Rafiki's planet watch/conservation station

[Mollygirl21]

I haven't been to this part of AK but considering it for our trip with our 5 yr old son in Feb. Can anyone tell me more about your experiences there?

Thanks!

 

[beck00]

Curious here too! We've never taken the time for this either...we've meant to, but have not.

 

[Nugent]

There is a wonderful animal show called "It Started With a Mouse" every day at 11:30 am. It stars a charming pig named Charlotte, and afterwards audience members are allowed to pet her and the other animals in the cast. This was really a highlight of our trip in May, as my son loves pigs. The show is not listed on the official schedule, so you could double check it's still happening before you go.

 

[pangyal]

There is something so absolutely adorable about the little buckets of brushes that kids can pick from so that they can pick a goat to brush, any goat really, standing around the area just waiting to be brushed and petted. Our little guy is now halfway to 8 and still wants to go and brush the goats every trip.

There are some cool exhibits inside the building too. Plus, bonus train ride!

 

[anniemae]

We enjoyed it. We saw a monkey getting a colonoscopy! The train ride is very relaxing and there are some interactive exhibits.

 

[RafikiTiki21]

We enjoyed it a lot with my five year old this past February.

A Disney magic moment was that we took the first train out (after PPO ADR at Tusker House and rope drop safari)-- Rafiki, Chip, and Dale were on the train and Chip picked my son to sit with him on the ride! Great fun.

At the station we enjoyed meeting Rafiki, taking the Lion Guard pledge (may have been a limited time thing) and seeing animal procedures.

We learned a lot and it added variety to a park day.

 

[disnut8]

I haven't been to this part of AK but considering it for our trip with our 5 yr old son in Feb. Can anyone tell me more about your experiences there?

Thanks!

My husband and I are two adults over the age of 50 and avoided this for years because of what others had commented on. We thought it would be a waste of time but one trip, we decided to just do it and now it's a can't miss. First of all, we are animal lovers so that adds to it for us.

There are vet procedures you can see in the morning and can check at Guest Services for what is going on that day. Not sure if a five year old would appreciate but it depends on the five year old. Just realize the area is behind glass so you can look at the procedure through the glass and also on monitor above. There will also be a Cast Member there explaining what is going on. It could be a member of the Animal Kingdom family getting a check up or, one we saw, was a turtle who was run over on Disney property and brought in by a passing Cast Member. He (the turtle, not the Cast Member) needed to have his shell repaired.

There are also static displays with various creepy crawlies and lately there has been a snake demonstration. Rafiki is usually hanging around and Chip and Dale could be outside asking people to join doing the hokey pokey.

The Affection Section can be called a petting zoo and has goats, hairy pigs (my favorite), sheep and other larger animals. And, for those squimish about what animals naturally do, there are Cast Members with scoopers in hand walking around plus there are fountains to wash your hands after enjoying your petting time.

There's also a show that we thought would be a ten or fifteen minute fluffy thing but it was announced it was a full thirty minutes and to take bathroom breaks and all that before getting seated so I think it's a bit more than fluff. We could stay since we had to get to our Safari FastPass.

No matter how little time we think we will spend at Rafiki's Animal Planet, we always stay more than that.

The train ride back is not a typical train, either. Everyone sits facing the side of the train and there are two long rows of benches in each car. You can see some of the animal enclosures and learn about how Disney gets animals back to their nighttime accommodations. Sometimes you will see other animals in the enclosures because they are taking a break from being on stage on the Safari.

In our opinion, well worth the hour it might take you to see things.

 

[BoatDriver]

We enjoyed it. We saw a monkey getting a colonoscopy!

Ummm, I'm okay with that, but not sure how my DS4 would handle it.