I recently took the Caring for Giants tour at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park. This tour takes you as close as possible to the African elephants that reside on the savanna you experience during the Kilimanjaro Safari attraction. I was not hosted or invited by the Walt Disney Travel Company to take this tour, I paid my own way. As such, I feel no obligation to inflate the experience or refrain from my honest opinion of it. With that out of the way, here's what I thought. Wow, that sounds ominous, but I promise-I'm just making a disclaimer!  First, you should know the Caring for Giants tour can be booked up to 180 days in advance, but we walked up and booked it the same morning we took the tour. There happened to be two spots left on the second tour of the day. You can chat with a booking agent at the kiosk just outside of the Kilimanjaro Safari attraction queue. However, if after you read this blog and decide you really WANT to take the tour, book as soon as possible. If...

What’s a fun Walt Disney World tour option that won’t break the bank or eat up an entire day?

There are some really great tour options that don’t receive a lot of fanfare in Disney circles. Although there are some really amazing, high dollar tours that may tempt the pocketbook there are also more budget friendly options as well. These tours can be a great way to get some behind the scenes insight, make amazing trip memories and still have you back in time for your Space Mountain FastPass+ and dinner at the Crystal Palace. Two stand outs for me are the “Behind the Seeds” tour at Epcot and the “Caring for Giants” experience at Animal Kingdom.

If you are a fan of Epcot’s “Living with the Land” attraction then the “Behind the Seeds” tour is a must do for you and your family. Great for kids of all ages, this modestly priced ($25 pp), hour long tour will take you behind the scenes of the amazing agriculture of WDW. ...

In short...3 hours and about $150 (for 3 adults) well spent! Tours have become our way of keeping things new and exciting after so many visits to the Walt Disney World Resort. We count on them to provide insight, innovation and a bit of Disney magic that we haven't yet encountered. The Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour did not disappoint! This 2.5 hour guided adventure through the Magic Kingdom, lead by one of the most eager, knowledgeable and inspired tour guides we have had yet, was the highlight of our vacation.

Our party consisted of myself, my husband and my Dad. All great fans of Walt Disney, the man and his vision. Along with us were 13 other like-minded adults, seeking to learn a bit more about Walt's inspirations, the people he surrounded himself with and how his perseverance and perfectionist mindset lead to great advances in animation, animatronics and storytelling as a whole. You can read many books and articles online about what you will learn, but the gem of this tour...