Backstage Lions Tour

Alas, no photos!  Unfortunately, the rule still applies: No backstage photos at Disney World.

But I saw the lion barn today at Disney's Animal Kingdom.  You'll have to take my word for it since I have no proof.  It was awesome!

I also got to drive my car backstage which means that I've now driven backstage at three of the four parks. Incidentally, the only park I haven't parked backstage is the only park that I have worked backstage in.  Weird...

So my friend Nell won a free backstage tour of the lion barn and invited me to join her and her two other friends.  We parked by the Animal Programs building which is close to Rafiki's Planet Watch and then a manager took us over to the barn.  It was a private tour and this guy Mike was super informative.  He basically walked us around the barn and we got to see Nairobi and Savannah (the other lions were all onstage).  We were literally just a couple feet away, the closest I'd been to a lion in my entire life.

Nairobi's eyes are gigantic.  Both the lions were much older so they mostly just lay there or groomed themselves.  Mike also showed us some of the fur they had from the lion, so we got to touch the fur.  But no petting the lion. Even the keepers can't touch the lions, with the exception of their tails in order to take blood.  And even then it's crazy how many safety measures are in place to be sure everyone is entirely safe.  Disney's big on the safety thing.

We basically just walked around the barn, looked at the lions, and asked Mike any and all questions that came to mind.  Almost like being at a private zoo.  As we were talking to him one of the ostriches showed up right behind us and was eating dirt by the fence.  We were right beside the warthog barn and I think it was a Rhino barn that was nearby as well.  It was so informative!

Anyway, super fun day!  I'm so grateful I have awesome friends who invite me to do cool things like this!  Lions are even more my favorite animal now!