Lions missing from Safari

[JustCallMeMommy]

I heard they air condition the rocks. Not sure if it's true but it explains why they're always on the rocks, lounging, like an oversized house cat

I thought it was the opposite - they heated the rocks. This thread made me think of that - I wonder if the temperature regulator was having problems, if the lions just decided to hang out somewhere out of sight, or if they weren't allowed out some days for whatever lion-y reason.

 

[nkereina]

Their vehicle did not break down. All the vehicles out at the time were unable to move for an entire 2 hours. They said it was terribly hot. CMs handed out water bottles to them as they got off and they were given a number of fastpasses.

Wow. And they never found out what the hold up was?

 

[ZoZo]

I heard they air condition the rocks. Not sure if it's true but it explains why they're always on the rocks, lounging, like an oversized house cat

Yes, they do. Found this out on a behind the scenes tour several years ago. They drilled holes in the rocks and push cold air upward through the holes. It's an incentive to coax the lions to stay on "pride rock" and viewable to visitors. You'll also see piles of "browse," (i.e. plants) put out in viewing areas so the herbivores will stay in areas where you can see them.

 

[AngiTN]

Not seeing the lions means absolutely nothing. Nor does not mentioning them. It's incredibly common to not see the lions.

 

[AngiTN]

Yes, they do. Found this out on a behind the scenes tour several years ago. They drilled holes in the rocks and push cold air upward through the holes. It's an incentive to coax the lions to stay on "pride rock" and viewable to visitors. You'll also see piles of "browse," (i.e. plants) put out in viewing areas so the herbivores will stay in areas where you can see them.

This, among other reasons, is why it's a complete misnomer that it's better to do the safari at a particular time of day.
They are always putting out food to pull the animals in particular directions. Along with moving different animals groups in and out of the exhibit.
They are never just left "to their own devices" for too long. Which is why there's never a "best time" for the safari. Disney makes sure that all times can potentially be as good as any other.

 

[AngiTN]

Lions aside, I'm also curious what held the safari up for 2 hours. Did their safari vehicle break down? Even if an animal is in the way and they have to stop for that, I can't imagine it would hold it up for 2 hours.

We've had a rhino take on our vehicle one trip. Thankfully it didn't take 2 hours but took quite a long time for him/her? to decide to move along.
And when I say take on I mean turned around and stared the vehicle down, head to "head", like he wanted to charge it.
They told us then they don't like to do anything like use food or give them too much attention to get them to move because it teaches them they can block vehicles to get food and they don't want them to develop that behavior. They try to let them move of their own choice if at all possible.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We just rode the safari around 10 am on Sunday, August 26 and three lions were in plain view. The male lion was seated and two female lions were lying down. Perhaps there was some type of medical emergency when your friend rode? Being stuck on a ride is no fun!

 

[Dug720]

We've had a rhino take on our vehicle one trip. Thankfully it didn't take 2 hours but took quite a long time for him/her? to decide to move along.
And when I say take on I mean turned around and stared the vehicle down, head to "head", like he wanted to charge it.
They told us then they don't like to do anything like use food or give them too much attention to get them to move because it teaches them they can block vehicles to get food and they don't want them to develop that behavior. They try to let them move of their own choice if at all possible.

In February we were held up for about 20 minutes because an Ankole Cattle decided to stand in front of a vehicle (not mine, but we could see it from about 5 vehicles back). One of the keepers was putting out browse for the giraffes, but he finally drove over and coaxed the cattle just far enough off the road that vehicles could move again. I don’t think he gave the cattle any food, just kinda urged it off the path.

I swear that cattle was sticking his tongue out at us as we drove by.

 

[Robo]

Thank you, unfortunately this link doesn't work from my IP address.

Google maps links can be problematic on some systems and browsers.

I grabbed these shots of the Lions' Area from a Bing "Bird's Eye" angle and added a yellow arrow pointing at a lion lying atop his "rock."

They have a lot of room, both outside and inside.

(If you want to jump to this area on Bing and look around for yourself, click HERE.)

 

[Delirium]

They were filling in for some sick goats in the petting zoo at Rafiki's Planet Watch

 

[amiskell28]

We saw them all three times we rode this month (the 9th, the 12th, and the 16th). The 12th was our first time on the night safari and we spent the whole ride laughing at ourselves as we drove past dark fields with no animals visible at all, wondering what the heck we were doing. Then we got to the lion habitat and got to see all the lions up and active, the male roaring, and then a female jumping on the male and the two of them rolling around.

OK - that's cool.

 

[DisneyOma]

Thank you, unfortunately this link doesn't work from my IP address.

Feel free to go on google maps and look for the lion habitat? that's all I did, it was easy. Well, until I started to look at other areas of WDW, then I was late for an appointment, LOL!

 

[Spencer Wright]

This, among other reasons, is why it's a complete misnomer that it's better to do the safari at a particular time of day.
They are always putting out food to pull the animals in particular directions. Along with moving different animals groups in and out of the exhibit.
They are never just left "to their own devices" for too long. Which is why there's never a "best time" for the safari. Disney makes sure that all times can potentially be as good as any other.

I've had some of my most awesome safaris at 3pm-ish. This year, I actually saw the male lion for the first time. What a gorgeous animal! It was sleeping in the exact same pose as my cat!