Kilimanjaro Safaris
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Africa Attractions
The Story: Jambo! And welcome to Harambe! Lying
on the edge of Harambe village, and near the start of the
forest, is the greatest Safari Company this side of the Nile:
Kilimanjaro Safaris! You are invited to board a safari jeep and
head out onto the Harambe Wildlife Reserve. So hop in line where
you can book your trip at the Safari Booking Office!
Before we board our jeep and head into the
Harambe Wildlife Reserve, you should learn the
history of the area. Prior to the 1970s the
Reserve was actually a gaming area (no, not a
place where you could play Chutes and Ladders
with the animals. That'd be bad since I hear
there are some Cheetahs out there). With
poaching being a very acceptable thing something
amazing happened in Harambe: the economy began
to boost and the citizens of Harambe were all
reaping the benefits.
Luckily, a group of citizens in the 1970s began
to realize while the money coming in from the
gaming ground was great, if they kept up the
pace of hunting all the animals there would soon
be no animals at all. The group banded together
and made conservation efforts to save these
creatures. Eventually the area began to focus on
conservation and soon, with the help from
Wardens, like our own buddy Wilson, poaching
became something of the past (for the most
part).
Unfortunately, at times poachers would still
enter the area and until recently the seemed to
be after baby elephants named Little Red.
Luckily, just this year (2012), the poaching in
the area has severely disappeared and
conservation now reigns.
So after boarding your safari jeep be prepared
for your two week safari that will take you
through the jungle and right into the heart of
Africa: the savannah. Along the way you'll see
elephants, giraffes, hippos, bongos, lions,
cheetahs, wildebeest, and a whole lot more! And
if you are lucky, your driver won't make any
wrong turns which will most likely cut your two
week safari short by a little less than two
weeks!
Height Restriction: N/A
Attraction Length: 20-25 minutes
Fastpass? Yes
The History: Kilimanjaro Safaris has always
been seen as the attraction that truly defines Disney's Animal
Kingdom since opening day. The planning for the attraction began
years prior to the park actually opening. The landscape of the
attraction was set up roughly two years before opening day to
begin preparation for the arrival of the animals. In order for
the animals to be able to interact with the landscape, the
plants and trees needed to have firm roots within the ground
prior to their arrival. Because of this everything was planted
18 months before they were set free.
The animals arrived approximately six months
prior to the opening for them to adjust to their
new surroundings. They came from various zoos
around the world and a few even made the trek
all the way from Africa! When the attraction
first opened the storyline was quite different
from the one we know today. It focused on Big
Red and her calf, Little Red:
The storyline was simple: while we were driving
around in our jeep ("Simba 1") we would get
frequent messages from the Warden, Wilson, who
informed us of a baby elephant wandering off
from his mother. Due to the fact that baby
elephants typically stay with their mothers for
up to fifteen years, this wasn't good at all. It
ended up their were poachers on the reserve and
as we made our way through the Harambe Wildlife
Reserve we were actually getting hot on their
trails. The end of the attraction focused on
guests chasing down poachers in the jeep until
we drove them right into the proper authorities
(which featured an actual Cast Member standing
next to a jeep with Little Red onboard).
When the attraction first opened there was a
gruesome scene which was quickly removed. To
help show the power that poachers had on
wildlife, a "carcass" of Big Red was found near
the poaching site. Luckily, guests found this to
be too gruesome and Disney quickly removed it
from the attraction (see the Fun Facts section
below to learn more about this).
Up until recent years guests would still chase
down the poachers at the end of the attraction,
but Disney soon realized that poaching, thanks
to efforts around the world, was dying down and
not as big of an issue as it once was. Instead
people around the world have been focusing more
on conservation efforts of animals. In February
of 2012 the poaching scene began to disappear to
make way for a new conservation area for Zebras
(which have always been part of the attraction,
but only in a very tough to see location). The
inclusion of the Zebras should be complete by
Fall of 2012.
Kilimanjaro Safaris was an opening day
attraction on April 22, 1998.
Fun Facts: You can find a Hidden Mickey
half way through the attraction on a familiar looking island!
Kilimanjaro Safaris is the largest attraction in
the entire world! It is so big you could
actually fit the entire Magic Kingdom into the
space and still have room to spare!
As mentioned in the history part above, there
once was a carcass of Big Red that sat near the
poachers camp portion of the attraction. Before
Disney could dispose of the fake body, a news
team actually spotted it from a helicopter and
featured a story about how Disney wasn't taking
care of the animals at Animal Kingdom. I'm sure
they felt like fools to realize they were
covering a story about a plastic and rubber
combination!
Most giraffes have an appetite for acacia trees,
an Africa tree which unfortunately doesn't
cooperate with Florida's weather. To help fix
this problem oak trees were trimmed to resemble
acacia trees. Luckily, giraffes seem to love the
taste of the oak as well!
Location: Africa
Touring Tips: The attraction usually has a
longer wait earlier in the day so make sure to get a Fastpass if
you want to ride in the morning or early afternoon. The ride
typically has little to no wait after the parade (3:45). The
animals are usually active around feeding time (typically in the
early afternoon) or while it is raining (due to their interest
in the rain). So to have the most exciting safari, try to visit
at that time!
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