Wildlife express train?

[Linleedo]

Does the wildlife express train at AK take you to the same animal viewing areas that you can walk to, or elsewhere? We have been to AK 10+ times and have never been on it, and to be honest dont even think we knew about it.

It's a petting zoo area and a place that does surgeries. The time we went, no surgeries were going on.
Not much else there. It was pretty boring and I'm sure we won't return. There weren't any cast members except the ones helping us get off the train. It was a long ride to no where and wasted time spent waiting for it to return us back to the starting point.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We have been here when they were working on a tiger. We didn't get to see anything but the thought and views inside were worth the train ride. We hit rain on that train ride like buckets. See below.

 

[pookybean]

We don't put the head phones on, the mosquitos and the chainsaws ruin the otherwise relaxing nap we would have!

ill take my chances with the mosquitos and the chainsaws. my girls are either arguing with each other or talking my ear off...lol

 

[Jestocost]

DD decided in first or second grade that she wanted to be a vet so we had to make the trek virtually every time we went to AK.

She's starting her second year of vet school now so I guess it worked out OK.

 

[WEDWDW]

The time we went, no surgeries were going on.

No surgeries on Wednesdays.

Here is the current schedule for Rafiki's.

(Courtesy of OTPN)

 

[disnut8]

It's called crowd control. Get a large chunk of guests to ride a train to nowhere; stranding them with a couple characters & petting zoo.

Bu husband and I, in our early 50s, enjoy the peacefulness and being able to touch and feel the animals. We also appreciate the static displays inside and I could look at the mural of the animals for quite a long time. We avoided the area for years based on reviews others had and thinking it was just for kids. Now, it's a can't miss for us.

So, if you've never been, take the train and judge for yourself.

 

[Sorrel]

The vet surgeries are so fascinating. One of my favourite things to do in the whole of AK is to watch them. I always go on a morning though as a CM once told me that they nearly always take place in the morning. I love animals, and leave a lot of them here back at home and miss them, so the animals outside (sheep, alpacas, goats etc) that you can talk to are great for me, and we have a few minutes where we just sit and relax and watch them I love the "show and tell" animals too, and always learn something. But I do appreciate the area is not to everyone's taste as it reflects mainly on small things I guess. The train ride is cute

 

[TravelingTotMom]

We just did this yesterday.

While I used to avoid it, it's now one of my 2-year-old's favorite things to do at Animal Kingdom.

The train ride is only around 5 minutes, and on the way there, you pass by some backstage animal enclosures. We actually had good views of three rhinos (which was better than our hot safari views). We sat in the back and talked to the cast member making the announcements, and when we got off, she invited DS to the engine to push the train horn button, which was pretty cool.

The Affection Section (petting zoo) area is great. It's pretty much goats to pet, and they have brushes you can use too. It's also pretty clean for a petting zoo, and there are stations as you exit to wash your hands.

Inside, they weren't doing any animal procedures, but a cast member had a snake out to touch. Rafiki was meeting inside, which had a long line, but we only waited about 5 minutes outside to meet Chip and Dale.