Wild Africa Trek vs. Savor the Savanna

[T.G.I.Friday]

What time was your tour? I wonder if the later ones have less animal activity...

Ours was at 10:15. I did think that the hippos weren’t interested in waking up and coming over because they had already had enough ‘treats’ for the morning. They kept calling and trying to entice them to come over, and while they eventually did, at the time I couldn’t help but think we were waiting too long and should just move on. Of course, I now know that the hippos were our only chance of an animal encounter, so I’m sure they were trying everything to get their attention.

We also had to clip into the safety hooks for the hippo viewing. I get that Disney is risk adverse. And I am very careful with DD11, so I don’t say this lightly, but the amount of checks and cross checks to stand 10 feet from the ledge was almost humorous. A small fenced railing or plexiglass would have easily sufficed.

I completely agree with the poster above - I thought there would be more - behind the scenes or chances to see animals - and there just wasn’t.

 

[VAtink]

We've done the Wild Africa Trek and we loved it, even though we did it during a tropical storm and it poured on us the entire time! A large portion of it is out in the elements with no cover, so if it is raining you will get wet. We weren't thrilled to do the tour in the rain, but in the end we had a fantastic time!

We saw a ton of animals (although the never ending rain may have helped with that!). On the safari portion our truck pulled off to the side and stopped for about 15-20 minutes so we could all get tons of pictures of the animals, which was great since a giraffe decided to come over to investigate us and got super close, it was amazing!

The guides took a ton of pictures of our group throughout the trek which was really nice, especially since my camera battery died halfway through so I was out of luck. They did make us put anything that could not clip onto the vests/harness they gave us into the lockers (so sadly my backup battery was locked away), but it's been a few years since we've done this so maybe this has changed.

As for the other viewing areas for the hippos and crocodiles, unless they changed it, you are able to get right up to the edge as you can see in the picture below, so it was really cool to see them that close.



The food portion was good, we enjoyed everything we had there, and loved the two viewing areas to check out.

As for number of guests, we had 11 people on our tour, and I believe I've read the limit is 12.

Overall we would do this again, however we're looking at Savor the Savanna for our next trip since I think I saw it was only 2 hours and we're tight on time.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

 

[Mollygirl21]

Edit: actually, all tours seem to be available 60 days from check in. I'm so disappointed that I didn't know that and missed out! Hopefully my mistake will help someone else

PSA...booking for Wild Africa Trek opens with dining reservations for those staying on site (60 days before check-in). I thought it was 60 days from the date of the tour but it's not.

We are 60 days from arrival today and wanted to do the Trek on our second day so I thought booking would start after midnight tonight but the booking window has opened for our entire trip.

That makes it tougher to get the earlier times and we were not able to book

The Caring for Giants and Rhino tours both open 60 days before the tour so I might try for one of those tomorrow.

I've set up an alert with Mousewatchers for the Wild Africa Trek so fingers crossed!

 

[Jonfw2]

The Trek is absolutely awesome. And since your other option is Savor, I will say the food on Trek was exceptional- we ate in the hut that's in the middle of the Savannah and you could see animals in all 4 directions while you ate. The guides were more than happy to answer questions and point things out after they served lunch. The food was served in metal decorative containers (not plastic or cardboard) and it was traditional African fare.

 

[Mousetopia]

We did the Trek a few years ago, loved it. I'm "fluffy" and had no problem doing the trek. The harness is silly IMO, but you do get some really great backstage look at the animals.(and the guides take a ton of photos for you) The lunch was great. We had 8 people on our Trek, it was a lot of fun.

You stand on a small cliff with no fence above hippos in water below while tethered. If you tripped its a steep fall in the middle of hippos. Not silly at all IMO

 

[DisneyMom_3]

We are debating between these two experiences for our December 2022 trip. We would prefer to have an experience with fewer guests. Does anyone have information as to how many people they allow in each group for the Wild Africa Trek and Savor the Savanna experiences? If you have done one or both, I would love to hear about your experiences.

Any other information you might think is important to know outside what’s mentioned on the Disney website would be greatly appreciated!

I would love to hear what you decided and how it went. We will be going in December as well. I’m wondering what time of day is best in December. Still early morning for most animal activity?

 

[cjlong88]

We did the Wild Africa Trek with a 10:15am start time. It was fantastic! Definitely one of the best experiences I have personally had at Disney.

 

[goin' again]

We did the Wild Africa Trek at the end of March. There were 12 of us on the Trek - our party of 3, and then 3 other parties of various sizes. I struggled with whether or not to give my opinion, but, for us, while it was nice, it really wasn’t worth the expense. I was very excited to do it, and I really thought it was going to be a highlight of the trip.

I know a lot of it depends on the animals, but not having animals that were present and/or engaging didn’t help.

It seems like you spend so much time on getting in the safety equipment and hearing all of the rules…but very little time actually doing anything.

To summarize our Trek - We walked and saw some hippos from a cool spot. They tried to feed them, but it wasn’t super successful. Then we went to the rope bridges and walked across them. Very cool, no doubt. But I would say maybe 10 minutes max of being on the bridge. (And the crocodile area was drained and the animals weren’t there, so that was also a disappointment. Seeing the empty structure below wasn’t really thrilling at all. Picture a drained water ride in the winter.).

After the bridge, we took off all of the safety gear and loaded into the safari type truck and rode around the giraffes to the boma. The meal was nice and it was interesting to be in the boma, but it wasn’t really anything? Like you could kind of see the flamingos and giraffes and such in the distance, but, I don’t know, it seemed like being at a pavilion in a park.

Then back on the truck and back to the exit.

So for $200/person, it was a slightly enhanced Safari ride, a walk over the rope bridge and a nice picnic lunch. I can find value in just about all of the Disney extras (Club Level, VIP tours, etc.), but this was a one and done for us.

What month were you there? We have one booked in Feb and I'm hoping the alligator pit isn't drained then.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

What month were you there? We have one booked in Feb and I'm hoping the alligator pit isn't drained then.

Our tour was 3/29. They called their absence ‘Gatorpalooza’ as they all are getting vet checked. Not sure when it started or how long it lasts.

 

[goin' again]

Thanks for the info

 

[Dfoerch]

Do you think the time of day the tour begins matters?

 

[chuff88]

Way back in 2018 my mom and I did Wild Africa Trek and it's one of the things from that trip we still talk about regularly. We were lucky to get one of the first tours of the day and were able to enter the park before opening, which was a really special treat. We have a picture of us with the Tree of Life and no other people in the background. Our tour only had us and one other newlywed couple on it and it was incredible, our guides were fantastic and we learned so much about the operation of Animal Kingdom and the animals themselves. I recommend it to everyone I talk to about WDW.

 

[Dfoerch]

So you would recommend the earlier time (currently 8:30am, I believe)? The other times look to be like 10:30 and 12:30.

 

[LoveDaisy]

Do you think the time of day the tour begins matters?

Yes, when I did it a few years back our guide told us the earlier tours usually see more animals because food is out and it’s cooler, as the day goes on they move out of the heat and rest, or so they said. We did the first tour of the day.

 

[chuff88]

So you would recommend the earlier time (currently 8:30am, I believe)? The other times look to be like 10:30 and 12:30.

I would definitely recommend the earlier time. It's also a decent amount of walking, which is a lot more pleasant earlier in the day.

Also make sure to bring/wear close-toed shoes! They do take that seriously.

 

[SueM in MN]

Interesting. Is that because the bridges on the trek have a weight limit?

It’s not because of the bridges. The weight is done very discreetly and shows up on a small screen - the only person that sees or knows your weight is the person working directly with you.

I think it’s the harness limit. Or determines which harness you need

that is correct. It’s to choose the correct harness for your size and weight.

You stand on a small cliff with no fence above hippos in water below while tethered. If you tripped its a steep fall in the middle of hippos. Not silly at all IMO

This!
When I went, we walked along and stood on a small cliff with no fences above the hippos and also above the gators. You are tethered to a line above you because if you tripped, it would be a steep fall into either of those area.
Guests are also tethered while crossing the rope bridges.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

We are also considering Savor the Savanna &/or Wild Africa Trek.

Does it make sense to do both during one week? Are they different enough? Too much the same?

Where can I find the menus for both?

Right now the only time available for Savor the Savanna is around 3:15pm and Wild Africa Trek around 12:15pm. Thoughts on times?

Thanks!

 

[gottalovepluto]

We are also considering Savor the Savanna &/or Wild Africa Trek.

Does it make sense to do both during one week? Are they different enough? Too much the same?

Where can I find the menus for both?

Right now the only time available for Savor the Savanna is around 3:15pm and Wild Africa Trek around 12:15pm. Thoughts on times?

Thanks!

Not only would I not want do the trek at noon during summer (especially with hot as heck this summer has been), reports are more animals are sighted in the cool of the morning.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

We are also considering Savor the Savanna &/or Wild Africa Trek.

Does it make sense to do both during one week? Are they different enough? Too much the same?

Where can I find the menus for both?

Right now the only time available for Savor the Savanna is around 3:15pm and Wild Africa Trek around 12:15pm. Thoughts on times?

Thanks!

To answer are they different enough, I say yes
Savor the Savanah is a passive activity. You sit, eat, listen
Wild Africa Trek is an active event. You eat but you are completing a trek so to speak. Out doing things. Not sitting.

Menus I've never seen published. Not sure it's exactly the same each time. I can't recall now but I think our meals changed each time we did it some how

 

[chuff88]

We are also considering Savor the Savanna &/or Wild Africa Trek.

Does it make sense to do both during one week? Are they different enough? Too much the same?

Where can I find the menus for both?

Right now the only time available for Savor the Savanna is around 3:15pm and Wild Africa Trek around 12:15pm. Thoughts on times?

Thanks!

I've also never seen menus published, but if you search for blog reviews of Wild Africa Trek they generally describe the food, and my experience is that it's stayed about the same. I know it does vary slightly if you go during the "breakfast" period vs. the "lunch" period (I think the breakfast period runs fairly late).

Personally, I would not recommend doing Wild Africa Trek as late as 12:15. As other have said, it's an active tour and it'll likely be very hot and the animals tend to be less active during the peak of the day. But if it's 12:15 or nothing and you really want to do it, I would still recommend giving it a shot, just temper your expectations in terms of animal activity.