Up Close With Rhinos Tour at Animal Kingdom Review

If you lot've ever wanted to know what a rhinoceros feels like, accept I got the tour for you! Upward Close with Rhinos is also a groovy choice if you love animals, Disney'south Animal Kingdom and/or the Kilimanjaro Safaris, and desire to know more about what happens backside the scenes and how Disney contributes to animal conservation efforts. If you've never done a Disney Earth backstage tour before, this could be a nice "starter" pick because it'south inexpensive (relatively speaking at $40) and gives you a good flavor for what a Disney backstage tour can offer.

Upwards Close with Rhinos first began in early November. The tour takes place at eleven a.thou. on select days at Disney'south Animal Kingdom. You run into at the Curiosity Animal Tours kiosk by the Kilimanjaro Safaris entrance in the Africa section of the park. It's a small group – ours had 14 guests and we were told that was the maximum size for the bout.

The tour begins by heading immediately backstage. You'll walk through the gate only off to the left of the Safaris entrance and forth the side of Tusker House and the show edifice for the Festival of the King of beasts King. A little off in the distance you lot can come across the prove building for the Pandora attractions. The cast fellow member who was guiding u.s. on this stroll pointed out the Hidden Mickey that'south formed by part of the floating mountains above the Pandora edifice – it'due south only visible from backstage.

Later a few minutes of walking, nosotros came to our bout vehicle, Temba I. While there were some Safari vehicles parked in the lot back hither, ours was simply a rider van. We piled in and buckled up, and the driver took united states forth the road that runs behind the Safaris expanse, past some Imagineering buildings and Planet Sentinel, to the rhinos' abode. The rhino house is located right near the elephant house, so if you've done the Caring for Giants bout before, everything up to this point will be very similar.

We were greeted by two of the beast specialists who work with the rhinos. They started by giving us tons of information well-nigh rhinos in general: the different species of rhinos (there are five), the fact that they are the second-largest state animals (subsequently elephants), and the threat to their survival due to poaching. Rhinoceros horn poaching has really increased in popularity in the last xx years or so. Some cultures mistakenly believe rhino horns have some sort of healing or other mythical properties. In fact, the horns made of keratin – the aforementioned material as your fingernails.

And so we got to meet some white rhinos! As we walked toward the other side of the rhino barn nosotros were greeted by Helen and Lola, two of the five female white rhinos who live at Animal Kingdom. Helen and Lola showed off some of their grooming – for example, they are trained to open their mouths so the vets tin can audit their teeth – and we learned more than about their eating and drinking habits.

A quick aside well-nigh photography: even earlier we set human foot backstage, nosotros were strongly warned against taking any photos/videos. So don't wait to get a picture of yourself with a rhino, or of anything else "behind the scenes." Some other Disney World backstage experiences practise seem to allow some photos, just this was not one of them. Our group of 14 guests had three cast members "accompanying" the states (read: watching united states like hawks) at the rhino firm, in improver to the two animal care staff who lead the feel. My photo of the rhinoceros below was taken during a safari ride subsequently that day.

Then, nosotros truly got "up close" to the rhinos! We went up in groups of two or three and were immune to "pet" Helen.

What does a rhinoceros experience like? My mother said "a kokosnoot," and I call up that'due south a pretty expert analogy. Certainly parts of her had a very solid experience with some wiry pilus. But some parts of her were also a piffling softer, though the skin was still tough. Merely I would heartily encourage y'all to take the tour and observe out for yourself! (Annotation that rhinoceros petting is Not guaranteed on this tour; if the rhinos are non cooperating, the handlers may think it safer non to allow guests to bear on the animals.)

One of the reasons Animal Kingdom is my favorite park is because it's not but about entertaining guests. The animal care experts put a lot of work into helping conserve species and learn more than about them to back up their care and proliferation around the earth. We learned that 9 rhino babies have been born at Animal Kingdom, and that the park recently received a new male white rhino, Doogan, to breed and further increase the population. We besides learned that some of the rhino babies born here have been sent to sanctuaries in their native habitats in Africa, and how the knowledge gained by working with these beautiful beasts at Creature Kingdom has benefited other zoos and beast sanctuaries around the globe, especially in places that practice not have access to the cutting-edge schooling and resource nosotros do.

So whether yous love animals, or just want to try a Disney backstage tour without the delivery of something similar Backstage Magic, consider Upwardly Close with Rhinos. Everyone in our group, ranging in age from children ten+ to seniors, said they enjoyed information technology. And if yous go to Disney to make memories, well, petting a rhino isn't something you'll easily forget!

If yous're doing the tour, a few $.25 of advice:

• Don't come expecting to have photos – they were very serious on our bout about no photography anywhere backstage.
• Exist prompt or they'll go out without y'all.
• Y'all are outside without cover during much of the tour, so prepare appropriately based on the Florida weather. You'll exercise some walking, but only a few minutes here and there.

Have you gone "Upwards Close with Rhinos"? How did you like your experience? Share it in the comments!

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Source: https://wdwnt.com/2019/01/review-up-close-with-rhinos-experience-delivers-on-its-name/

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