Review: Animal Kingdom’s Caring for Giants

Do you love going backstage at Disney parks? Have you ever wanted to hold a large piece of elephant poop? Then you should definitely book Caring for Giants on your next Disney World vacation. Heck, book even if you don’t want to hold poop. This tour is Animal Kingdom greatness!

Caring for Giants is a one-hour excursion that offers guests an up-close look at Animal Kingdom’s African elephant herd. You’ll learn plenty about these beautiful animals and how Disney cares for them. You might also meet Corra, the newest member of the herd. I didn’t on our April tour. I was pretty bummed about it at first, but our tour was fantastic otherwise. I mean, look at this scene.

Caring for Giants reservations can be made 60 days in advance. While walk-up reservations are sometimes available, we recommend booking early. At $39 plus tax per person, It’s one of the most affordable Disney World tours. Spots can go quickly. DVC and Annual Passholder discounts are available.

Checking In

We checked in for our tour at the Curiosity Animal Tours kiosk 15 minutes before our scheduled time. The kiosk is across from the Kilimanjaro Safaris entrance. Cast Members presented us with name tags made of elephant poop fibers. Yep. You can’t escape elephant poop on this tour. But I promise it’s all very clean.

Cast Members encouraged us to use the restroom before our tour began. They also shared the backstage rules. Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures once you leave the public areas of the park. I’d love to have taken photos of the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride vehicles in the parking lot or the hidden Mickey in Pandora, but I wasn’t willing to get trespassed by Disney.

After leaving Animal Kingdom through a hidden Cast Member door, we boarded a bus for the short trip to the elephant habitat. Our guide was also our driver. A second Cast Member followed in a separate vehicle. Here are some of the more interesting facts he shared about Animal Kingdom during our drive:

• Disney grows much of the food eaten by Animal Kingdom’s plant-eaters. The growing fields north of the park are as big as Magic Kingdom.
• Disney has a non-public savanna for animals that have either retired or aren’t quite ready to be on the Kilimanjaro Safaris stage.
• The park’s animals eat a tractor-trailer’s worth of hay every week.

We passed the elephant paddock on our way to the viewing area and saw Mac, Corra’s father. Fans of Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be familiar with that paddock. It’s featured regularly on the show.

Caring for Giants

The bus parked on a gravel road next to a long switchback ramp. It was an easy climb, but guests in wheelchairs might need a helping hand. We were free to use our cameras and phones once we were at the top of the ramp. Looking left, we saw the fenced-in home to the herd’s younger bulls.

The viewing area is separated from the savanna by a fence, but that barrier would do little to prevent the elephants from getting close if they wanted to. Instead, invisible barriers do the real work when it comes to guest safety. You’ll view the herd from 80-100 feet away. Unlike the Up Close with Rhinos tour, there is no petting involved.

The elephant herd

Leaving the bulls, we moved right and found the main herd. Elephant herds are matriarchal. Animal Kingdom’s group, led by Donna, spans three generations. In the wild, an elephant herd is typically made up of the matriarch, her daughters, and their offspring. Animal Kingdom has more of an adopted family. Donna does have daughters and grandchildren, but there are some non-family elephants under her care, as well.

And she does care. Remember Corra? She was born last year to Nadirah, Donna’s daughter. Corra was a small elephant at birth and had difficulty nursing from her very tall mother. So Donna tried feeding her grandbaby. It didn’t work as she no longer produces milk. But it goes to show how protective and caring these elephants are for one another.

I booked this tour in the hopes of seeing Corra. As I mentioned, it didn’t work out. She was napping around the corner from our viewing area. Our guides kept checking in on her to see if she might make an appearance, but she kept snoozing. I don’t blame her.

However, we got to hang with Corra for a half-minute in June, and it was awesome!

Enrichment

We noticed an elephant using her trunk to find hay in the rocks. Our guides told us this is one of the ways Animal Kingdom caregivers provide enrichment for the elephants. Enrichment gives animals a creative outlet for physical and mental activities. In this case, elephants must work harder for their food.

Elephant poop, hair, and teeth

Cast Members eventually brought out a large piece of elephant poop for everyone to enjoy. But don’t worry, the specimen is covered in a veneer and hardly looks like poop. Instead, it resembles a clump of grass. That’s because elephants don’t have great digestive systems. The plants they eat come out looking much like they did going in.

The guides also shared a coil of tail hair and a tooth. The former felt like a thick brittle wire. Seriously, don’t stand close to an elephant. You’ll need stitches if it swats you with its tail. Also, if you’re standing too close to an elephant, brittle hair will be the least of your concerns.

The tooth was enormous. It has to be since an elephant only has four at any given time. Unlike humans, elephants continuously grow teeth throughout their lifetimes, up to six sets. They spend 80% of the day eating, so I guess they go through a lot of teeth.

Finally, we learned about elephant feet. Spoiler alert: elephants walk on their toes. A 3D cutaway model shows exactly how they can do that.

Is Caring for Giants worth it?

Yes! But there’s a caveat.

Animal Kingdom’s elephants have been given free rein to enjoy a large, beautiful savanna. They might not always be amenable to hanging near the Caring for Giants viewing area. On our first visit, we saw a couple of elephants from a distance. The guides did a great job of teaching our group, but that tour didn’t have a lot of juice. We wanted giants! But our April excursion? That was a winner.

So, yes. Go on the tour. Even if you don’t get very close to pachyderms, your money goes to Disney’s conservation efforts. It’s a win-win!

Caring for Giants gallery

Need help knowing when you can book Caring for Giants and other tours? Our reservation date calculator can help!