I have to say this is a great tour. Anyone over the age of 16 can take the tour and if you have a
AAA card you can get a discount. As I remember it was about 68 dollars each for my son and I (the regular cost is 80 dollars)
You do get to visit the vet hospital at the conservation staton. but it is still considered back stage so I dont know if they will allow cameras there. We were actually warned by our guide that we were in an area where other park guests cuold see us so we were actually "on stage". So he told us to behave ourselves (like it would be any other way
) It was really interesting as they were operating on crane that had a piece of wood lodged in its windpipe. We actually got to watch a few minutes of the operation!
Here is a review I did from our trip last August
we went the day before labor day.... We were the only ones on the tour (my son and myself)! Which was really cool as we had 3 guides all to our selves.
The tour started at 8:30 and we checked in at guest services. They told us where to wait for the guides. The guides then took us backstage. We got to see where they keep the elephants and the rhinos. They even got one of the rhinos to come over near where we were standing (there were bars between us) and we actually got to pet him.
Then they took us over to an aviary. They showed us lots of different birds and talked about thier conservation program. They have special breeding programs to help restore endangered species. One of the species thay are trying to save is a kingfisher from the island of Guam. These birds had been almost completely wiped out by snakes that had made it onto the island. Disney went in and rescued the few remaining birds (about 20) and started a breeding program. There are about 80 now in captivity and the number is continuing to grow. We got to see the breeding pairs and even a chick they had in a special incubator.
After the aviary we were shown where all the food for the animals was prepared. It was interesting to note that the fresh produce supplier that supplies all the Disney restaurants also supplies Animal kingdom! The animals do eat well!!
The next part of the tour took us to a conferance room. We were shown a video about how the animals are trained. After the video a keeper came in with an animal for a close up visit. Our guides seemed relieved that it wasnt a snake this time! Our animal was a 7 year old screech owl. I was amazed at how small he was (about 5 inches tall) We learned alot about what they eat and their behaviour. The keeper also told us we could make owl houses that would attract these little guys to our yard.
The last part of the tour was the Safari. We got on our own tour truck (just my son, myself and the 3 guides). We got to ride through the safari without the little red story and the guides gave us all sorts of details about the animals and how they are transported in and out of the safari etc. They also pointed out several hidden mickeys (next time you ride check out the shape of the island the flamingos are standing on ).
I think the thing that impressed me most was the conservation efforts that Disney is constantly supporting. I had no idea how involved Disney was in these types of programs. From the bird breeding all the way up to breeding elephants and other large mammals.
The other great thing about the Back Stage Safari tour is that some of the money for the tour is contributed to the Disney Wildlife Fund that funds these program.
My son and I really enjoyed this program and recommend it highly.
If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.
John
