Safari, Horseback Riding & Tours

[petey]

Hello All, I will be heading to WDW on a solo tour in July, and staying @ AKL (Jambo House). I need your valuable feedback Please!!! Has anyone done the Sarari (offered @ AKL in the afternoon) followed by dinner @ Jiko? Is it worth it, and how expensive is it? Also do you need to stay in the Club Level? I think that is for the Sunrise Safari. Would I be comfortable doing that solo? Next has anyone done the Horseback Riding @ Ft. Wilderness, and how expensive, & would I be ok doing that solo, also would it be to hot in July? Lastly, has anyone done the Behind The Seeds tour (The Land-Epcot)? If their are any other tours you suggest please jump in the discussion. I have already done Keys To The Kingdom, and don't really want to commit to longer than a 3-4hr tour. Thanks for any help, and Magical Thoughts!!!!!

 

[Kristia]

I can only speak for the horseback riding part of your question. I think you would be totally fine doing this solo. My husband and I did this a few years ago. It is a very slow leisurely ride. The horses know the way to go and they are used to going in a certain order. My husband's horse was used to being at the front and mine was used to being toward the back. Chances are if you went with someone you might not end up riding near them anyway! It is definitely great for beginners and nice to see some of the wooded areas around Fort Wilderness but if you are a rider (like I am) you may be a little disappointed.

 

[Kristia]

Also I forgot to add that we also went in July. We went for the first ride of the morning. It was warm, but not too bad. I forget the prices though since it was many years ago. I think they have the current prices at www.allears.net

 

[wm49rs]

The Behind the Seeds Tour is both informative and interesting. You get to see a lot of what is being currently grown and under development in the gardens. I can't remember the cost, because I'm an AP holder and received a discount on the ticket. But it was well worth the price I recall.....

 

[sweetpee_1993]

The Sunrise Safari you have to be club level at Animal Kingdom Lodge to do (we did in January...you can read about it in the link in my signature). The Wanyama Safari is the one you are asking about. I'm not sure if that one is limited to AKL's club level guests or if it's available to all the deluxe resorts' club level guests. I'm sure you have to be club level somewhere to do it, tho. The cost of the Wanyama Safari is like $160 or something like that. If you aren't club level there are other tours at Animal Kingdom that look interesting that could sub for ya. Have fun! :wave:

 

[Phonedave]

Behind the Seeds is on the order of $15 - $17, and well worth it. I think I have been on it 3 or 4 times.

If you are looking for an other tour to do, look into the Segway tours. They are on the order of 2 hours long

-dave

 

[PrincessSparrow]

As an alternative to the AK lodge safari, i did the backstage safari at AK and it was great. u get to see the feeding area, animal housing area, and they take you one KS and tell you secrets about the safari... might be a better option unless u plan on staying club level...

 

[Eyekimore]

The Behind the Seeds tour was great! My DH and I went one year during the holidays. Quite informative- especially if you're a person that enjoys gardening!

I'm interested in the Backstage Safari, too! If you end up doing it- please post a report about it! Love to hear how it was......

 

[eroyee]

I would think the segway one would be a good one for someone going solo.

 

[moonchild925]

Unless something has changed you CAN do the waynama safari and not stay club level. we did it last september and we only had a standard room at the AKL. the cost was more like $200 if I remember correctly. It would be great to do solo as dinner at jiko is served family style so you interact with the other guests a lot and the food as usual is amazing. There is more info on allears.net about it and you have to book it through the concierge at AKL not the usual tour #. Have fun!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Unless something has changed you CAN do the waynama safari and not stay club level. we did it last september and we only had a standard room at the AKL. the cost was more like $200 if I remember correctly. It would be great to do solo as dinner at jiko is served family style so you interact with the other guests a lot and the food as usual is amazing. There is more info on allears.net about it and you have to book it through the concierge at AKL not the usual tour #. Have fun!

I really wasn't sure on the Wanyama one. We would've liked to have safari'd the lodge savannas but the cost x 4 just didn't seem like the thing to do considering we could do the Sunrise Safari plus eat at Jiko for less than the cost of the Wanyama. Sunrise was freakin' awesome...will likely go down as one of our most magical Disney experiences of all time. :wave: Jiko, good but not the very best Disney meal we've ever had. Unless we stayed at AKL again (which I highly doubt because of the room sizes) we wouldn't go out of our way to eat there again.


Edit: Yep! You're right! You don't have to be club level to do the Wanyama safari.

 

[marypoppins68]

I've done the horseback riding at Fort Wilderness. You can definitely do this solo. Pick the first time in the morning and it won't be too hot. Two guides go out with you and as long as someone signs up, the tour goes on. My Mom and I were the only ones on our particular tour so it was like having our own private tour. The CM's are very friendly and helpful. We even saw deer on the tour. I think if you have an AP you can get a discount. I don't remember what we paid but I don't think it was that much.

Here's a link to a recent blog about the Behind the Seeds Tour
http://land.allears.net/blogs/michaelbachand/2010/05/behind_the_seeds_tour_review.html

It sounds really cool.

 

[Nemo14]

We've done the Segway tours at Epcot and at Fort Wilderness. I highly recommend eitherr one. If you are a AAA member, you get a discount for these.

 

[emerald28]

The Behind the Seeds tour was great! My DH and I went one year during the holidays. Quite informative- especially if you're a person that enjoys gardening!

I'm interested in the Backstage Safari, too! If you end up doing it- please post a report about it! Love to hear how it was......

I've taken the Backstage Safari. I was staying at All Star Movies at the time. It's like a Keys to the Kingdom Tour for AK, and was only something like $60 (in 2006 with a Disney Visa discount). It was really cool.