Kilimanjaro Safaris

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Kilimanjaro Safaris Overview

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Kilimanjaro Safaris is Animal Kingdom's main attraction. It is located in the Africa section in the back of the Harambe village. When you enter the village of Harambe, you find a bustling little place with crowded buildings and many travelers and street vendors. The quaint village area was designed to resemble an East African port that caters to tourists prior to their safari excursions.

On Kilimanjaro Safaris guests will experience a journey chasing poachers as you cross the savannah dotted with 34 different species of birds and animals. Since the animals on the safari are real, no two safaris are ever the same.

Kilimanjaro Safaris History

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Imagineers wanted Kilimanjaro Safaris to allow guests to feel like there where on a real African Safari. The Imagineering team visited Africa many times observing the wildlife in its natural habitat. Inspired by the sight of a leopard in a tree 300 feet away the team decided that they could equal this thrill in our park. By the time the ride was finished Imagineers have spent over a year in Africa getting all the details they need to create the perfect safari experience.

Since Disney World new that Kilimanjaro Safaris would be the main attraction in Animal Kingdom they wanted to cut down the lines somehow. Imagineers had been working on a FASTPASS system for a while, which let guests receive an assigned time to ride a certain ride. The Imagineers decided to let Kilimanjaro Safaris became the test bucket for the new system. When the park opened on April 22,1998, Kilimanjaro Safaris became the first Walt Disney World attraction to install the FASTPASS system.

Animals on Kilimanjaro Safaris

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• African Lion - The African lion can be found in open grasslands, savannas, deserts, dry forests, and woodland areas of of central Africa. Lions live in small family groups called prides. Lions are inactive for most of the day, sleeping anywhere from 18 to 20 hours. Contrary to popular belief, it's actually the female lions, the lionesses, that do most of the hunting.
• Black Rhino - Rhinos may seem indestructible, but they've actually been hit really hard by poaching. There are less than 2,500 Black Rhino left in all of Africa.
• Cheetah - Bursts of high speed give the cheetah a great advantage as a predator.
• Crowned Crane - Crowned cranes most closely resemble the ancestors of the crane family. One characteristic that belies their ancient heritage is that only Black and Grey Crowned Cranes can roost in trees. Unlike other cranes, crowned cranes have long hind toes (called the "hallux") positioned low on the foot which allows them to grasp a branch.
• Elephant - An elephants trunk actually has anywhere from 40 to 60 thousand muscles in it. They're dextrous enough to pick up a single blade of grass, and strong enough to pull down an entire tree.
• Greater Flamingoes - Greater Flamingoes get their famous pink coloring from the food they eat. Flamingoes scoop shrimp and other tiny crustaceans out of the water with their beaks. The Carotene in these animals then turns the flamingoes' feathers pink.
• Grant's Zebra - While the stripe patterns on zebras may all look the same, they actually differ from individual to individual. You can actually tell the animals apart by their stripes.
• Greater Kudu - The male Greater Kudu has extremely long horns. They can grow up to 56 inches in length.
• Hippopotamus - The Hippopotamus, whose name means "river horse", is a plant-eating water-loving giant.Nile Hippos can grow up to 5,000 pounds. With such large bodies, they overheat very quickly. That's why hippos spend most of their day underwater.
• Kikuyu Colobus Monkey - Colobus monkey is native to Africa. Its name is translated to mean "mutilated thumb" because of this 'missing' digit.
• Nile Crocodile - The Nile crocodile is found widely in Africa. This animal lives almost everywhere on the continent except in the Sahara and on the northern coast. This reptile was known by ancient peoples and described by the Greek historian, Herodotus.
• Nyala - A type of forest antelope. The nyala shown here are females, as male nyala are a darker gray color and have long horns.
• Okapi - The Okapi was one of the last mammals to be "discovered" by the scientific community (1900). It lives in the dense rainforests of northern Zaire.
• Patterson's Eland - Eland are the largest of the antelope. They can grow up to 6 feet tall at the shoulder, and weigh up to 2,000 pounds.
• Reticulated Giraffe - The Reticulated Giraffe is the world's tallest land animal. They can grow up to 20 feet tall.
• Saddlebilled Stork - Saddlebilled stork are very, very large birds. They build their nests high up in trees.
• Thompson's Gazelle - Thompson's gazelle is one of the most abundant species of gazelle. Thompson's gazelles stand between 2 and 3 feet tall. Males are larger than females. The bodies of these gazelles are slender, and they have long legs. Both sexes have horns.

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Kilimanjaro Safaris Trivia

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• To create the 110-acre Serengeti, Imagineers moved 1.5 million cubic yards of earth and planted some 2.3 million exotic plants.
• Disney developed climate-controlled rocks for the big cats, who generally want to go lie in the shade where they can't be seen by guests, so that the lions will want to sit on these rocks, in full view of all who pass by.
• The elephant area is 6 acres surrounded by hidden moats. Every evening the elephants are called back to their pens with duck whistles and cow bells. Every night, repair cast members replant the environment (an adult elephant eats between 125 and 300 pounds of vegetation per day) and remove all the manure.
• The entire Magic Kingdom can fit inside the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction.
• Ride Time: 19 Minutes

Kilimanjaro Safaris Hidden Mickeys

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• On the safari, there is a large hidden Mickey at the flamingo pool. About half way through the ride, between one of the baobobs in center elephant and a watering hole, there is a flamingo island in the shape of the famous mouse. It might be covered by the amount of birds they put there.
• In the queue, it is about 20 feet from the yellow sign that says "Welcome to Harambe Wildlife Reserve." It is on a round black object and the face and ears are outlined in gold. White dots can be found in the large circle, but not anywhere else on the object.
• Under the Elephant bridge you will see the red ground with footprints and tuskmarks, on the left hand side 3 footprints are apart and make a Hidden Mickey.
• As you exit Kilmanjaro Safari you will see a building that has the sign "Harambe Station No.4" on the wall under the sign are three pots nailed to the wall that make a hidden Mickey.

Kilimanjaro Safaris Reviews

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5/22/2008

Reviewer: Brandon, MI, USA
Another must see attraction. I have yet to visit Busch Gardens, so I can't compare it to their safari, but this is definitely top notch. The greatest thing about this attraction is that it warrants multiple visits.

11/11/2005

Reviewer: Warren Taylor, Lancashire, UK
This is brilliant. You get to see all kinds of animals and see how they live. I especially liked when we were right next to the giraffes and the hippos. Only problem is this 'Simba 1' for those who have experienced this they will understand and for those who haven't try and block it out!

5/16/2004

Reviewer: Danny, Belle River, Ontario, Canada
If you ever want to go on an African safari (minus the polio shots and mosquitoes), this is as close as you're ever going to get! The animals were always within 10 feet of the safari vehicle, and as for thrill, I've never been in a Jeep with that big acceleration! 5 stars! P.S. The island in the flamingo pond is a Hidden Mickey!

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