Looking for Opinions on Caring for Giants Tour

[chiburple]

I'm considering this tour as a gift for my Stepmom and Stepsister who are going to DW later this month. They will be in AK on the 3rd of November. Is it too late to book this for them? If not, is it worth it? You see the elephants on the safari so does the experience really add anything if you are not a super-elephant-fanatic so to speak.

Edit to add: If not this, are there any special experiences you would recommend as a gift? Doesn't have to be in AK. I thought about MNNSHP but they would only have 3 hours to enjoy it with their current plan.

 

[Grammy4Lizzy]

We did the tour in October. You get closer than the safari and you have plenty of time to take pictures. You are backstage and parts of it do not allow photos. We really enjoyed it for the price.
The only way you will know if it too late, is the call and see if there is room. I set ours up about 5-6 weeks ahead.

 

[chiburple]

We did the tour in October. You get closer than the safari and you have plenty of time to take pictures. You are backstage and parts of it do not allow photos. We really enjoyed it for the price.
The only way you will know if it too late, is the call and see if there is room. I set ours up about 5-6 weeks ahead.

Thanks!

 

[maccagerl]

We did the tour in June. I prebooked the tour a few weeks before our trip. We liked it so much that I wanted to do it again, so I called and booked another tour for the next day. There were probably about 8-10 of us.
They have very knowledgable and personable CM's that work with the elephants- they told us so many interesting facts and stories about the elephants in Africa and their own elephants at AK.
They encouraged us to take lots of photos of the elephants and we had plenty of time to wander around within our viewing area to take pictures and just watch the elephants. They also had a representative from one of the African countries to speak with us and answer any questions.
It was especially nice to be able to watch and photograph baby Stella. She is so cute!
The 2nd tour I booked was just as fun and interesting as the first- we had different guides on the 2nd tour so we got different stories from them.
The only place you can't take photos is on the short walk to the van and on the ride to the viewing area. Nothing to photograph in those areas anyway.
I would definitely recommend doing this- the fee is so low and it's such a great experience.

 

[Euby]

I did it in April and really enjoyed it. I was using an ECV during my visit and they let me park it back stage. The walk to the shuttle to the back stage was short. The viewing area has a bench if anyone has to sit. It is a much better view of the elephants than the safari and the CMs were great! I highly recommend doing it!

 

[holden]

We enjoyed this tour. The price is reasonable, and we got to see baby Stella fairly close! I’d recommend it.

 

[chiburple]

Thanks Everyone!

 

[GillianP1301]

We (my DS9 and I) did this in August and loved it. There were only 4 of us total on the tour, so you could've booked as a walk-up on that particular day and from the sounds of it from the CM, it is rarely a sold out tour, it's just not well known yet. We were taken backstage and driven by van to the backstage viewing area of the elephants. You get a pretty close view and are there for a 40 minutes or so viewing the elephants while one of the keepers talk to you about them, how they are cared for, etc... There was also a CM (ours was from South Africa) who speaks for a few minutes on conservation efforts underway to protect the species.

It is a very affordable "extra" and well worth it, IMO and the added bonus that proceeds from your admission go towards conservation.

 

[msk]

We did it first thing in the morning in July. It was awesome! Not only were we the only ones on the tour, the keepers were also there taking pictures of the elephants. They were happy to also answer our questions, the regular CM was very knowledgable and the CM from South Africa was so much fun. I would easily do this tour again.

 

[ajwolfe]

How much is this tour?

 

[msk]

according to WDW site $30 a person

 

[ajwolfe]

according to WDW site $30 a person

Thanks!! Hadn't heard of it until today. Might have to try it on the next trip.

 

[REEREEG]

Do you think time of day doing it would make a difference? Are the elephants more active earlier in the morning?

 

[LucyBC80]

I booked this tour for December 11th, I'm glad it has got such great reviews.

 

[chiburple]

Do you think time of day doing it would make a difference? Are the elephants more active earlier in the morning?

I read the animals are more active in the morning, but can't say I have any experience myself.

 

[Crystal824]

We (my DS9 and I) did this in August and loved it. There were only 4 of us total on the tour, so you could've booked as a walk-up on that particular day and from the sounds of it from the CM, it is rarely a sold out tour, it's just not well known yet. We were taken backstage and driven by van to the backstage viewing area of the elephants. You get a pretty close view and are there for a 40 minutes or so viewing the elephants while one of the keepers talk to you about them, how they are cared for, etc... There was also a CM (ours was from South Africa) who speaks for a few minutes on conservation efforts underway to protect the species.

It is a very affordable "extra" and well worth it, IMO and the added bonus that proceeds from your admission go towards conservation.

How did you son like the tour? Did it keep him interested? I'm thinking of booking this for my 7 year old daughter and me during our next trip. She will be really close to 8 then, but I want it to be something she will enjoy.