Home Destinations USA Florida Walt Disney World Orlando Sights Kilimanjaro Safaris

Kilimanjaro Safaris Review

Read our Walt Disney World Orlando sights reviews. Or post your own.

Kilimanjaro Safaris

Map It

Category: Amusement Parks
Location: Disney's Animal Kingdom

Write a review

Fodor's Review:

Duration: 20 min.

Crowds: Heavy in the morning.

Strategy: Arrive in the park first thing in the morning—it's worth the trouble—and come straight here using the Fastpass if necessary. If you arrive at the park late morning, save this for the end of the day, when it isn't so hot. You'll probably see about the same number of animals as in early morning.

Audience: All ages—parents can hold small tykes and explain the poacher fantasy.

Rating: ***

A giant Imagineered baobab tree is the starting point for this adventure into the up-country. Although re-creating an African safari in the United States may not be a new idea, this safari goes a step beyond merely allowing you to observe rhinos, hippos, antelope, wildebeests, giraffes, zebras, elephants, lions, and the like. There are illustrated game-spotting guides above the seats in the open-air safari vehicles, and as you lurch and bump over some 100 acres of savanna, forest, rivers, and rocky hills, you'll see most of these animals—sometimes so close you feel like you could reach out and touch them. It's easy to suspend disbelief here because the landscape is so effectively modeled and replenished by Disney horticulturists. This being a theme park, dangers lurk in the form of ivory poachers, and it suddenly becomes your mission to save a group of elephants from would-be poachers. Even without the scripted peril, there's enough elephant excitement on the savanna to impress everyone. In the past several years, four baby elephants have been born—the first, a male calf named Tufani, born May 22, 2003, is the fourth surviving elephant calf in North America resulting from artificial insemination. The second, a female named Kianga, arrived July 6, 2004, as part of the park's breeding program coordinated by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association; on December 19, 2005, the 233-pound female calf Nadirah was born at the park. The park's fourth baby elephant, a male calf named Tsavo, arrived June 28, 2008. The growing youngsters hang out with the rest of the herd. Other babies born at the park and thriving in their habitats are a white rhinoceros and baby giraffe.

Find more sights in Walt Disney World Orlando »

Is Walt Disney World Orlando the right place for your winter escape? Let the Fodor's Travel Planner recommend the ideal vacation for you.