Nightime Safari at AKL

[famlovesdisney]

Has anyone done the nighttime safari at AKL? We are going in September and think our kids would love this. They are 8 and 9. But.....it's a lot of vacation dollars to spend. Worth it?

[snowflakegirl]

I can't personally speak to whether it's worth it as we haven't done it yet, however I've read a lot of good reviews online doing a Google search for it.

We're going in August. My parents, who are traveling with us, offered to watch our (then) 2 year old and send us on a night safari as an anniversary present to us. Can't wait.

[SBETigg]

It was all booked when I tried to reserve this, but I saw several of the trucks going by from my balcony when I was there a few weeks ago. I think it is probably worth it. You get very close to the animals, some really great viewing, and the guides seemed fairly informative and helpful (from what I could overhear). Plus, using the night vision goggles has got to be cool!

That said, we were okay that we didn't spend the money because we had incredible views and animal sightings from our balcony night after night. Giraffes slept right outside our window a few nights, and zebras on another. I've never seen those animals sleep before! I was amazed. So it's especially worth it if you don't have a savanna view or if you want to see animals from other savanna areas. Depending on which animals are more active when you go, you're going to have a great time.

[jonahbear2006]

I don't know if it is worth doing or not. I haven't done it but we were there for 9 days in savannah view and it was annoying to see every night and I don't condone it, being an animal lover. It always seemed to cause some of the animals to cry. Im sure the guests love it...the animals do NOT!

[SBETigg]

I don't know if it is worth doing or not. I haven't done it but we were there for 9 days in savannah view and it was annoying to see every night and I don't condone it, being an animal lover. It always seemed to cause some of the animals to cry. Im sure the guests love it...the animals do NOT!

I disagree somewhat. The animals did not seem bothered when I saw them with the trucks around. In fact, trucks come in and out of their environment all day and if anything, I saw some excitement from the animals when the trucks approached. These are not animals in the wild. They're not domesticated, surely, but they are very aware of the daily trucks bringing food and even friendly with the crews that come out to them regularly. Now the guests being bothered by the trucks... that's a different story. But I did not see any signs of distress in the animals when the trucks came.

[famlovesdisney]

That's an interesting perspective, and certainly one I didn't think of. Last trip my kids saw tons of animals daily. Even going to the elevator and looking out the window was prime animal watching! We didn't ask about the night vision googles because we were either at the parks late, or my kids were in the pool or watching the nightly movie by the pool. So, in the interest of saving some money, I think we'll just try the night vision goggles that the front desk has and gauge the kids interest from there. Thanks for the input!