Take a Wild Ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

kilimanjaro safaris giraffe featured

Flight of Passage and Expedition Everest might get the lion’s share of attention from thrill-seeking visitors to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but Kilimanjaro Safaris—the park’s original headliner—is still king of the E-Tickets in our book, thanks to its awe-inspiring cast of live residents. You might not be able to take a ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris right now in reality, but you can do the next best thing with our new back-row POV video of the entire Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction!

Kilimanjaro Safaris entrance
Climb aboard the back row of a Kilimanjaro Safaris truck for a virtual tour of Harambe Wildlife Preserve with our POV video from Disney’s Animal Kingdom. (Photos/video by Seth Kubersky)

Currently, all theme parks, cruise lines, and other attractions are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We at The Unofficial Guides hope all our readers and their loved ones, as well as all attraction employees, remain healthy and safe. Without intending to trivialize the current crisis, we will continue to post positive stories about the parks, in hopes of bringing their magic into your home as a welcome distraction during these trying times. For the latest updates, read our guide to cornoavirus and the theme parks

Animal Kingdom’s premier zoological attraction, Kilimanjaro Safaris offers an exceptionally realistic, albeit brief, imitation of an actual African photo safari. Thirty-two guests at a time board tall, open vehicles and are dispatched into a simulated African veldt habitat.

Animals such as wildebeests, impalas, Thomson’s gazelles, giraffes, and even rhinos roam apparently free, while predators such as lions, as well as potentially dangerous large animals like hippos, are separated from both prey and guests by all-but-invisible, natural-appearing barriers.

Although the animals have more than 100 acres of savanna, woodland, streams, and rocky hills to call home, careful placement of watering holes, forage, and salt licks ensures that the critters are hanging out by the road when safari vehicles roll by.

Disney has done an amazing job of replicating the sub-Saharan east-African landscape. As on a real African safari, what animals you see, and how many, is pretty much a matter of luck, so you’ll have a different experience on each trip.

We rate Kilimanjaro Safaris as five stars, and consider it a not-to-be-missed element of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Right now, you can see it for yourself with this complete point-of-view video of the ride, shot from the back row for some unusual perspectives on this epic attraction:

For all there is to see and do at Walt Disney World, check out The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World, or to plan your family’s trip to Orlando, check out The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids 2020. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and sign up for our newsletter here. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

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