Disney’s Wild Africa Trek is the perfect adventure for the animal lover in your crew1

What is Wild Africa Trek? Disney’s Wild Africa Trek is a separately ticketed experience offered in Animal Kingdom park. This experience will give you a chance to get a sneak peak behind the scenes of some of the animals and workings of Disney’s Animal Kingdom safari. The trek is a small, group tour with two guides that lasts approximately three hours. To participate in the Wild Africa Trek you need to be at least 8 years old, 45 inches tall and between 45-310lbs and in good health.

Tickets: To participate in the Wild Africa Trek, you will need a park ticket for Animal Kingdom and a ticket for the trek. Tickets for this experience are available to add to your trip 60 days out from your park day starting at midnight. They do sell out quickly so I would recommend purchasing these ASAP. When you purchase these tickets, you will be able to see all of the time slots available for the day. The animals are typically the most active early in the morning and in the evening so you may want to keep that in mind when you choose a time. Tickets can be purchased through the Disney World website or the My Disney Experience app.

Experience: Before you start out on the trek, you will report to the tours station in the Africa section of AK approximately 30 min before your tour is scheduled to start. Here you will check in and sign your safety waivers. When it is time for your tour, you will enter the Wild Africa Trek cue which is right next to the cue for Kilamanjaro Safari. You will then be given a locker for all of your things. The items you can take on the trek are really limited to a camera or your phone that can be strapped to you. You do not need to worry about purchasing a special case ahead of time for your phone. If you have your phone in a standard type of case the tour guides will attach a strap to that and attach it to your vest. You will then be fitted with your safety vest and harness. To be fitted with the vest and harness you will have to be weighed but have no fear, no one will see your weight except for the person selecting your harness. The equipment you’re given for the tour will also include an earpiece so that you can hear the guide and a metal water bottle. The water bottle will be yours to keep when the tour is over. After all safety checks and a quick group photo, you will start the actual experience.

This experience will start you with a walk through the Gorilla Falls exploration trails. As you walk through this area your guide will start giving you more detailed, behind the scenes info on the safari and animals that you see. You will then divert from the Gorilla Falls trail and do into a backstage area. You will walk through a portion of woods before coming to the Hippo area. You will have a closer look at the Hippos. After a visit with the hippos, you will have an experience where you walk across a rope bridge over the crocodile area. Have no fear, you are strapped in from above and there is a safety net below the bridge. Once you finish crossing the bridge, you will be done with the walking portion of the tour. From here you will be put on a safari truck and taken on a journey through the savannah. This adventure on the safari truck will vary from the traditional safari because you will get closer to the animals, there is more time with the guides explaining things on the safari and you are given much more detailed information.

About halfway through the driving portion of the tour you will stop for the meal portion of the tour. Your group will arrive at an open-air gazebo where you will be served a heavy snack, light meal by your tour guides. The food is a great mix of flavors. This probably isn’t something that will be great for the picky eater but if you are open to trying new things, you will find many delicious options in this box. This meal also includes Disney’s infamous jungle juice which is a mix of passion fruit, orange and guava juice. While stopped you will have plenty of time to enjoy your food and take some pictures. This is also where the bathroom stop on the tour is located. After this stop you will re-board the truck and finish your tour of the savannah. In all, you will be on the tour for approximately three hours.

Highlights: This tour was absolutely wonderful, and I would highly, highly recommend it. Here’s what I came away with as highlights:

• Safety: Throughout this tour, I was incredibly impressed with the safety measures that were in place. When our vests and safety harnesses were put on, they were checked by both guides and then checked again every time they were needed.
• Guides: Our guides were incredible! The tour sends you out with 2 guides. One will stay at the front of the party and on at the back. The guides take turns hosting the tour. Our team of guides were both very friendly and informative. They truly showed a passion for their work. They were eager to answer questions and seemed to truly enjoy interacting with the tour party.
• Photos: Your tour guides will also act as the photographers for your tour. Throughout the trek they will take pictures of your group and of the animals you see. The pictures will include both candid and posed shots. In all I would say we got around 100 pictures with our trek and they quality of the pictures was very high.

Recommendations:

• Dress comfortably – This experience is a physical adventure, and you want to be dressed appropriately. You are required to wear closed toe shoes and aren’t allowed to wear skirts or dresses. I frequently wear these running shorts to the parks and used them for this trek. They were very comfortable and lightweight and didn’t get in the way of the harnesses at all. I also tried out some new running shoes for this tour and they worked great. They are very lightweight and kept my feet comfortable for the whole day.
• Pack light – Don’t expect to be able to take much with you on this trip. You will be required to put all of your personal items except a camera and or phone in a locker. This excursion will take up a large portion of your day so bringing a loaded bag may be a waste of your time and energy.
• Focus in – There is a good chance that this will be a once in a lifetime experience. Don’t miss it by being distracted or even fussing with your family. Take a breath and enjoy it. Let the guides take those pictures for you and immerse yourself in the wonders around you.

Rating: 10/10! This trek was truly an amazing experience. While it is costly, we actually left feeling like we’d gotten our money’s worth and more. I can’t say enough good things about this tour. I felt like it was the perfect example of what a Disney experience is supposed to be, both in service and quality. If you have older kids or are traveling with any animal lovers, you really should give this tour a try!

Have more questions about this experience? Considering it for your crew but still aren’t sure it’s the right fit? Comment below or shoot me an email and I’d be happy to weigh in on whatever questions you might have. Trying to plan your Disney trip and aren’t sure what will be the best fit for your crew? Let me help you find it and plan your magical vacation for you.