Kilimanjaro Safaris
Opened: April 22, 1998
Location: Africa
Extra Magic Hours: Morning
FASTPASS: Yes, strongly recommended. Get your FASTPASS as early as possible because they typically run out by 2pm.
Type: Safari simulator
Similar To: Unique
Requirements: None
Scary Factor: Low. The animals look like they could stroll right up to the vehicles, but there are cleverly camouflaged barriers and drops protecting both the animals and passengers.
When To Go: I recommend riding Kilimanjaro Safaris at least twice – once first thing in the morning and a second time after 4pm. The animals are most active early in the morning and late in the afternoon when they know it’s about time to go to their barn and be fed. If you try to ride in the late morning or early afternoon, it’s likely you’ll run into longer lines and fewer animals will be actively moving around.
Expect to Wait: Waits between 30 and 50 minutes are common in the afternoon.
Length: 20 minutes
What to Expect: You will board a 32-passenger open-air Safari Truck and take a trip through the 100-acre Harambe Wildlife Reserve. There are a great number of animals that you may see during the ride, including black and white rhinoceroses, cheetahs, flamingos, lions, giraffes, warthogs, zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, crocodiles, antelopes, and more. The problem is that the animals aren’t always “out” and your viewing may be limited by the time of day and simple “luck of the draw.” The Safari follows a loose story about missing elephants and poachers and there will be a live guide to narrate and answer questions during the Safari. The Safari vehicles only stop for a few moments throughout the ride so make sure you have your camera or binoculars ready. The ride isn’t particularly rough, especially now that the seats are cushioned, but if you’re concerned about being jostled then request seats closer to the front of the truck where the ride isn’t as rough.
Rating: 10/10
Depressing Ending, Anyone? Before the ride opened to the public, there was a version of the story where Big Red, the elephant you’re so desperately trying to rescue, actually ends up dying at the end of the ride and riders gazed upon its blood carcass before returning to the platform. As one might imagine, animals tragically dying was deemed too upsetting to visitors and the story was changed.
Size Matters: The Wildlife Reserve is so large that you could easily fit the entire Magic Kingdom Theme Park inside of it.
Commentary: Kilimanjaro Safaris is the headlining ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and my personal favorite attraction at Disney World. Everyone should enjoy it, from preschoolers to thrill ride enthusiasts. My only complaint, which you will probably share, is that the ride is much too short.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Two things after just riding yesterday — you do get jostled quite a bit, which may be an issue if there isn’t one adult per kid to help keep safe. Also, if an animal gets in the way of a truck, you wait! Our ride was stopped for at least ten minutes until workers could persuade a rhino off the path. Something to keep in mind of you have reservations or need to be somewhere.
Love this ride! We usually head here first to grab a FP. If the line is short we will go ahead and ride as well since when we are there the park is usually not too crowded and we don’t need to rush over to EE to ride. We will also ride this just before closing for a different experience. Wish they were just open a little later. I do miss the route that took you by the cheetahs for longer as it can be really hard to get a glimpse of them. Also it did seem like the giraffes and zebras were more roaming on the savannah in years gone by (first few years of operation). Now when you make that first turn onto the savannah there are many times when you don’t see an animal for awhile. But still, a great ride and not to be missed. Definitely something to do more than once in a day.