Tiggerish
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
Wild Africa Trek- The Accessible Version
June 2013 1:30 PM used $50 discount
My niece (16) has always wanted to do the Wild Africa Trek. I have MS and use a rollator to walk, but at WDW I use an ECV. So the swinging bridge was quite the obstacle, not the mention walking the rough trail. However, she was willing to do the adapted disability tour rather than nothing.
It was a little more difficult to book an accessible tour. The person who I first talked to tried to talk me into doing the regular tour because I can walk and said I could take my walker. However, she did want me to talk to someone else who had more information about how accessible the tour really was. I had to give my information and then leave a number for someone to call me back. The person that was supposed to call me was unavailable for a couple days. And the waiting was hard. Eventually, a very nice woman called me back explained in detail what kind of trek I could be participate in. I thought I should book the earliest tour because I have issues with heat intolerance and expected the morning would be cooler. She told me about this nice $50 discount for the afternoon tours and explained that the difference in temperature was very slight. Once it gets hot, its hot!
So we booked the 1:30 and saved some money. The only proof I had that I booked the tour was a confirmation number I wrote down. When the day came they did have our names on the list. We checked in about 1:15 (the check in is on the opposite side of the entrance to Kilimanjaro Safari). First of the benefits to the accessible tour: We did not have to get weighed AND we did not have to put on those hot and heavy vests with straps that went between your legs! (happy dance banana) We did get the handy-dandy water bottle!
My niece and I were the only ones taking the adapted tour. We had our own personal tour guide! We did a group photo
and the rest of the group went off into the savannah. We motored 
on to the Pangani trail. Before this and the group photo, our guide asked us if there was any type of animal that were particularly interested in. I mentioned that I very much enjoyed the birds. She said that she would arrange for a special experience.
The guide mysteriously was able to get us up close viewing spots as went through the exhibits (something I would have never done on my own, too afraid of running into someone). She talked about the animals and their settings. She would also snap pictures and she was so good I never realized she was doing it!
At the entrance to the aviary section she stopped and told us we would be joined by another cast member who was a bird expert.
We went in and met Carlos, he had a big cup full of live, mealy worms.
He took us over to the edge of one of the paths where a stream was running and threw out a few worms. We had instant bird friends, EVERYWHERE! He told us about the different kinds. Other people around us starting listening in, we felt like we were VIPS 
He answered any questions we had and thats how I learned that Disney Animal Kingdom Employees count the birds inside the aviary twice a day. Each bird has a band on its leg with a unique number to track them as well. Yes, they use binoculars and physically count them! We also learned about what happens if AK experiences a hurricane. They have a plan, a very, very detailed plan. I was impressed. Carlos walked us through the aviary pointing out unique birds and fish. He even threw some worms into one of the little streams and got the fish to all come to meet us.
We said goodbye and thank you to Carlos and left the aviary. We headed into the Gorilla house. There, our guide worked her magic again and we get got front row spots in the viewing area. It was amazing.
She told us interesting stories about the animals and about the animal keepers. She was extremely interesting and very knowledgeable. Once we were done with the gorillas we went down a path that led to a safari truck. Altogether, we spent about an hour on the trail. I left my ECV and we boarded the truck. I could have transferred to a wheelchair and stayed in that on the truck but I am able to walk short distances and prefer to stay out of a wheelchair whenever possible. She stayed on and a driver joined us. She gave us Frosty Towels, which were individually wrapped, ice cold small towels that smelled of eucalyptus and lavender (two of my nieces favorite remedies for headaches!).
I really appreciated the cold towel; I had become quite hot (sweating buckets) in the gorilla house. The cold towel around the back of my neck was pure delight. The driver took us over to where the other part of the group was going to exit the trek trail. After just a couple of minutes they showed up, got on the truck and got their own towels.
The truck is not a normal safari truck; it has benches around the sides so everyone has a window seat. We did go on some of the same trails as the safari trucks and saw a number of them. But we seemed to get closer to the animals and were able to stop longer. The truck driver and the two guides took turns telling us about what we were seeing. Similar to the safari but in more detail. We drove up to the little house that you can see off in the distance while on the safari.
It was a covered shelter with indoor bathrooms. The bathrooms were very nice. There were tables and chairs and everyone found a spot. The tour was not sold out; there was my niece and myself, and six other people. They brought out jugs of jungle juice, the same that you get at Boma and Tusker House. It is very tasty. They also gave each person a round tin pail with a cover.
When you open the cover there were two parts to the pail and different food in each part. We tried everything, Im a very picky eater and even I liked most of it. My niece actually liked the chicken curry. It came with an edible orchid and we both ate them
While we were eating they took the people you were with did individual pictures. Ours turned out great. While we were eating, it rained. It rained hard, but not for long. As the rain was letting up it was time to go. They had us go down a long side walkway where we could see the lion hill across the way. Because of the rain, the lions were awake.
Our guide told us that we should hurry to the truck and we were driven close to the lions while they were moving around. She explained that right after it rains, the lions seem to get active before going back to sleep. She was right! We saw them actually stand up, stretch and move. And we saw all three of them. The guides were continually snapping pictures. The truck took us through the rest of the safari with lots of stops of photo opportunities. Eventually, the three hours were up and we returned to where we had got on the truck and my ECV was waiting. There was a little bit of paperwork to be done for deciding what animal you wanted part of your fee to be donated to. Each person received a pebble and you put it in the box with your animals picture on it. Then you got a button for the donation.
When I got home a CD with all the pictures our guide had taken was already waiting for me. Disney mailed the same CD to my niece. The pictures in this report are from that disk. You can see she did a great job (and had a great camera!).
In conclusion, the accessible tour was well thought out, a good substitute for the trail and bridge part of the trek, and made it feel like you did get your moneys worth. Was it the same? No, but it was good.
June 2013 1:30 PM used $50 discount
My niece (16) has always wanted to do the Wild Africa Trek. I have MS and use a rollator to walk, but at WDW I use an ECV. So the swinging bridge was quite the obstacle, not the mention walking the rough trail. However, she was willing to do the adapted disability tour rather than nothing.
It was a little more difficult to book an accessible tour. The person who I first talked to tried to talk me into doing the regular tour because I can walk and said I could take my walker. However, she did want me to talk to someone else who had more information about how accessible the tour really was. I had to give my information and then leave a number for someone to call me back. The person that was supposed to call me was unavailable for a couple days. And the waiting was hard. Eventually, a very nice woman called me back explained in detail what kind of trek I could be participate in. I thought I should book the earliest tour because I have issues with heat intolerance and expected the morning would be cooler. She told me about this nice $50 discount for the afternoon tours and explained that the difference in temperature was very slight. Once it gets hot, its hot!
So we booked the 1:30 and saved some money. The only proof I had that I booked the tour was a confirmation number I wrote down. When the day came they did have our names on the list. We checked in about 1:15 (the check in is on the opposite side of the entrance to Kilimanjaro Safari). First of the benefits to the accessible tour: We did not have to get weighed AND we did not have to put on those hot and heavy vests with straps that went between your legs! (happy dance banana) We did get the handy-dandy water bottle!
My niece and I were the only ones taking the adapted tour. We had our own personal tour guide! We did a group photo
and the rest of the group went off into the savannah. We motored on to the Pangani trail. Before this and the group photo, our guide asked us if there was any type of animal that were particularly interested in. I mentioned that I very much enjoyed the birds. She said that she would arrange for a special experience. The guide mysteriously was able to get us up close viewing spots as went through the exhibits (something I would have never done on my own, too afraid of running into someone). She talked about the animals and their settings. She would also snap pictures and she was so good I never realized she was doing it!
At the entrance to the aviary section she stopped and told us we would be joined by another cast member who was a bird expert.We went in and met Carlos, he had a big cup full of live, mealy worms.
He took us over to the edge of one of the paths where a stream was running and threw out a few worms. We had instant bird friends, EVERYWHERE! He told us about the different kinds. Other people around us starting listening in, we felt like we were VIPS He answered any questions we had and thats how I learned that Disney Animal Kingdom Employees count the birds inside the aviary twice a day. Each bird has a band on its leg with a unique number to track them as well. Yes, they use binoculars and physically count them! We also learned about what happens if AK experiences a hurricane. They have a plan, a very, very detailed plan. I was impressed. Carlos walked us through the aviary pointing out unique birds and fish. He even threw some worms into one of the little streams and got the fish to all come to meet us. We said goodbye and thank you to Carlos and left the aviary. We headed into the Gorilla house. There, our guide worked her magic again and we get got front row spots in the viewing area. It was amazing.
She told us interesting stories about the animals and about the animal keepers. She was extremely interesting and very knowledgeable. Once we were done with the gorillas we went down a path that led to a safari truck. Altogether, we spent about an hour on the trail. I left my ECV and we boarded the truck. I could have transferred to a wheelchair and stayed in that on the truck but I am able to walk short distances and prefer to stay out of a wheelchair whenever possible. She stayed on and a driver joined us. She gave us Frosty Towels, which were individually wrapped, ice cold small towels that smelled of eucalyptus and lavender (two of my nieces favorite remedies for headaches!).I really appreciated the cold towel; I had become quite hot (sweating buckets) in the gorilla house. The cold towel around the back of my neck was pure delight. The driver took us over to where the other part of the group was going to exit the trek trail. After just a couple of minutes they showed up, got on the truck and got their own towels.
The truck is not a normal safari truck; it has benches around the sides so everyone has a window seat. We did go on some of the same trails as the safari trucks and saw a number of them. But we seemed to get closer to the animals and were able to stop longer. The truck driver and the two guides took turns telling us about what we were seeing. Similar to the safari but in more detail. We drove up to the little house that you can see off in the distance while on the safari.
It was a covered shelter with indoor bathrooms. The bathrooms were very nice. There were tables and chairs and everyone found a spot. The tour was not sold out; there was my niece and myself, and six other people. They brought out jugs of jungle juice, the same that you get at Boma and Tusker House. It is very tasty. They also gave each person a round tin pail with a cover. When you open the cover there were two parts to the pail and different food in each part. We tried everything, Im a very picky eater and even I liked most of it. My niece actually liked the chicken curry. It came with an edible orchid and we both ate them
While we were eating they took the people you were with did individual pictures. Ours turned out great. While we were eating, it rained. It rained hard, but not for long. As the rain was letting up it was time to go. They had us go down a long side walkway where we could see the lion hill across the way. Because of the rain, the lions were awake.
Our guide told us that we should hurry to the truck and we were driven close to the lions while they were moving around. She explained that right after it rains, the lions seem to get active before going back to sleep. She was right! We saw them actually stand up, stretch and move. And we saw all three of them. The guides were continually snapping pictures. The truck took us through the rest of the safari with lots of stops of photo opportunities. Eventually, the three hours were up and we returned to where we had got on the truck and my ECV was waiting. There was a little bit of paperwork to be done for deciding what animal you wanted part of your fee to be donated to. Each person received a pebble and you put it in the box with your animals picture on it. Then you got a button for the donation.
When I got home a CD with all the pictures our guide had taken was already waiting for me. Disney mailed the same CD to my niece. The pictures in this report are from that disk. You can see she did a great job (and had a great camera!).
In conclusion, the accessible tour was well thought out, a good substitute for the trail and bridge part of the trek, and made it feel like you did get your moneys worth. Was it the same? No, but it was good.
