The Wildlife Express Train is a transport ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom that takes guests from Africa to Rafiki's Planet Watch and back. On the ride, guests get the chance to see some of Animal Kingdom's backstage facilities, including animal holding buildings for rhinos and elephants, among other animals.
It takes about seven minutes to travel from the Harambe railway station in Africa to Rafiki's Planet Watch and an additional five to return. The full journey is a 1.2-mile round-trip.
The railway is part of the fictional Eastern Star Railway, running from Lusaka to Nairobi and Kisangani.
Gallery
Wildlife Express at the Harambe train station
Wildlife Express in "Flik's Musical Adventure"
The staff members of the wildlife express
Trivia
- Disney is unusually strict about people standing up while the train is moving. They monitor it closely and will stop the train if they see anyone standing.
- The builder's plates of the locomotives state that the locomotives were built in 1926 by Beyer Peacock of Gorton Foundry in Manchester.
- There are three locomotives that operate; their numbers are 02594, 04982, and 00174. The first of them is named R. Baba Harpoo, in honor of Imagineer Bob Harpur.
- The three locomotives used to run as actual steam, but as of today the railway uses a diesel-hydraulic mechanism.
