New 'Sense of Africa' tour coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

Mar 31, 2016 in "Sense of Africa"

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Posted: Thursday March 31, 2016 7:30am EDT by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge will soon be offering a new tour which promises a close-up experience with the animals.

'Sense of Africa' is a 3.5 hour experience that begins with breakfast at Boma. Taking place before the restaurant opens, some exclusive dishes will be on offer, along with the restaurant's regular breakfast buffet. A cast member from Africa will share stories and explain some details of the restaurant.

Next up is a ride on a safari truck to head backstage for some close-up animal encounters, which may include giraffe, ostrich and okapi.

The tour costs $249.99 per person, with a minimum age of 10 years old (a 15% discount is available for Annual Passholders and DVC Members). The tour groups are small, with just 12 guests taking part, and the tour is available on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Reservations should open next week on April 5.

Sense of Africa overview

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sxeensweetApr 06, 2016

This tour will offer very close encounters with animals not available on any of the other tours see the article screenshots below about it from Disney's Food Blog. Shows folks feeding giraffes and being able get close to Okapis as well and pet them and the giraffes etc. This makes me even more likely to do this tour our next trip. Also will have special items at breakfast not on the normal menu from Boma just for the tour as well as the normal breakfast offerings at Boma. So excited! ;)

No NameApr 04, 2016

And this is what I meant when saying that Disney After Hours for $150 a relatively good value. $250 for a 3.5 hour tour? Crazy, I say, crazy! I am not the biggest fan of animals in enclosures, but still, I do not see what kind of animal interaction or anything would make this worth the price for anyone. Anyway, it's entirely optional, so I can't complain. I hope those who do pay are happy with their experience.

DisneyGentlemanApr 02, 2016

It's called "sucker skimming". There will always be a few people willing to pay almost anything for nothing in return.

JoeCamelApr 02, 2016

You need to go to Bush Gardens for that $20 and a great ride in the back of a truck.

DisneyGentlemanApr 02, 2016

Cents of Africa equates to Dollars of Disney.

BernardandBiancaApr 01, 2016

We did a few years ago (for about half the cost), and it was great. Main drawback was sleeping on the ground and hearing animals making noise all night long, But definitely worthwhile. Oh, and just for comparison, we've done two seventeen day safaris in Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa), and these are the way to go if you can. The big takeaway is that KS is accurate down to the ninth degree - we can swear the elephant clay pits are casts made from the ground in Ngorongoro Crater.

disneyflushApr 01, 2016

Frustrating that Disney didn't announce the prices of these types of experiences before my wife and I decided to have children.

glvsav37Apr 01, 2016

I guess (for me) the question is how "up close?" to the animals If it's driving along next them for a few minutes, then no, not worth it to me. If it's pet, feed and take a selfie with a giraffe, hen sign me up!!!

DznyGrlSDApr 01, 2016

But remember kids...Animal Kingdom is

Karenb64Apr 01, 2016

This example is exactly what I thought about when I read about this offering. Zoos across the country offer all kinds of "up close and personal" encounters with animals for free or at reasonable costs. We have a local small city zoo that allow kids to climb up a platform during feeding time and feed branches to giraffes for nothing. So why is this special? Yeah I get that the safari environment is really cool, but what is actually unique about this? However...if families are willing to spend this money on all these over prices and (sometimes) over-hyped experiences, maybe it will stop the price gouging going on at Disney these days - last month I paid $17.00 for a hamburger, fries and coke at Liberty Inn!! (I mentioned this in another thread, but I will probably keep mentioning it because I am still in shock!):eek::D

Andrew CApr 01, 2016

It is funny how people worry about how other people are spending their money. And judge them by saying..."well with that kind of money, you could have done this and this and it would be so much better".... In reality, it is none of your business how people decide to spend their money or what they think is worth spending their money on. You can have an opinion on the price of something and whether you think it is too expensive, a rip-off, etc. But the moment you start telling other people what they should be doing with their money...like you know better....that is just annoying.

MawgApr 01, 2016

Or you could go to the San Diego Safari Park, spend 130 and get an entire night safari and camp out on the Safari, it would be much more memorable.

matt9112Apr 01, 2016

You are both correct it's all relative what makes people happy makes people happy. People buy bad cars (feel sorry for a 2015 civic owner)but they may be the best for the owner. Point is for dollar figures there are much better places to spend it in theory. On topic I could argue going on the first few trucks at Kilimanjaro on the off season on a low crowd day a 2 or 3 gets you a lot of picture time. Not vip tour time but none the less.

flyerjabApr 01, 2016

Agreed. We did the Wild Africa Trek last October and that was an unforgettable experience. The intimate size of the group, the way you weave within an existing E-Ticket attraction, the time spent on the savanna taking pictures, and the tiffin meal under the pavilion was all exceptional. The rope bridge section was great also. I felt that was worth the price of admission and would do that one again in the future. But you are also correct in that this stuff is all relative.