Up Close with Rhino's

[fvrs7189]

Good Morning,

I have been following the availability of the experience with the Rhino's. My family is really excited about the possibility of doing this experience as my child is going into wildlife conservation. Yesterday (Sunday) was 60+10 for my trip. At midnight I woke up and tried to book the experience. To my shock, there was no availability. I then checked at 6 and 7am other typical release times and again nothing. At 7 I called WDW and they confirmed that it is available at this time. I forget what the cast member exactly said, but it was something like "during the summers sometimes they don't open this. Keep checking back as it is not that popular." First, does anyone know why WDW would stop booking these at 60+ days out? Second, I thought this was really popular. I am checking every morning when I wake up, but did not know others experience with this.

Thanks

 

[nickys]

I know this does happen, back in March it took some time for the tour to become available.

Keep checking and be ready to book as soon as you see it. I think there’s only one tour a day so it can book out very quickly.

 

[fvrs7189]

I just had a thought. I wonder since it is at the Rhino barn if they are possibly expecting a new baby and for obvious reasons don't want the public back there. Only someone that works there would know if this is the reason, but I will keep checking back and fingers crossed.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Keep checking. I was able to it for March 2022 at my 60 day window. It was the first reservation I tried for that morning. It is extremely limited with only one tour a day. I hope you can experience it. The tour is phenomenal. It you can maybe book caring for giants as a substitute, it is also a good tour but for the elephants and a little easier to reserve. You can keep trying for the rhino one too.

 

[Schweino]

Out of curiosity for my knowledge, is that something that opens at 6 AM on the 60th day or is it midnight?

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Out of curiosity for my knowledge, is that something that opens at 6 AM on the 60th day or is it midnight?

Usually it does. Sometimes reservations can start opening around 5:45am (but not often)

 

[fvrs7189]

Keep checking. I was able to it for March 2022 at my 60 day window. It was the first reservation I tried for that morning. It is extremely limited with only one tour a day. I hope you can experience it. The tour is phenomenal. It you can maybe book caring for giants as a substitute, it is also a good tour but for the elephants and a little easier to reserve. You can keep trying for the rhino one too.

I tried at 60 + 10 at midnight 4,5,6,7 for about 5 min with no luck. The impression I got from WDW was they were not filling at that time and not that they were full. I’ll call back and see if I get a different answer

 

[fvrs7189]

@ajrwdwgirl I looked this am and even the elephants are not available all week. Appears they are not booking at the moment.

 

[Picasso243]

@ajrwdwgirl I looked this am and even the elephants are not available all week. Appears they are not booking at the moment.

I was able to book an elephant tour online yesterday. Just keep trying!

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Good Morning,

I have been following the availability of the experience with the Rhino's. My family is really excited about the possibility of doing this experience as my child is going into wildlife conservation. Yesterday (Sunday) was 60+10 for my trip. At midnight I woke up and tried to book the experience. To my shock, there was no availability. I then checked at 6 and 7am other typical release times and again nothing. At 7 I called WDW and they confirmed that it is available at this time. I forget what the cast member exactly said, but it was something like "during the summers sometimes they don't open this. Keep checking back as it is not that popular." First, does anyone know why WDW would stop booking these at 60+ days out? Second, I thought this was really popular. I am checking every morning when I wake up, but did not know others experience with this.

Thanks

For my upcoming trip it was available at one point then it wasn't and it looks like you said it's not available anytime. I belive they pulled it, perhaps because of the new baby as others have said.

 

[MiddKid]

I've been tracking all 3 animals tours and posted my findings yesterday in a separate thread under Trip Planning. Looks like Giants hasn't been loaded for August. Question is whether or not it will be loaded of if it's cancelled.

Animal Tour Status

The WDW app chat was of no help to me so I thought I'd go to the experts here! We have a tradition where when each of my daughters turns 13 (I have 3), they get a daddy daughter trip to WDW. That trip is highly specialized to their interests. My middle daughter's trip was scheduled for April...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[mm52]

Good Morning,

I have been following the availability of the experience with the Rhino's. My family is really excited about the possibility of doing this experience as my child is going into wildlife conservation. Yesterday (Sunday) was 60+10 for my trip. At midnight I woke up and tried to book the experience. To my shock, there was no availability. I then checked at 6 and 7am other typical release times and again nothing. At 7 I called WDW and they confirmed that it is available at this time. I forget what the cast member exactly said, but it was something like "during the summers sometimes they don't open this. Keep checking back as it is not that popular." First, does anyone know why WDW would stop booking these at 60+ days out? Second, I thought this was really popular. I am checking every morning when I wake up, but did not know others experience with this.

Thanks

My husband and I did a tour at AK several years ago it might be changed since then, but it included a picnic lunch, lunch was packed in a canvas tote that was your to keep along with a reusable tumbler. It was a wonderful tour. If I remember correctly it was called Backstage at AK it included an up close visit to the Rhinos and we actually got to touch one that was in the indoor facility for the them. The tour we took was It was a little expensive but we both thought it was well worth the cost. It was hard to book then because it was very popular. Good luck.

 

[spock8113]

Pretty spectacular privilege. Be aware, never stand directly behind a rhino because the range of urination is about 15 feet!
Gee, just how would I know this interesting tidbit of animal behavior? Crikey!

 

[Minthorne]

I did this tour in 2017 - It was a DVC special offering I think. It was a fantastic experience. We did get to touch the rhino but we were always on the other side of the enclosure.

Sadly I can only find this picture