Animal Kingdom Lodge - Sunrise Safari ?

[Rocketeer]

OK - Just heard about the Sunrise Safari - sounds neat...
Guess you have to be staying in the Concierge level at AK to be eligible, then is additional $55 for adults, if you can get reservations.

In lieu of doing my own research, what is the Concierge level / how much more $ per night roughly, benefit / additional ammenities, etc ???

And - anyone have experience with the Sunrise Safari tour??

I did the Behind the Scences Safari 2 years ago - excellent tour ... but could have had A LOT more animal viewing / observing...

[Justin M]

I have absolutely no useful information for you, but can you share a little bit more about the Behind the Scenes Safari? I'm not familiar with it at all. How long does it last? How much does it cost? What unique opportunities do you have that you wouldn't normallly? Is there any direct interaction with the animals? Thanks!

[DisneyHottie]

Oh! I just saw that on the Travel channel yesterday!! The safari looks great because unlike the actual ride you stop for much longer and the animals are just coming out so they are moving.. dont have to wonder if they are actually real. I didnt know you had to stay on concierge level. I think they recently opened up to everyone. Just have to make reservations. But dont take my word. have you checked allears.net??? they usually have all that information.

[Rocketeer]

I have absolutely no useful information for you, but can you share a little bit more about the Behind the Scenes Safari? I'm not familiar with it at all. How long does it last? How much does it cost? What unique opportunities do you have that you wouldn't normallly? Is there any direct interaction with the animals? Thanks!

I'll dig up a previous write-up this weekend from my 2005 trip...

[Rocketeer]

Oh! I just saw that on the Travel channel yesterday!! The safari looks great because unlike the actual ride you stop for much longer and the animals are just coming out so they are moving.. dont have to wonder if they are actually real. I didnt know you had to stay on concierge level. I think they recently opened up to everyone. Just have to make reservations. But dont take my word. have you checked allears.net??? they usually have all that information.

I think that's where I saw the Concierge requirement... but I keep checking...

[GoofTroop3]

Hi Craig!

We did the Sunrise Safari on our trip to WDW Christmas Week 2006. [We = Me + DH + DS(6)] We love the tour and all give it a double-thumbs up. I would do this again and I thought it was worth the cost.

We met early in the morning and then we were taken to AK to go on the tour. After the tour we had a wonderful breakfast feast in a special room at Tusker House. The food was really good and we could eat as much as we wanted.

The tour is different than the ride because you get a special guide that can tell you about the park and the animal programs. Our guide was actually the director of animal programs at AKL. He used to manage the lions at AK. He was able to tell us many interesting facts about the ride, the animals, animal care, etc.

Beacuse it was so early and some of the animals were feeding we got to see a lot of activity. The ride vehicle drove very slowly and stopped several times so that we could take pictures or so that the guide could point out various features.

The experience felt much more like an actual African safari than the ride attraction.

We also were able to do the Wanyama Safari because we stayed at AKL in concierge. The Wanyama Safari is an evening safari at AKL and includes a special dinner at JIKO for everyone after. They also serve special snacks on the safari portion for this tour.

So we were able to take advantage of both when we stayed concierge. At the time we were there you were required to stay in concierge to do both tours.

Concierge includes turn down service, concierge service and the concierge lounge. The concierge service is invaluable. It allows you to use their services to book ADR and also book the tours. We found that we did not use the concierge lounge, except at breakfast, while staying at AKL because it is so far from the parks. We were never close enough to AKL to stop in and take advantage of this service. When we stayed at the Poly in 12/06 we also had concierge and used the lounge extensively.

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Have fun-

Kate

[GoofTroop3]

Delete double post.