Rafiki's Planet Watch: Affection Section

[elabron]

In our past 5 trips to WDW since AK was opened, we've never taken the time to go to Planet Watch.
Our kids are 5 and 2, and love animals......but, they've done the "petting zoo" thing countless times. Is affection section basically a bunch of goats walking around that people can pet and brush, or are there other animals fro them to interact with as well?

Thanks

 

[dazzer68]

basically just goats and i think theres a donkey outside in the petting section, inside when we were there you hold hold tarantulas and other insects, and the animal hospital. if its quiet go over and have a look if its busy avoid, cause you have to get there by train which when your done and want to get back can get busy and you might have to stand around waiting just to get back which can be a little infurating.i dont know why they just dont build a path way so at least you can decide how you want to get there.
its good fun with a learning curve, pocahuntas is overthere theres a rainforest experience on headphones which is great.

 

[DisneyChik17]

The "Affection Section" is pretty much just a petting zoo, but as a whole Rafiki's Planet Watch is really good. I would suggest that you really take the time to do it right if you are going to go down there.

And yes, the train ride is a pain, but it's also kind of nice. I just love trains.

 

[col]

i always go to rafikis planet watch. ive never done the petting zoo coz it doesnt appeal to me, but i like going to look around and seeing all the animals and hearing what the animal feeders and others say.
on my last trip there i saw a boa constricter (sp?) having surgery and i thought omg when will i ever get the chance to see that happen again! i was totally amazed.

i think they have like a presentation thing aswell.

they do great work there and i visit it everytime im in AK.

 

[scubaguy]

Disclaimer: My daughter is an animal trainer at Rafikis, so I'm obviously highly prejudiced! The train has never been overly crowded when we've been there, we always have gotten on the first train that comes, but it can be a pain to have to wait for it to get there. Why they don't have a pathway is something I don't understand. I think you have to basically love animals to really appreciate Rafikis, and if you're thinking of it as a just breeze in to see the animals and breeze out, you probably shouldn't take the time to go over there. It can be very educational, the keepers regularly bring out animals (a hedgehog for instance), and everyone can gather around to learn about them. You'll see newborn animals, mayby operations, and other neat stuff. One note about the petting area, unlike other petting zoos, Disney doesn't hand feed, or allow guests to handfeed the animals, so they don't associate visitors as a food source and knock you down or try to get into your pockets like you normally see at other petting zoos. I always enjoyed going over there, even before my daughter started working there, and I'd say give it a try. Have fun on your trip!

 

[H20Babie]

My son loves the train and and the exhibits and little shows, but he really didn't care for the petty zoo there ... in his words, it "stinks". I was pretty surprised that he didn't care for it, since he loves all kinds of animals and creatures.

 

[JDM]

I would give it a shot...

We went first thing in the morning right after riding Kilimanjaro Safari and the train wasn't crowded at all. We were still among the first people there. Coming back an hour or so later, it was much more crowded.

Pocahantas, Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket were there. They do bring out small animals for the kids to see and touch. And we saw the vet team working on Red River Hog (a pre-transport check-up), after which my daughter (5)announced she wanted to be a vet!

The petting zoo was just goats, which disappointed me, but not my daughter. And the trained porcupine show was enjoyable.

 

[coltow]

We have done this our past 2 trips to kill time waiting for FP for Safari. It's ok. There are/were just goats at the petting zoo. The planet watch is ok for kids. There are usually a few characters there. We've been lucky enough to meet Stanley (and Dennis) there both times, which was a highlight for DS. There's windows to see into the vet's room and butterfly room and a few other rooms I can't think of right now.

 

[MichWolv]

The petting zoo is nothing special. My 4 year old spent about 5 minutes and wanted to move on. However, the indoor exhibits have a number of things going for them, if your little ones can handle sitting/standing looking at things, rather then being on rides (my 4 year-old son sometimes likes this, and sometimes doesn't). Reasons to go...

1) A large indoor air conditioned area where you can hang around as long as you like. These are few and far between in AK.

2) The animal mural painting when you walk into the building as something like 25 Hidden Mickeys, which are fun to look for.

3) The opportunity to touch and hold little animal, like lizard and tarantulas. Unfortunately, my son didn't understand why he couldn't take the lizard with him.

4) Some character greetings (Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket when I was there last), which may have shorter lines than in Camp Minnie-Mickey.

5) The sound booths are pretty cool.

6) If you get lucky, some interesting things in the animal care area (saw them examining a tiger (or, as my son said, Tigger).

 

[RiversideBunny]

The part of going to Rafiki's Planet Watch that I enjoy the most, and maybe you will, is riding the train.
It's like you are in the opening scenes of 'Out of Africa'.

Rafiki is one of my favorite characters and I like to get a photo taken with him.

We tend to ride out there, look around for a few minutes, and then come back.

Have fun.

 

[KingStefan]

...i dont know why they just dont build a path way so at least you can decide how you want to get there.

I always thought that too, until I looked at a map with Satellite image imposed.

The reason they don't build a path is because although on the park map they make it look like RPW is right next to Asia, it is really way up north!

The easiest path to build would be along the train tracks to the back of Maharajah Jungle Trek. Although this doesn't look too far on the map, remember that there is no place to stop and rest from the heat, and from Conservation Station / Affection Section to the front of MJT would be I think over 1/2 mile.

I know that compared to all the walking we do in the parks that is not all that much, but it's still quite a hike for most people.

Another solution is to make a path to the back of the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. That's a bit shorter, but it would require crossing the train track twice, and also crossing the service road. And it would be in plain sight of the train barn. The theming would be a bit tricky.