Concierge Safari (not staying at ALK) - long About This Page:

[Eeyoresmom]

First, I apologize if I post this in the wrong area. This is the Forum we discussed the Safari before I left, so that's why I'm posting here now.

We stayed in on the concierge level of GF the first week of October. I had booked us for the Concierge Safari for AK, a while back. It's $45/person for the tour and part of the money goes to an Animal Conservation fund (not sure how much). When I talked about it before, I promised a review, so here it is!

I wasn't sure what to expect when we went on the Concierge Safari. I definitely wanted to spend extra time at the safari, and since we weren't staying at ALK - this was our best option. But, going in, I didn't know if it would be worth the money. After taking the safari, in my opinion, it was worth every penny!

There are 2 safaris offered per day, one at 10:00 and the other at 1:00. We took the morning safari. You take a different vehicle for the Concierge tour than the regular ride. It doesn't hold many, and I think they limit the tour to 14 guests. The tour lasts an hour. You start behind the scenes, and see some of the animal's nighttime homes before heading out past the Hippos. You see all of the animals you'd see on the ride, with tons of time to take photos, record them on your camcorder, or just watch out of binoculars (there were 2 pairs on the bus available for anyone to use). Not that you needed binoculars. We made several stops to the side of the road to just watch the animals. I swear they're so used to the people going by that they stop and pose to get their picture taken. Our tour guide, Steve, was extremely informative and was willing to answer all of our questions.

I developed (there were more, just didn't develop everything) over 85 photos from our day at AK - and I would bet that 2/3 of those photos came from our time on the Concierge Safari. If your goal is to have extended time in the safari, and really learn a lot of information about the animals and get a lot of pictures (or even just time watching), I would highly recommend the Concierge Safari to anyone staying in a Concierge level room at WDW. You just couldn't wipe the smile off my face the rest of the day!

Feel free to ask me any questions, I'll do my best to answer. And eventually, I'll post a TR where I'm sure I'll talk about it.

[HiddenMickey]

Thanks for posting. I think it is appropriate for this forum, as only resort guests staying in concierge can take the tour.

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you had a great time Thanks for the info

[lauren-roxy]

Thanks for all the info!!! Sounds like you had an awesome time!!

[Joy J]

The concierge safari sounds wonderful and I learned something new as I had thought that you had to be staying concierge at AKL in order to be able to participate in this safari. It's nice to know that concierge guests staying at any of the WDW resorts can also take this tour.

Joy

[Plannergirl]

It a diffrent safari than the ones for AKL guests but sounds much nicer than the sunrise one in many ways (less screaming no holds barred kids!)

[Eeyoresmom]

Plannergirl . . . your safari didn't go that well?

There was one little girl on ours and she was so quiet, you never knew she was there! We adults where the ones up and about looking for good camera angles!

[Plannergirl]

We had ours the last week of October and perhaps doing it the morning after the AWESOME sunset safari (cant say enough about it!) makes it less "great" but honestly there were about 5 mostly 8-10 year old girls that were monsters to put it lightly. The AKL sunrise safari allows I think 45 ppl? You use the same safari trucks (2 of them for that many folks). These kids were so much into screaming and yelling that the guides kept trying to do the "lets be quiet so we don't scare the animals" game-no dice. Our wonderful meal at the school house was less wonderful by same said little girls screaming more and running around. Folks ate fast and split.

So sounds like this version of the safari ride would work better ;-)

[Eeyoresmom]

Plannergirl-

Sorry the Sunrise Safari didn't go well. The Sunset Safari sounds wonderful. I'm hoping that you're writing a trip report, so I can read more about it. Plus, let us know what you ended up wearing for the Sunset Safari . . . I remember you were trying to find the right outfit.