Reviews

Tour Review: Caring for Giants

Elephant Tour at Disney’s Animal Kingdom 

Location: Disney’s Animal Kingdom 

Rating:

Details:

  • 60 minute tour
  • Offer several time slots throughout the day 
  • $30 per person, regardless of age
  • Must be 4+ years old (kids under 18 need an accompanying adult)
  • Experience “backstage” of Disney’s Animal Kingdom
  • Get up close with the animals in a private viewing area – 80 to 100 feet away!

Overview:

On this one hour tour, you get to meet with animal specialists from Disney’s Animal Kingdom. These are the cast members who care for these massive elephants, so you’ll get to hear all about what it’s like every single day with the African herd. You also get to hear from an African cultural representative who will share about Disney’s conservation efforts in their homeland. 

As you listen to these experts, you’re in a special viewing area about 80-100 feet away from the elephants! It’s a unique angle and closer than you get to see them on Kilimanjaro Safari –  so worth it just for that. 

Our Experience:

We got tickets for this tour to celebrate my sister’s birthday! She is an Environmental Science major and loves animals, so we thought this would be a special way to celebrate her golden birthday (she turned 19 on the 19th!).

Despite the torrential rain all day at Animal Kingdom, we still had a great time on this tour. The rain miraculously held off during our viewing portion – for which you’re outside with no coverage – so we lucked out! 

Our tour guide was coincidentally from a town close to where we’re from, so we hit it off right away. He took us backstage in Animal Kingdom to our bus, which he drove and took us a few minutes away to the viewing area to observe the elephants. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the African herd and how they were cared for by the Disney specialists. 

When our guide was done, he turned it over to the cultural representative, who was from Tanzania. He shared stories of his homeland and about how Disney was working to conserve the wild populations. 

Overall, we thought this tour was worth the money spent. For $30, and one hour of our day, it was great! I love seeing the backstage of Disney (as un-glamorous as it is). If you’re looking for something unique and reasonably priced at Disney, then this is it!