Starlight Safari-Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom Lodge
For the past 5 years, during every Disney trip I have been looking for “magical extras” to book for Matt and I to keep our trip even more engaging since we are able to go so often. Every single time I have tried to book the Starlight Safari at the Animal Kingdom lodge, and it has always been booked. This most recent trip, the pixie dust must have been with me because I was finally able to book it!! Read on to find out how it was and to decide if it is something you want to try to book for you and your family during your next trip. Good luck!!
Getting The Reservation
Screenshot taken from My Disney Experience App.
Let me start by reiterating that this is one tour that we tried booking for five years (and we go about twice a year). They offer the tour every day, twice a day, and we had not been able to get the reservation until this trip. It can be especially hard when you are also trying to prioritize booking dining so I would say choose what is most important to you and book that first.
60 days before your vacation, if you are staying on a Disney property, you are able to book your dining and additional events/tours. Set an alarm to wake you up and be familiar with how to navigate to the correct website to ensure you can get to it quickly.
Officially booking starts at 6:00am est, but I start checking as early as 5:00am. Just keep refreshing the page.
Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel can make reservations for their entire stay, up to 10 days.
Guests staying off-Disney property can make reservations one day at a time.
Screenshot taken from My Disney experience App. Showing the location of the tour.
You can either book through the app by or by going onto the website www.disneyworld.disney.go.com and navigating to the three horizontal lines to the left, choosing things to do, and then, events and tours. You will then need to choose your date, how many people will be in your party, and hope they have availability. If they do, book it right then. You won’t get another chance.
We paid $75.65 per person at the time of booking.
We got email confirmation right after booking and could also see it in our “future plans” in the app.
Now for the hard part, waiting for your trip and for the day of your Safari!
Things To Know
At the check in “kiosk” the night of the tour as we were signing our wavers.
About a week before our Safari, we got an additional email with some reminders and additional information about our excursion. I have included some of that information below:
This nighttime tour lasts approximately one hour.
It’s available exclusively to guests 8 years of age or older. Guests under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a participating adult who is 18 years of age or older.
Warning: This experience features a ride in a rugged safari vehicle over an open savanna. For your safety, you should be in good health and free from high blood pressure; heart, back or neck problems; motion sickness or other conditions that could be aggravated by this adventure. Expectant mothers should not participate.
Late arrivals after the start of the tour will not be accommodated.
Check in at the porte-cochere at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village, and plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the tour. Valid photo ID will be required to check in. We went inside to the lobby and asked the concierge where to check in as we arrived over an hour early. They told us to check in outside at the valet station. At the valet station, they told us that about someone would arrive at around 6:15 and set up a little cart and that we could check in there. They actually arrived at 6:32 (our safari started at 7:00).
There is a 24-hour cancellation policy. Full price will be charged/forfeited if the Guest cancels within one day or fails to show up for the reservation.
Guests will be in an open-air vehicle; please dress accordingly. I brought a jacket with me and some people had gloves and beanies (it was January and after dark).
Guests using an ECV must leave their mobility devices behind at the Resort. They will retrieve them upon conclusion of the tour. This experience requires Guests in ECVs to transfer into an available wheelchair in order to participate in the tour.
Nontransferable wheelchair Guests may remain in their wheelchair throughout this experience, however due to limited capacity on board the safari vehicle, all accommodation requests must be confirmed by calling (407) 666-6400.
While safari vehicles are equipped for rain and wet terrain, experiences may be cancelled due to inclement weather. Excursion occurs rain or shine, with the exception of severe weather or lightning.
All aspects of the tour are subject to change without notice.
Guests are responsible for transportation to and from Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village.
Allow up to 1.5 hours to travel to your destination within Walt Disney World Resort. We drove ourselves and arrived an hour early to ensure we knew where we were going, where to park, where to check in, etc.
This experience does not include dining or snacks.
The Safari
While waiting to check in we enjoyed some animal watching outside the lobby at an observation space.
As I mentioned above, we drove ourselves, so we arrived about an hour early so that we had plenty of time to find parking, figure out where to check in, use the restroom, etc. This resort is known for its restaurant Sanaa so you could try to book dining before or after your safari. Some of the guests on our tour even did order pick-ups from Sanaa for after the tour so they could take dinner back to their own rooms. We sat outside and enjoyed looking at the Savannah (that we would later drive through) and admired the animals as they took in an evening stroll.
Checking out the critters.
Officially you are supposed to check in 15 minutes prior to your tour time at the little pop up stand beside valet. You must show at least one ID of someone in your party and then everyone must sign a waiver.
Once all that legal stuff was squared away the vehicle pulled up and we waited for everyone else to get checked in. I got a few photos of the Safari Jeep while it was under the lights of the hotel parking area because I knew that the rest of the trip would be dark and opportunistic for photos.
Getting ready to board!
Once everyone was checked in, we met our guide Emily and our driver Adam and we all began climbing aboard the open-sided safari vehicle.
There were about 10 participants on the tour and plenty of space on the vehicle. It was set up with seating around all four sides of the vehicle rather than in rows like a traditional vehicle. There were also spaces under our seats to store bags or jackets, etc during the tour.
Emily went over a few safety guidelines and then shared with us what we should expect from our time on the tour. Next she made sure we all had our night vision devices and that they worked.
Our night vision devices used during the tour.
We were told that we could see up to 30 species of African wildlife! Some of the most common (and ones we actually saw) are zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and antelopes. Our guide knew all of their names, who they liked to hang out with, their medical history, their origin, what they liked to do all day (and night), and more. It was incredible to hear their stories and how she got to interact with them. One of my favorite things she shared was that the wildebeest are all named after Tim Burton characters.
As we drove from the front entrance of the hotel to the Sunset Savannah, our guide told us about a day in the life for her. She talked about feeding schedules, sprinklers, health checks, the tours, safety, and more. We went through some double gates and through a “behind the scenes” area in between the resort and Savannah and were asked to put our cameras and phones away to “preserve the magic”. Those moments are always super exciting to be a part of on any special Disney tour.
Once we passed through the double gates, we immediately spotted some wildlife. We all got out our night vision devices and started looking around.
One of the first friends we spotted during the safari. I took this with my phone and we were under some lights.
Our guide talked the whole time about the animals, the Savannah, what they do at night, their schedule, and took time to answer all of our questions. She had a walkie talkie that she used to communicate with the driver, and they would stop any time we got close to an animal so we could take pictures and ask questions. She shared that there are around 200 animals on the lodge.
Here is a photo of the same animal through the night vision device.
She also shared that the lights at Savannah have a special wavelength light that does not interrupt sleep for the animals (or the animals inside the hotel).
I found the night vision device difficult to use with my phone as I had to line it up really specifically and get it just right, so after a while I gave up and just enjoyed being in the moment. I have included a few photos and videos for you to enjoy.
This shows one of the barns that they use for the animals. They can feed here, provide healthcare, and provide safety during weather when needed.
One of the things our guide shared was that the spiky barrier is a gentle vibration and not painful. The crowned birds you see in this photo have no nerve endings in their feathers, so they cross over and eat there which works out because giraffes like their food.
Here is a photo of one of the Giraffes through the night vision device.
Here is an image of one of the Giraffes laying down.
Here is a photo of some Zebras during the day when we were observing at the hotel.
Here is a photo of the Giraffes during the day when we were observing before the tour. Giraffes eat about 20 hours a day.
We also went over to a different Savannah by the Jambo House part of the Animal Kingdom Lodge to scope out the animals there before coming back the way we came and exiting and heading back to the lobby. It took great communication from the guide and the driver as he had to get out and constantly lock and unlock gates, and she had to look out to make sure none of the animals were following too closely trying to make a quick escape.
In Conclusion
After waiting for years to get this reservation, I would say that in comparison to the safari you can experience at the Animal Kingdom Park, I preferred the one at the park. You see more animals, you can actually see them (in the daylight), and that ride is about 20 minutes and is included in the price of your park ticket whereas this cost us $151.30 and was about an hour long in the dark. We did learn more behind the scenes info and the guide and driver were lovely, but for the price and what it was, the “free” one is the one we will be doing going forward.
Welcome mat on the way into the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
