Caring for giants tour at AK

[TinkerbellTris]

ive been looking for something different to do that is a tour, and I stumbled accross 5is one. I love elephants, so this tour sounds interesting sinceit appears to be based on elephants. Anyone done this tour? What did you think? Worth the $30 per person?

 

[only hope]

It’s worth the money if you want the chance to (probably) observe elephants from a fairly close distance. There is a young calf right now who is adorable. It’s not really a tour per se; you only go to one place. You take a short walk backstage to a bus that you ride to the observation area. The rides about ten minutes and you see a little bit of backstage on the drive. The elephants are of course free roaming, and there’s no guarantee as to how long they will actually be within view. At least one was in view nearly the whole time we were there, but the calf was out of view to us for a good ten minutes.

 

[AngiTN]

Yes, love this tour. Have done it twice. It's one of the best bargains at Disney.
Also consider, depending on your trip dates, A Path Less Traveled. It includes the tour plus some additional items for only a bit more money

On our one last week we got to see some herd drama. Not sure exactly what happened, they were all heading to get ready to go in for the evening when something set them off on a run. Little Stella was trumpeting and everyone ran back to the other side of the enclosure. One of them doesn't like controversy so she stayed off to the side for quite a while after it all settled down. Stella thought it was all a game.

 

[TinkerbellTris]

Thank you both so much. We are going in October for Halloween. I really wanted the Path Less Traveled tour but unfortunately it is not offered when we are going. I’ve checked out a few tours, wild Africa trek, and savor the savanna, and the night tour of the savanna, but the only one that I thought was a great value was the caring for giants. I’d love to do the wild African trek but just can’t do $609 for 3 of us....me, DH, DS (19).

 

[AngiTN]

Ah, yea, it's ended by then.
I think y'all would really enjoy Caring for Giants. Something I learned last week, when taking the last tour of the day, they take the elephants in at night. Which I did know, since the female herd isn't really part of the night tour, the drive past their enclosure is cut off for the most part. But I hadn't thought about how it may impact their behavior. But they know when it's about time for them to go in, which is why during our tour they had all started to head down towards the exit of their enclosure. So look at the last tour and there is a good chance you'll at least see them moving around towards their exit

 

[magrudersmakes3]

Yes, love this tour. Have done it twice. It's one of the best bargains at Disney.
Also consider, depending on your trip dates, A Path Less Traveled. It includes the tour plus some additional items for only a bit more money

On our one last week we got to see some herd drama. Not sure exactly what happened, they were all heading to get ready to go in for the evening when something set them off on a run. Little Stella was trumpeting and everyone ran back to the other side of the enclosure. One of them doesn't like controversy so she stayed off to the side for quite a while after it all settled down. Stella thought it was all a game.

Did you take a camera with you? I'm wondering if I want to carry it around or can I get some goods shots with an IPhone and Galaxy.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Ah, yea, it's ended by then.
I think y'all would really enjoy Caring for Giants. Something I learned last week, when taking the last tour of the day, they take the elephants in at night. Which I did know, since the female herd isn't really part of the night tour, the drive past their enclosure is cut off for the most part. But I hadn't thought about how it may impact their behavior. But they know when it's about time for them to go in, which is why during our tour they had all started to head down towards the exit of their enclosure. So look at the last tour and there is a good chance you'll at least see them moving around towards their exit

Thank you for this info. We keep saying we are going to do this tour and never do it. Our youngest DD LOVES elephants. This summer we are going to do it. About what time is the last tour?

 

[VeronicaZS]

easywdw just reviewed (in the last month) this experience with a lot of pictures. If you google it you should find it.

 

[AngiTN]

Did you take a camera with you? I'm wondering if I want to carry it around or can I get some goods shots with an IPhone and Galaxy.

I used my iPhone (7+)
Some of my pics

And they offered to take photos if anyone wanted

 

[AngiTN]

Thank you for this info. We keep saying we are going to do this tour and never do it. Our youngest DD LOVES elephants. This summer we are going to do it. About what time is the last tour?

Ours was at 3:45

 

[magrudersmakes3]

Thank you for sharing this! I'm trying to leave the big camera at home this trip!!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Ours was at 3:45

Thank you and those are great pictures. We have to do this - my DD will especially love it.

 

[MPD]

We've been twice and loved it! It really is one of the best values at Disney. As for cameras - my husband took his D90 for that day just for the tour and got some amazing pictures. My iPhone 7 pix were pretty good, but the DSLR did much better (no surprise - he's also a better photographer, so that helped too!).

 

[NH-to-FL]

Anyone done this tour? What did you think? Worth the $30 per person?

Yes! Absolutely worth the price. DW and I took the tour a few weeks ago. Here is the link to my review:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/caring-for-giants-tour.3664524/

 

[dcassetta]

Really enjoyable tour. Not only for the information and viewing of the elephants, but also for the conversation with the cultural expert. Ours was Chris from Zimbabwe and he was so friendly and informative. It really added to the experience. Plus, getting the sample of elephant poop!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I remember that Josh, on Easywdw had a review of it not long ago. The bad news for us ECV users is that it doesn't accommodate ECVs. However, there seems to be very little walking required, so I think I may be able to do it. AngiTN, can you verify that there's not much walking required? I remember Josh saying that if you enjoy watching elephants play with sticks and try to keep the sticks from each other for close to an hour, you'll love it. Otherwise you'll be bored. Sounds like I'm in the love it category so I hope I'm right about the amount of walking required.

 

[AngiTN]

I remember that Josh, on Easywdw had a review of it not long ago. The bad news for us ECV users is that it doesn't accommodate ECVs. However, there seems to be very little walking required, so I think I may be able to do it. AngiTN, can you verify that there's not much walking required? I remember Josh saying that if you enjoy watching elephants play with sticks and try to keep the sticks from each other for close to an hour, you'll love it. Otherwise you'll be bored. Sounds like I'm in the love it category so I hope I'm right about the amount of walking required.

There is not much walking required.
You have to walk from the check in point to the truck. I don't know if they'd allow you to take an ECV to that point or not. It would be accessible if they would. From there you have a ramp to go up, which is a series of switch backs. Not too long at all, with handrails you can easily lean on and can take all the time you need to get up.
Once up at the top there is a bench to sit on if you need a break from standing. Other than that, you would walk from end to end of the enclosure, depending on the movement of the elephants.

Other than that, I'll just say I don't agree with Josh. I guess I'm just more easily entertained than he is. I can watch the animals doing absolutely nothing for hours.

We did get rather lucky last week. They told us windy days are like manna from heaven for the animals (not just the Elephants). It gives the animals more than the bunches from the trees that they are normally provided. It was rather windy so they were getting all kinds of palm fronds and such falling from the trees. They were eating them up. But they were playing or keeping them from each other, just eating them.

 

[Monykalyn]

I'm with Angie on this-great tour for the money! Did it in March-I think was 2nd or 3rd tour of the day?. Gorgeous day, think we saw 5 or 6 different elephants, including baby Stella. Really neat to be backstage and see the KS tour trucks rumble through too. And the guides are incredible knowledgeable. The hour flew by for us.
I am hoping to find room on our June trip to take rest of family on this tour!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

There is not much walking required.
You have to walk from the check in point to the truck. I don't know if they'd allow you to take an ECV to that point or not. It would be accessible if they would. From there you have a ramp to go up, which is a series of switch backs. Not too long at all, with handrails you can easily lean on and can take all the time you need to get up.
Once up at the top there is a bench to sit on if you need a break from standing. Other than that, you would walk from end to end of the enclosure, depending on the movement of the elephants.

Other than that, I'll just say I don't agree with Josh. I guess I'm just more easily entertained than he is. I can watch the animals doing absolutely nothing for hours.

No, I read the review too...he wasn't saying he didn't enjoy it or recommend it - he did on both counts...it was more just the way he was phrasing evaluating it in terms of the age-old question "Is it worth it?" Basically he was saying it depends, if you're a go go go type of person that's in and out of AK quickly, you may not find as much value in it, if that makes sense, but it definitely was a positive review!

 

[TheFloatingBear]

We just did this tour last week and we just loved it! I can't say enough positive things, and I would love to do it again. All of the CMs, the cultural representative, and the animal specialists were wonderful and provided a lot of information and answered questions.

Previous posters have said a lot of the things that make it special, but I just wanted to add that one of the things that I appreciated about it was that it was more low-key. I've done some Disney tours that I've loved and that have been informative and interesting, but they've involved a lot of walking. It was so nice just to go to the viewing area and just have some time to observe and ask questions. It felt rather peaceful and I felt relaxed when the tour was over!