Safari Open to All Concierge?

[Kaitysmom]

I was looking around the WDW website and see that all the deluxe concierge benefits list a guided safari tour. Does anyone know what that is about? I thought only AKL got that.

 

[goodferry]

There is a Wildlife Discovery Excursion at Animal Kingdom Park that is open to people staying at any resort in a concierge room. It is a relatively new thing.

 

[Cinderella37]

The cost is $45 per person, with a portion going to a wildlife fund. There are two times for the safari (morning and afternoon) and it is limited to fifteen(?) guests. The vehicle is specially-designed and climate controlled, according to the information I received from itinerary planning. It takes about one hour and stops along the way for photo opportunities. It is open to concierge guests at any WDW hotel.

 

[AlwaysAPrincess]

Sounds pretty cool! Anyone ever done this?

 

[db4huskers]

When I called to book this for my family I was told that "everyone needs to be at least 12 years old". Our sons are only 2 & 5 so it will not work for us this time. I was dissapointed since our 5 year old is such an animal lover.

 

[poohluvrs]

Cant believe age requirement - only reason we'd do it is for our toddlers - they LOVE animals! Oh well, theyll miss out on us booking, but guess they want it that way so can charge adult fees for everyone attending??

 

[TammiMcMan]

I wonder what does make it different than the sunrise safari offered by the AKL concierge. Isn't that one open to all ages? Perhaps it involves some behind the scenes stuff that would ruin the magic for younger children .

 

[BCV23]

I could be wrong but I believe the new one is in a smaller specialized vehicle.

As far as children, I imagine they want everyone to be able to hear and appreciate what the guide is saying. Most children would probably be fine but if some little one is bored and acts out it could ruin the experience for everyone. I think it is just like the various behind the scenes tours that have minimum ages.

On our recent trip, we were just on plain ole KS. There was a family right behind us with a darling and very quiet 4 or 5 YO. Her father however rarely closed his mouth. "Look, Heidi....there's a donkey," etc.. He was so loud that we couldn't hear our guide. And he was so busy talking that he never learned the correct name of the animals. He made so many mistakes and we were trying so hard not to laugh. I would hate to pay $45 and have to listen to that! Our new catch phrase for the rest of the trip was ...Look Heidi.

 

[Flower13]

I took this tour on 3/16 and it was great. I guess they haven't been getting too many people on the tour and there were 2 marketing types on the tour trying to figure out how to better market the tour. It was on a specialized vehicle. It was a smaller bus that had glass for the lower half of the window and it was open on the top half. There were bars that you could hold on to and stand to look out the top half of the window. One of the regular safari drivers drove the bus and an elephant handler (Martin) spoke to the participants. Martin was great and so informative. He would answer any question and was knowledgable about all the animals not just the elephants. The bus stopped and pulled off in several locations throughout the safari. I love elephants, so I especially loved pulling off and watching the baby elephants play with their mothers and female baby sitters. It was so cute. Martin also discussed conservation efforts and the breeding programs that Disney has established. And as someone mentioned, a part of the price goes to the Conservation Fund.

I feel the tour was well worth the price and I will book it the next time I stay on the concierge level.

 

[BCV23]

Thanks for the report, Flower13. It is the first I've seen. When we read of the tour, I almost had my DH convinced to try to switch to concierge for our February stay just to try the tour. Glad to hear you would do it again.

Was it around an hour? Where did it start...front of the park or back by KS?

Any other details you would like to share?

 

[Flower13]

The tour meets in front of the Mombasa Marketplace ( the store right in Harambe) 15 minutes before the tour start time. The CM's walk you back stage to the bus. We were out for just over an hour. They encourage you to stand up when the vehicle is moving forward but I was one of the few that did. You are dropped off next to the train to Rafiki's planet watch. I think they can really tailor the trip to the interest of the group, spending more time where the people are interested. We were very close to giraffes, rhinos, various hoofstock and had a great view of the whole savannah. Hope that helps.

 

[BCV23]

Hoofstock...that is a new term for me. There are certainly lots of animals with hoofs at the park.

How full was your bus? Is the seating crowded at all? TIA.

 

[Cris]

the age has now been lowered to 3 years and up!

 

[TDC Nala]

It doesn't sound like this tour includes brunch, which is included with the Sunrise Safari.

 

[Cris]

it does not include breakfast!

 

[SeaSpray]

the age has now been lowered to 3 years and up!

Thanks for the info, but that just killed the idea for me. No offense to anyone with toddlers and younger kids, hey I used to have them myself But I was really looking forward to experiencing something "special" with DH and DSs ages 17 and 14, this summer.

Since they now will allow little kids on this, it'll be no different (in MY opinion) than being on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.

There's a HUGE difference between the interests and questions that adults and older kids/teens would ask, and what the interests of such little kids would be.

GRRRR. I am angry and VERY DISAPPOINTED that they've lowered the age for this.

 

[TammiMcMan]

A previous poster mentioned being out for almost an hour. Being the parent of former toddlers myself, I can't imagine any of mine wanting to sit through something that takes that long. I'm sort of doubtful that my 8 year old would even enjoy it for that length of time. From the lack of responses though, it sounds like maybe the tour was not a good seller and Disney is looking for ways to make it more attractive.

I wouldn't give up on it, maybe just stick in the back of your mind right now. Even as a last minute item, perhaps the concierge staff can look into one and let you know how many have booked and if there are children on board.

Sitting here typing, I had a strange visual flash through my head. What if they opened up the pirate cruise to adults? All us big people rushing past the little ones to dig up the treasure for ourselves yo ho ho.