Looking for impressions on new free backstage tours at Rafiki's Planet Watch: TOURS ENDED MAY 19th!

[hiroMYhero]

Do the trains to Rafiki start at park open or 10am?

They begin running at 10:00. The first meet and greets with Rafiki and Doc begin at 10:15.

 

[CarolynFH]

We took this tour this morning and heartily endorse it!

Tours begin at 10:45 each day and run every hour on the 45s. We arrived at RPW around noon and signed up for the 12:45 tour, which was conducted by Mel. We visited the vet hospital and nutrition center. Mel told us the next tour would visit one of those and one different facility, either the science center or the invertebrate building.

Mel was excellent at explaining each facility and answering questions, and she even engaged a cute 3 year old girl (there was a teenage boy on the tour, the other 14 were adults).

Our tour was a little unusual because the vets were in the midst of performing emergency surgery on one of the Nile crocodiles, who was in a fight with another croc this morning and needed to have the lower part of his right rear leg amputated. We had watched part of the operation from the public viewing area before the tour, but the tour group was able to watch more from the lab window. Mel did a great job explaining what all the folks in the OR were doing - including the keepers who had to hold the croc still when he started moving and needed more anesthesia!

Even without emergency surgery going on, this tour has the quality we expect from WDW backstage tours, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in animal care!

We really liked the fact we could simply sign up for the next one after we arrived at RPW and didn’t have to schedule in advance and rush to be sure we arrived on time. And of course we loved that it was free!

 

[Linkura]

We took this tour this morning and heartily endorse it!

Tours begin at 10:45 each day and run every hour on the 45s. We arrived at RPW around noon and signed up for the 12:45 tour, which was conducted by Mel. We visited the vet hospital and nutrition center. Mel told us the next tour would visit one of those and one different facility, either the science center or the invertebrate building.

Mel was excellent at explaining each facility and answering questions, and she even engaged a cute 3 year old girl (there was a teenage boy on the tour, the other 14 were adults).

Our tour was a little unusual because the vets were in the midst of performing emergency surgery on one of the Nile crocodiles, who was in a fight with another croc this morning and needed to have the lower part of his right rear leg amputated. We had watched part of the operation from the public viewing area before the tour, but the tour group was able to watch more from the lab window. Mel did a great job explaining what all the folks in the OR were doing - including the keepers who had to hold the croc still when he started moving and needed more anesthesia!

Even without emergency surgery going on, this tour has the quality we expect from WDW backstage tours, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in animal care!

We really liked the fact we could simply sign up for the next one after we arrived at RPW and didn’t have to schedule in advance and rush to be sure we arrived on time. And of course we loved that it was free!

Great impressions- thank you!! Definitely going to try to sign up for it.

 

[yulilin3]

We took this tour this morning and heartily endorse it!

Tours begin at 10:45 each day and run every hour on the 45s. We arrived at RPW around noon and signed up for the 12:45 tour, which was conducted by Mel. We visited the vet hospital and nutrition center. Mel told us the next tour would visit one of those and one different facility, either the science center or the invertebrate building.

Mel was excellent at explaining each facility and answering questions, and she even engaged a cute 3 year old girl (there was a teenage boy on the tour, the other 14 were adults).

Our tour was a little unusual because the vets were in the midst of performing emergency surgery on one of the Nile crocodiles, who was in a fight with another croc this morning and needed to have the lower part of his right rear leg amputated. We had watched part of the operation from the public viewing area before the tour, but the tour group was able to watch more from the lab window. Mel did a great job explaining what all the folks in the OR were doing - including the keepers who had to hold the croc still when he started moving and needed more anesthesia!

Even without emergency surgery going on, this tour has the quality we expect from WDW backstage tours, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in animal care!

We really liked the fact we could simply sign up for the next one after we arrived at RPW and didn’t have to schedule in advance and rush to be sure we arrived on time. And of course we loved that it was free!

do you know if you are allowed to film or take pictures during the tour?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Tours begin at 10:45 each day and run every hour on the 45s.

Thanks for confirming Disney changed from 2 tours per hour to only 1. Also, that the tours do include 2 locations. As of Monday morning, they had yet to confirm locations of the tours and were planning to offer 2 tours per hour.

 

[hiroMYhero]

do you know if you are allowed to film or take pictures during the tour?

No photography at all backstage, unfortunately.
http://blogmickey.com/2018/02/review-free-30-minute-backstage-tales-tour-disneys-animal-kingdom/

CMs were paid to come in early for the “trial” - trial tours on Monday and they weren’t allowed to take photos at all.

 

[Lesley Wake]

We took this tour this morning and heartily endorse it!

Tours begin at 10:45 each day and run every hour on the 45s. We arrived at RPW around noon and signed up for the 12:45 tour, which was conducted by Mel. We visited the vet hospital and nutrition center. Mel told us the next tour would visit one of those and one different facility, either the science center or the invertebrate building.

Mel was excellent at explaining each facility and answering questions, and she even engaged a cute 3 year old girl (there was a teenage boy on the tour, the other 14 were adults).

Our tour was a little unusual because the vets were in the midst of performing emergency surgery on one of the Nile crocodiles, who was in a fight with another croc this morning and needed to have the lower part of his right rear leg amputated. We had watched part of the operation from the public viewing area before the tour, but the tour group was able to watch more from the lab window. Mel did a great job explaining what all the folks in the OR were doing - including the keepers who had to hold the croc still when he started moving and needed more anesthesia!

Even without emergency surgery going on, this tour has the quality we expect from WDW backstage tours, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in animal care!

We really liked the fact we could simply sign up for the next one after we arrived at RPW and didn’t have to schedule in advance and rush to be sure we arrived on time. And of course we loved that it was free!

Thank you so much! This sounds so cool and I will make it a priority to sign up for this on my trip.

Could you sign up in advance? So, if I arrived to RPW at around 10ish (one of the first trains out), will I be able to sign up for the 3:45 one? I am taking the Wild Africa Trek at 11:45 (baby hippo!) so the 3:45 works best in my schedule. Thanks!

 

[Stasieki]

Excited to try this next Tuesday with my 7 year old!

 

[CarolynFH]

Thank you so much! This sounds so cool and I will make it a priority to sign up for this on my trip.

Could you sign up in advance? So, if I arrived to RPW at around 10ish (one of the first trains out), will I be able to sign up for the 3:45 one? I am taking the Wild Africa Trek at 11:45 (baby hippo!) so the 3:45 works best in my schedule. Thanks!

Yes you can! DH said they had a list of the times and you can sign up for the one you want.

 

[to be tink]

Does the whole group have to be present at sign up or could I sign everyone up while they do something else?

 

[Linkura]

Does the whole group have to be present at sign up or could I sign everyone up while they do something else?

According to PP, doesn't look like everyone needs to be present.

 

[CarolynFH]

Does the whole group have to be present at sign up or could I sign everyone up while they do something else?

According to PP, doesn't look like everyone needs to be present.

That’s correct. DH signed us up while I did something else.

 

[CAS239]

I did the tour this morning. Got there at about 10:20am and signed up for the 10:45 slot. Wife and I got the last two spots available. Probably about 6 kids in the tour group

10:40 we all gathered at the table and Clarissa was our guide. Gave the talk of no photos or videos since it was a backstage tour.

We walked through the breakroom and labs backstage and went to the invertebrates building. On the walk over you can see the backside of EE and a few parts of Kali River Rapids. Went into the invertebrates building where another CM talked about insects and spiders that they have in there. About some of the stuff they had going on when the hurricane came.

After that walked back to the main building to go into the vet hospital. On the walk back one tour guest asked about a fenced in area across the way that had what looked like props and left over pieces. Our cm explained it's pieces of different rides and structures that were unused and are at the disposal of imagineers to look at in case something needs to be changed or have a new coat of paint.

In the vet hospital we got to see the backside window of where a duck was getting surgery. Then went and saw their big CT scanner that is used for animals up to one ton.

Overall the tour was neat in the aspect you got to see behind the scenes and go where you normally can't. Can't beat free but I wished it was a little longer. You can take a survey at the end with a paper that asked questions. My really only complaint is that I wished it went to all 4 areas instead of just two. So with that said, if I were to go again I'd ask if I could sign up for back to back tours so I could see all 4 areas

 

[CarolynFH]

I did the tour this morning. Got there at about 10:20am and signed up for the 10:45 slot. Wife and I got the last two spots available. Probably about 6 kids in the tour group

10:40 we all gathered at the table and Clarissa was our guide. Gave the talk of no photos or videos since it was a backstage tour.

We walked through the breakroom and labs backstage and went to the invertebrates building. On the walk over you can see the backside of EE and a few parts of Kali River Rapids. Went into the invertebrates building where another CM talked about insects and spiders that they have in there. About some of the stuff they had going on when the hurricane came.

After that walked back to the main building to go into the vet hospital. On the walk back one tour guest asked about a fenced in area across the way that had what looked like props and left over pieces. Our cm explained it's pieces of different rides and structures that were unused and are at the disposal of imagineers to look at in case something needs to be changed or have a new coat of paint.

In the vet hospital we got to see the backside window of where a duck was getting surgery. Then went and saw their big CT scanner that is used for animals up to one ton.

Overall the tour was neat in the aspect you got to see behind the scenes and go where you normally can't. Can't beat free but I wished it was a little longer. You can take a survey at the end with a paper that asked questions. My really only complaint is that I wished it went to all 4 areas instead of just two. So with that said, if I were to go again I'd ask if I could sign up for back to back tours so I could see all 4 areas

Yay! I’m glad to see another report on this tour - keeping this thread on the 1st page of the TPAS board so that more people learn about it, enjoy it, and spread the word. I want it to continue!

I bolded your last statement because of something our CM Mel told us. She said the next tour would visit one of the locations our group visited plus a different one and that sequential tours would “overlap” like that. In other words, if a tour visited locations 1 & 2, the next would visit 2 & 3, the following one would visit 3 & 4 and the next 4 & 1 (maybe not in that exact sequence, but you get the idea). Did Clarissa tell you where the next tour was going? I’m like you, I’d love to visit all four places, but I’d want to take two tours in a row as opposed to skipping the one between.

 

[Linkura]

I did the tour this morning. Got there at about 10:20am and signed up for the 10:45 slot. Wife and I got the last two spots available. Probably about 6 kids in the tour group

10:40 we all gathered at the table and Clarissa was our guide. Gave the talk of no photos or videos since it was a backstage tour.

We walked through the breakroom and labs backstage and went to the invertebrates building. On the walk over you can see the backside of EE and a few parts of Kali River Rapids. Went into the invertebrates building where another CM talked about insects and spiders that they have in there. About some of the stuff they had going on when the hurricane came.

After that walked back to the main building to go into the vet hospital. On the walk back one tour guest asked about a fenced in area across the way that had what looked like props and left over pieces. Our cm explained it's pieces of different rides and structures that were unused and are at the disposal of imagineers to look at in case something needs to be changed or have a new coat of paint.

In the vet hospital we got to see the backside window of where a duck was getting surgery. Then went and saw their big CT scanner that is used for animals up to one ton.

Overall the tour was neat in the aspect you got to see behind the scenes and go where you normally can't. Can't beat free but I wished it was a little longer. You can take a survey at the end with a paper that asked questions. My really only complaint is that I wished it went to all 4 areas instead of just two. So with that said, if I were to go again I'd ask if I could sign up for back to back tours so I could see all 4 areas

Thanks for posting your review! I'll be at AK in two weeks and I'll see if I can sign up!

 

[CAS239]

Yay! I’m glad to see another report on this tour - keeping this thread on the 1st page of the TPAS board so that more people learn about it, enjoy it, and spread the word. I want it to continue!

I bolded your last statement because of something our CM Mel told us. She said the next tour would visit one of the locations our group visited plus a different one and that sequential tours would “overlap” like that. In other words, if a tour visited locations 1 & 2, the next would visit 2 & 3, the following one would visit 3 & 4 and the next 4 & 1 (maybe not in that exact sequence, but you get the idea). Did Clarissa tell you where the next tour was going? I’m like you, I’d love to visit all four places, but I’d want to take two tours in a row as opposed to skipping the one between.

No I didn't think to ask where the following tour would go.

 

[Bete]

Thanks for letting us know. Does anyone know if you have to a certain age to do this tour? Would a 5 year old be allowed?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Thanks for letting us know. Does anyone know if you have to a certain age to do this tour? Would a 5 year old be allowed?

In Post#3 - all ages welcome.

 

[CarolynFH]

Thanks for letting us know. Does anyone know if you have to a certain age to do this tour? Would a 5 year old be allowed?

In Post#3 - all ages welcome.

There was an adorable little girl on our tour who couldn’t have been over 3 or 4. Our CM did a great job keeping her engaged and explaining basics on her level while attending to the adults as well.

 

[1911]

i wonder how this tour will impact the backstage tales tour? looks like this free one is probably 20- 25% of it judging by the tour we took last year.