https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/animal-kingdom/wild-africa-trek
The Wild Africa Trek is an extra-pay Enchanting Extras tour you can book at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They are 3 hours long and there are multiple ones scheduled throughout the day. This tour goes through some public areas like the bird house, but then you get to go INTO the Kilimajaro Safari area, walk above hippos and crocodiles. And once you board a vehicle, you’re able to stop on the safari to spend more time watching the other animals. There is also an exclusive outpost just off the safari path where you get to enjoy what they call an African-inspired snack. Right now, the cost is $219/person (before tax) and you must pay for theme park admission on top of that.
I got to do this in February of 2024, which I paid for, and here is my honest review.
First question I’m going to get out of the way: “Is it worth the cost?” I felt it was. This isn’t something I NEED to do on every single trip, but I very much enjoyed the experience. Since it does take a big chunk of your day, if you don’t visit the parks very often, so you’re feeling rushed to do as much as possible, then I probably wouldn’t recommend the tour. If you care about shows and rides and don’t care much about animals, then I also wouldn’t recommend. But if you have time to do something a little more relaxed and unusual and animal-centric, then definitely try this at least once. You also do need to be at least somewhat physically fit. You won’t be climbing up boulders, but you are going to be walking on uneven terrain and standing for a long period of time.
You can find all of the requirements in the Know Before You Go section of Disney’s website, and those could certainly change after this writing, so I’m not going to go over most of those. There are age and weight restrictions. They do weigh you, but only the cast member weighing can see that number. You MUST wear closed-toed shoes. Yes, they are strict about this. The harness goes around your legs, so you do need to be wearing either pants or shorts, no skirts.
About a week before your trek, they’ll send you an email with all the latest information. How to check in, what you’re allowed to bring, etc. If you would like to request alterations to your snack, like because of food allergies, or if you’d like a less-adventurous child-friendly option, you can reply to this email and request that. The sample menu included shrimp, which I really hate, and I asked for one with no shellfish. I didn’t say I was allergic, and they were able to accommodate by giving me more of the other options, so that was great!
Check-in is at an easy-to-find kiosk just outside of Kilimanjaro Safaris 15 minutes prior to your tour start time. You do get that snack, but it’s near the end of the tour, so make sure you’ve eaten a little something before you start. Then they’ll bring you back into a shaded area with seating. First, they check your weight. Then you’re going to be given a few pieces of equipment. Like getting you fitted for a harness, a water bottle that clips into your vest, your name badge (both of which you get to keep), and an audio pack so you’ll be able to hear absolutely everything your guides say.
They’ll also get your locker set up and things put away. You enter your own code. There are several spots throughout the trek where you can fill your water bottle, but the bathroom is almost at the very end, so I’d be cautious about that. As an aside on that water bottle, they fit really nicely into those Loungefly backpacks, but they aren’t insulated well and condensation builds up on them. So be careful putting them with other objects you don’t want to get wet.
If you have anything you need to carry with you, like medications, they do have vests with extra pockets, so make sure to ask for one. There’s a large pocket on the side and a smaller pocket on the top left front.
You cannot have a loose camera of any kind. If you want to bring one, they do have straps they provide for cell phones. They take tons of really high quality photos, which are included in the cost, but I wanted to take video, so I just brought my own lanyard. Hats, sunglasses, and jewelry are OK.
There were about four points where you have to clip in, and they make sure everyone knows how to work their clip. And after getting you into your harness, they’ll have someone different come and check the other person’s work. Very serious about safety, as you’d expect from Disney.
Once you start, you go through the bird area with other regular park guests. But then you’ll split off and do a short hike through the woods to the hippos. At this point you’re walking through the sort of backstage area of Kilimanjaro Safaris and you can see the trucks rolling by. After crossing over a bridge, where they might fling their poo at you (the hippos, not the other guests!), you clip on and walk out over the hippos and hear a presentation.
You’ll also get to walk on those high suspension bridges over the crocodiles. Of course you’re clipped in and there’s netting on the underside of the bridge. And then you’ll get to hear about them, too. If you want to impress the speaker, look up how often crocodiles eat!
After that, you are done with your harnesses and you’ll get on this little private safari truck that rides through Kilimanjaro Safaris. See the regular safari vehicle in the background? Your PRIVATE vehicle is the green truck in the foreground.
We actually do get to just pull over and stop and admire the animals. We were super lucky and the giraffes came over and hung out with us! This was the most amazing part of the experience for me.
You get to drive by the elephants, and off to the right is where your little watch tower is and you get to have your snack, served in a tiffin. This snack really is a decent meal, I was only barely able to eat the whole thing! The flower is even edible.
This is where the bathrooms are located. You have a water refill station, unlimited pog juice, and it’s SHADED with ceiling fans. As you can see in the photo above, they put down tablecloths, so it don’t worry about eating on dirty tables. There’s a wonderful platform where you can see the flamingos (and hidden Mickey!) and the elephants behind them. Cora had just been born so everyone was super excited to see her.
The photographer will give everyone a chance to get their photos taken. Then you’re finished! You’ll all ride back to where you started and collect your things. All photos the photographer took are included and they’ll give you a card. It has a code to link to your My Disney Experience account and you have a finite number of days to download your photos. And they are excellent photos!
Email me today at Leslie@StoutMagicalVacations.com to learn more about my tour or for guidance booking your next Walt Disney World Resort vacation!
