Animal Kingdom Safari

[lclosser@prodigy.net]

Hi everyone, I just returned from Disney World. We had a wonderful time, and absolutely loved Port Orleans Riverside. The parks were very busy tho! My husband is convinced the animals on the safari ride are all fake, he had his binoculars out and was really checking out these animals. He said the guide was pointing out the same animals in the same places they were in when we were there 2 months ago. I started to more closely observe the animals and now I am beginning to have my doubts too. Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Adi12982]

They are real - I promise they are. We have had to stop and wait while an animal stood in the path. The fake animals are on the Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Cass]

The ostrich eggs are fake and little red in the truck at the end, but other than that they are all real

 

[dmslush]

Yep they are real!!!!!

 

[Alexis Green]

he had his binoculars out and was really checking out these animals. He said the guide was pointing out the same animals in the same places they were in when we were there 2 months ago.

Magic

 

[DizzKneeGeek]

The ostrich eggs are fake and little red in the truck at the end

As well as the Baobob Tree, the termite mounds and the elephant tusk marks in the clay. I seriously can't believe anybody thinks the animals are fake.

 

[Barbi]

We had to take a quick detour back in February because 2 rhinos were "trotting" our way and came about 3 ft from the truck.
That was OMG real! If I can figure out how to post a pic I will.

 

[Allison]

The animals are real.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Real.

 

[lclosser@prodigy.net]

We are having quite the discussion at my house right now about this. I have not found anything on the net that proves my husband's theory and I am sure if they were 'not real' like he says, the story would have gotten around by now! And how about all the people staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, what a hoax that would be! So, I have just graciously offered to sacrifice myself and go back and ride the ride 2 more times, with my camera He realizes that I will in fact do this since I live only 2 hours away. And of course, I will have to stop at a few pin trading shops......poor guy, he will rue the day he brought this up!!!!

And by the way, is there any way to change my user name, I did not intend to use my email addy, and cannot figure out how to change it.

 

[CarolA]

Hi everyone, I just returned from Disney World. We had a wonderful time, and absolutely loved Port Orleans Riverside. The parks were very busy tho! My husband is convinced the animals on the safari ride are all fake, he had his binoculars out and was really checking out these animals. He said the guide was pointing out the same animals in the same places they were in when we were there 2 months ago. I started to more closely observe the animals and now I am beginning to have my doubts too. Does anyone have any thoughts?

You are kidding aren't you?

Anyway the Ostrich eggs are also REAL. They don't hatch because Disney only has females.

 

[MickeyMaz]

I can assure you that the animals are real. What you might not know is that the Drivers are all animatronics.

Give Walt's Imagineers a nod here on their great work. There are 5 different models, 2 female and 3 male. One CM said they have over 2500 different variations on the Safari Spiel.

And as for the Ostrich eggs, they are real, they are female, and they taste real good with Canadian bacon.

 

[Lila95]

The only fake animal we saw wasLittle Red, the elephant that the poachers had supposedly captured. It was in the back of a truck. The rest were quite real. I rode the sarari bus 3 times one day trying to get decent pictures of all the animals (it's the scrapbook junkie in me ) and the animals were up and moving most of the time.

 

[FanOfStitch]

I can assure you that the animals are real. What you might not know is that the Drivers are all animatronics.

 

[dominia_1979]

I was convinced the crocodiles were fake.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Every animal contained within the borders of the "Harambe Wildlife Reserve" is a real, live, breathing animal (including the crocodiles). (and if they're doing their job right, the drivers should remind you that you're leaving the reserve to go save Little Red)

 

[kellyg403]

Well, we had a rhino experience in Sept as well as an ostrich that wanted to be a little closer to my side than I appreciated. So, yeah...they are pretty real!

Kelly

 

[SGB13]

We had a giraffe a few feet from us last week. Very real!

 

[boxer]

on another note, are the kids in "Its a Small World" really kids? I could swear they are REAL children, and that is a disgrace considering there are like labor laws and stuff to prohibit children from working long hours each day.

Fake safari animals, real children used as props, 3 year olds still getting in free---what is Disney coming to?

 

[bytheblood]

They are most definitely real.

Tell your husband that they are always in the same spot because of the way Disney Imagineers created the reserve and landscaping. I watched a very cool show on the Travel Channel dedicated to Animal Kingdom. In this show, they pointed out how they keep the animals from roaming into another’s paddock. Truly, it makes sense. You would not want Mr. Lion to walk over and munch on Mr. Elk while little Johnny is on the Safari ride.