Which tour at AK is better?

[Alilaw]

Thoughts on Caring for Giants vs. Up Close with Rhinos? Would be my husband, myself, and our 2 girls - ages 5 & 7. Thanks!

 

[scrappinginontario]

I did Caring for Giants with my daughter when she was 9 and she loved it - we both did! Another trip we would like to do the Rhino one too.

I think both are great but hopefully others can share their experiences too.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

We did both experiences pre-covid and I LOVE elephants but actually enjoyed the rhino experience more. It was cool to be able to pet them (if the rhino feels up to it). Learned a lot about how they take care of them, etc. Maybe because I already know so much about elephants, I didn't find the elephants one that great.

 

[disneyseniors]

Thoughts on Caring for Giants vs. Up Close with Rhinos? Would be my husband, myself, and our 2 girls - ages 5 & 7. Thanks!

Hi Alilaw: My husband and I have done Carinng for Giants. I hate to say that we were disappointed. I actually thought we would see what they did to care for the Elephants, like feeding, grooming, medical checkups, etc. What we got was a drive to the back of the Safari ride area to view the elephants. We never got to see one up close; I mean within 50 feet or so. We viewed them from a distance. The guests on the safari vehicles got a much better view of them than we did.
They had a wonderful guest CM from south africa who gave a nice talk on their efforts to save the elephants in her country. She was a delight to talk to, and was the highlight of our visit. We never got taken anywhere else, and just waited for the bus to come back.
Maybe we were wrong in thinking Caring for Giants meant actually caring for the elephants on a daily basis.
So, you can go in with that information and decide. We would have seen more elephants up closer on the safari ride.

 

[NotANewbie]

We are doing the Up Close With Rhinos this weekend. Chose it over Caring For Giants because of how up close we can get to the rhinos. Will report back.

 

[maybethisyear]

Went did Up Close with Rhinos last Monday. It was their second day back. It was AWESOME! I mean....awesome!!!

My husband, 9 year old, and I all thought it was an incredible experience. We did get to pet Dugan the Rhino, and it was one of the highlights of our 11 days in Florida. I would strongly recommend it.

 

[sticker231]

Just booked Caring for Giants. I wanted to do both, reviews seems better for Up Close With Rhinos, but it was sold out all week. I'll keep trying.

 

[Lady Hiss]

I’ve done both and agree with other posters that the Rhino experience was better. Not that Caring for Giants wasn’t fun and informative, but I enjoyed the up close aspect of the Rhino program.

 

[Best Aunt]

My husband and I have done Caring for Giants. I hate to say that we were disappointed. I actually thought we would see what they did to care for the Elephants, like feeding, grooming, medical checkups, etc. What we got was a drive to the back of the Safari ride area to view the elephants. We never got to see one up close; I mean within 50 feet or so. We viewed them from a distance.

And that's Best Case Scenario. The elephants have a large area in which they can wander. When you do this tour, you are not even guaranteed that the elephants will come into view at all.

I wasn't disappointed because I got great pictures of a mother elephant with a young baby. But if they had not come into view, I would have been unhappy. The cast member talks to you, but that's not worth the price of the tour if you don't get to see the elephants.

 

[Meriweather]

We've done both and also prefer Rhinos.....you get so much closer to them.

 

[Brent F]

For those who have done Up Close with the Rhino's recently, how did you book it and how far in advance? I want to do it in August and have been tracking online reservation availability and it is sold out every day. Did you call? If so, did you really wait on hold for 2 hours? Any tips would be great. Thanks!

When we did Caring for Giants, we booked 3-4 months out and it wasn't hard to get. Fun, but I really want to do the rhino tour.

 

[Avery&Todd]

DH and I are coming back this October and I'd like to plan a tour with the animals at AK while we're there...

Can you touch an animal on each of these tours? I've seen some pics posted on FB lately about folks doing the Up Close with Rhinos and they're able to touch the baby Rhinos!! EEEKKK....

so from these 3 tours, which ones have a "touch experience"??

Also, I see right now that the booking schedule is only open through April and I can find no times for the Rhinos at all and only a few sketchy dates/times for the Africa Trek one - is booking always this tight or can I book farther out if I call?

 

[wisblue]

We were not able to touch any elephants when we did that one a couple of years ago. We’ve never done the rhino one.

We didn’t touch any animals on the Wild Africa Trek either. You should know that that one is a lot more expensive and takes more time than the elephant one and the rhino one.

 

[Avery&Todd]

We were not able to touch any elephants when we did that one a couple of years ago. We’ve never done the rhino one.

We didn’t touch any animals on the Wild Africa Trek either. You should know that that one is a lot more expensive and takes more time than the elephant one and the rhino one.

Yeah - it looks like the rhino/elephant are only an hour and I believe the Africa Trek one is 3.....

which is fine - its just DH and I so we're not really worried about the time..however, that being said if we did the African Trek one I'd like the 8:45am group...but not sure how hard it is to book that...

 

[loves to dive]

We loved the African Trek and when we did it I booked it only like 2 weeks out. I got the time where you got lunch, not sure what time that was. Well worth the money and we would do it again in a heartbeat. Haven't done the other two.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The Caring for Giants tour takes you to a viewing platform at the back of the elephant section of the safari. You can see more elephants from that viewing platform then are usually visible when riding the safari. In fact, if you look closely, you can see that viewing platform when you are riding the safari.

This is an easy tour which only has a very short walk from the vehicle to the platform. The guide will talk about the elephants but you won't be close enough to touch them - at least that was the way it was pre-Covid. In spite of all that, we really enjoyed the tour.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We did the Caring For Giants in 2018. It was nice to see the elephants up close but we were not able to touch them. I guess I expected more interaction, however these are wild animals and watching their antics at a closer distance is what you get. Once and done.

 

[3gr8boys]

We really enjoyed Caring for Giants (2018). It was great to head "backstage" for an hour to do something special. The guide was personable and very informative and we were close enough to really enjoy watching the elephants... felt kind of like being on your front porch watching elephants in the yard across the street. We knew it would be distanced with no touching, so no opportunity for disappointment on that front.

We booked Up Close with Rhinos for April. I am really looking forward to it and do hope we are lucky and get to touch a rhino.

I have read very positive reviews about Wild Africa Trek.... it just isn't in my budget (mostly money, but also time)

 

[Avery&Todd]

We booked Up Close with Rhinos for April. I am really looking forward to it and do hope we are lucky and get to touch a rhino.

OMG!

to touch one of those baby rhinos would MAKE MY LIFE!!

 

[3gr8boys]

Also, I see right now that the booking schedule is only open through April and I can find no times for the Rhinos at all and only a few sketchy dates/times for the Africa Trek one - is booking always this tight or can I book farther out if I call?

While the timing for reservations could change... right now Up Close With Rhinos can be booked at 60 days (+10 for WDW resort guests) out online like ADRs and seems to fill up quickly. I booked at 5:30 a.m. for a party of 6 at 60+2. (Someone commented on a previous thread that enchanting extras open at midnight...others have posted that enchanting extras they wanted were not open at midnight but were at 5:30.)