New: Backstage Tales Tour

[BelleLulu]

Thanks for the review! How long was the tour? How many people were in the group?

Still trying to decide between this and WAT.

The tour was 3 hours 45 minutes. Our group had 8 people.

 

[jennab113]

My tour was also about 3:45. We met at 7:15 and the tour started around 7:30 and we finished up about 11:15. We had 9 people.

Honestly, I liked WAT more, though I did like this one. WAT was more interactive and I loved the personalized safari aspect of WAT. Backstage Tales was really interesting and informative. It was also a good bit cheaper.

 

[gracielou]

We took the Backstage Tales Tour Tuesday 3/3/2015. Our experience was very similar to Jennab113. We met out front and were given our headsets and name tags. We had a bottle of water with us, I did put it in my bag so that my hands were free. Our guides Debbi and Tonya were very good.
We also went to the Aviary in Africa, we were able to feed the birds and the gentleman talked about how they count them twice a day. We watched the weaver birds weave some material into the nest they were building.
From there we went backstage and got in the new, new to them, van that was decorated like the safari trucks, but enclosed with air conditioning. Plenty of room and bucket seats. There were only 8 on our tour we had plenty of room to spread out.
We drove to the Elephant house where they talked about the elephant enrichment activities and had displays about the food and poo. There were two elephants in the enclosure one of which was the baby.
We then drove to the rhino enclosure and saw the white rhino male, the hyena's were being shy and didn't come out while we were there. They did let use know that they would be putting a baby and mom white rhino out in the play yard. We did catch a peek as we went by later on.
We also toured the kitchen and feed area. Our classroom time we learned about GRACE Center for Rescued Gorillas. It was fascinating and sounds like they offer different presentations to each group. Learning about the storks would have been interesting as well.
We toured the vet hospital and they were getting ready to remove the dewclaws of the older female lion. We didn't get to see the lioness, but they were prepping for the surgery.
Next stop was the Komodo Dragon and we watched as the keeper was training him to go up and get used to having his nails touched so the feeling would be normal when it came time to clip his nails.
Goodies were the Backstage Tales Water bottle, Rice Crispy Elephant and the Green Conservation pin.
I liked the tour and would like to do the WAT next time. Backstage tales tour was interesting and I felt we got our money's worth, but we were able to ask a ton of questions in our small group so the group dynamic might make a difference.
I would be interested in the comparison to the Backstage Safari as we were never able to take that tour. So if someone has done both, I would love to know the differences.

I haven't done the new tour, but did the Backstage Safari twice. The biggest difference I see from reading the comments about the Backstage Tales tour is that the original tour ended with a ride through the KS. It was one of the big draws of the tour for us - less crowded vehicle and more frequent stops to take pictures when the animals were close by.

 

[BelleLulu]

The biggest difference I see from reading the comments about the Backstage Tales tour is that the original tour ended with a ride through the KS. It was one of the big draws of the tour for us - less crowded vehicle and more frequent stops to take pictures when the animals were close by.

That would be a draw for us as well. We love KS, we have had good luck with animals close to the vehicle and getting there when they open up. Last visit we had to wait for them to let us into the queue and were in the second truck out and the line wasn't long behind us. We will plan the WAT the next time. We did both Keys to the Kingdom and the Backstage Tales so the cost difference was the deciding factor this trip.

 

[tsme]

Reviews sound good. Unless something changes, I think we're going to book Backstage Tales for when we go. Sadly, that's not until December. I think I'm addicted to Disney World!

 

[zaksmom]

did anyone notice if the truck had a ramp or lift for a wheelchair? The truck for the Wild Africa Trek had a ramp and lock down, but that was an open truck. When we did the Backstage Safari before (3 times) we rode the train out to the backstage area with the kitchen and animal enclosures. Wondered if we'd be able to take our son on this tour. It sounds different, with more animal interaction - birds, komodo, classroom talk. thanks

 

[silverhaze269]

The biggest difference between the two tours seems to be the ending - the new one without the private Safari ride. The new tour seems to incorporate seeing more of the animals "backstage" than the original one did, which I think is awesome. I really enjoyed our Backstage Safari Tour (Nov 2012) and I think that was because we had such a small group (there may have been 5 of us total) and we had a really great guide. It sounds like you see a lot of the same areas (the aviary is new to this tour, and seeing the hyaenas and komodo dragon's spaces are new too), have a similar break experience, and just overall the tours seem to be very similar. I am definitely willing to check this new tour out next time I visit though, assuming it's still around.

Also, if they're the same vans we used back then, there didn't appear to be a wheelchair lift or ramp, but they may have vehicles that can accommodate wheelchairs so it wouldn't hurt to call and check.

 

[zaksmom]

Thanks... There was a whole lot of walking (pushing wheelchair) each time we took our tour. Most of the roads had no side walks and there was traffic and a railroad crossing. I think they must have adapted it when they saw my son was a wheelchair user. Each time we started with a safari then rode the train to the backstage area of Rafifki's. We walked to the Elephants and Rhinos but those were the only special animal interactions. I'll call to check about the van. I fear that if we have to walk the whole tour we won't get to everything. Thanks for all the great review info.

 

[tsme]

Has anyone else gone on the new Back Stage Tales Tour lately?

 

[Simba's Mom]

I also would be interested in hearing from people who'd done the former Backstage Safari tour and now Backstage Tales. And I'd like to know if the trip to the Aviary (I assume it's the one on the Panjani Forest trail) is a fixture in the Backstage Tales. I'd really like to do that, but I know that on Backstage Safari, there were often differences from one tour to the next.

 

[Christine42566]

I am also interested in the Backstage Tales??? Anyone?

 

[Cinderella2004]

Hi! We did this tour this morning and had an amazing time!! We had two great tour guides, and all the animal keepers we met were great. Very happy to talk with us and answer all our questions. We lucked out and it was only my daughter, myself and a nice local couple. We started at the front of the park, learned a few tidbits, went on to the aviary where we had excellent keeper interaction, headed to the elephant barn, again with an excellent keeper, then over to the rhinos where we got to stand about 2 feet from Frankie/Franco? (I heard one thing, my daughter heard another) who is a 5100 lb white rhino. Learned about a new area coming to the savannah, sat in a class room and learned about gorilla rehab. We then finished up by the cotton top tamarins where we were able to make them some enrichment toys for their area.

We had a great time and would definitely recommend it! We are doing the Wild Africa Trek on Monday. I can't wait to see the differences!

 

[tsme]

Sounds great! Thanks for sharing. We booked the tour for December, can't wait to go on it.