my by my teen and verified by the safari guides who have enviable access to rare Pokemon.
- Pokemom is the plural, not Pokemons.
What it costs:
It works out to about $200 per person with all the taxes included. Though our trip was comped, I think this is a very fair value. A private VIP tour guide through Disney is $450-600 per hour and doesn’t include photos and lunch. My youngest animal loving son loved it, and my two older and cooler teen boys also loved it. I am an animal freak and completely lost my mind seeing the baby giraffe and elephant. It was also a nice mental break from the exhaustion of going from ride to ride and trying to figure out wait times, etc.
Call 407-WDW-TOUR to book. Click here for trek times (there are 8 per day) and all of the nitty gritty details.
BABY GIRAFFE!!!!
This was a personal family trip and Disney was kind enough to comp a few experiences for us so we could review them. I only asked for the luxury experiences because I know my readers, you want to skip lines, I get you. For more information on Luxury Disney – click HERE.
