Animal Kingdom Tours

[shpooey]

I'm interested in both the Wild Africa Trek and Up Close with Rhinos tours at Animal Kingdom, but due to timing, I'm looking at doing them both on the same day. It looks doable, as Up Close with Rhinos is a one-hour tour starting at 11:00AM, and Wild Africa Trek is a three-hour tour with an option to start at 12:30PM (the earlier times wouldn't work with the Rhino tour).

Does anyone have experience with these tours? Would this timing be doable? Do they overlap in content/experience in a way that would make it redundant to do both and maybe I should only do Wild Africa Trek?

I'll have another day at Animal Kingdom, so not worried about the time the tours would take out of a park day, but unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can fit either tour in on the other AK park day, thus am trying to figure out if I should do them both on the same day.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[nw6675]

I can't answer your main questions as we haven't done the Wild Trek. However, if it's important to you to pet a rhino, then do both

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I've done both but it's been a few years. I don't think there's overlap in terms of content/experience. In my experience, tours run very much on schedule. I'm not sure if 12:30 is your check-in time for Wild Africa or actual tour start. There is a bit of prep involved - you read and sign the waiver, get weighed, get outfitted in your safety gear etc. -- so it could be tight time wise if your check-in time is 12 or 12:15. But both are in the same area.

 

[soniam]

I know we were pretty beat after WAT. We did do the park from early entry until midday before doing WAT. Also, it was in July.

 

[BeachMouse1]

We did Wild Africa Trek not to long ago. It was a great experience. Got behind the scenes on the safari, walking to rope bridge was such fun, and the cast members we had leading the tour were fantastic and informative. Then you go and have some food in the middle of the savanna then you’re in a bigger vehicle. Not a typical safari vehicle and they stop and there is a cast member/photographer with you who takes a bunch of photos and photos of your party and they give you a code to download all the photos. Really a great tour and great value for the price

 

[shpooey]

Following up on my original post - I've made my bookings, and I'm kinda concerned that it's too much of the same...

On May 23, I have a dinner ADR at Jiko followed by the 10PM Starlight Safari.
The next day, I've booked Up Close with Rhinos at 11AM followed by Wild Africa Trek at 12:30PM

Do you think this is too much and I should cancel one of the tours? If so, which one would you drop?

For some added context on our trip - this is our (much delayed) honeymoon and it's sort of a bucket list trip - a lot of things that we wouldn't normally do on a WDW trip, like a 10-day stay, deluxe resorts, enchanting extras, backstage tours, etc. It's also my husband's first ever trip to WDW! For the first part of our split stay, we'll be staying at AKL before moving to YC. We both love animals, and although I've been on safaris in Africa before, my husband hasn't and I think he'll love the savannah view room. To get more animal experience time, I booked the tours at the lodge and park. But I'm starting to wonder if I've packed in too much of the same - I want the experiences to feel special and not just like we're going from tour to tour where it all sort of blends together...

Any advice or insight is appreciated!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Following up on my original post - I've made my bookings, and I'm kinda concerned that it's too much of the same...

On May 23, I have a dinner ADR at Jiko followed by the 10PM Starlight Safari.
The next day, I've booked Up Close with Rhinos at 11AM followed by Wild Africa Trek at 12:30PM

Do you think this is too much and I should cancel one of the tours? If so, which one would you drop?

For some added context on our trip - this is our (much delayed) honeymoon and it's sort of a bucket list trip - a lot of things that we wouldn't normally do on a WDW trip, like a 10-day stay, deluxe resorts, enchanting extras, backstage tours, etc. It's also my husband's first ever trip to WDW! For the first part of our split stay, we'll be staying at AKL before moving to YC. We both love animals, and although I've been on safaris in Africa before, my husband hasn't and I think he'll love the savannah view room. To get more animal experience time, I booked the tours at the lodge and park. But I'm starting to wonder if I've packed in too much of the same - I want the experiences to feel special and not just like we're going from tour to tour where it all sort of blends together...

Any advice or insight is appreciated!

Sounds like an awesome couple days! Most of the experiences are different and should be amazing. The only tight scheduling is the second day where you might want to do a late breakfast, since you'll be busy over lunchtime! But both AK tours are in a similar area of the park, so you should be good. I'd let the Rhino team know you have the Trek in the early afternoon.

AKL is spectacular, by the way! Hope you get a really nice view. We love Jiko, too - hope you like it there as much as we have. Have a great trip!

 

[piccolopat]

If it were me, I'd skip the rhino tour and just do the WAT. You're on your honeymoon and being rushed going from one tour to another can be stressful. What if the rhino tour runs late and you miss the WAT? You can always do the rhino tour on another visit. I would slow things down so you both can enjoy the activities and each other.

 

[teach22180]

I was on the rhino tour, and we were back in less than an hour. The check in staff is the same. They are very different experiences. We spent 15 minutes getting to the rhino barn, 25 min there including the touching, and 15 min returning.