Vaughan to African Lion Safari: the drive-through day, done from the passenger seat

The safari, an hour west

African Lion Safari is the drive-through wildlife park on the county roads between Cambridge and Hamilton, open since 1969: seven game reserves that a vehicle drives through with the windows closed — lions, cheetahs, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, the baboons that climb on cars — a walking section with the elephant herd, the birds of prey and parrot shows, a boat cruise and a train, and the Misumu Bay Wet Play splash pad that ends every child's day. It is an hour from Vaughan and the most-searched day trip on this site's own keyword research, which tells its own story about who books it: families with children between three and ten, grandparents visiting from overseas, and the school-age birthday party that wants the lions. The chauffeured version is the Executive Sprinter or the Luxury SUV, and the one decision the day turns on is whether the vehicle drives the reserves or the park's bus does.

The reserves: your vehicle or the park's bus

The park lets private vehicles drive the seven reserves on the safari road — windows up, sunroofs closed, doors locked, no convertibles, at the park's pace — and it runs its own Safari Tour Bus through them with a guide. The baboon reserve is the one that decides it: the baboons climb on vehicles, pull at trim and mirrors and leave marks, and the park's own signs say so; a chauffeured Sprinter's mirrors are a chauffeur's, and the standing instruction on this site is that the vehicle drives the six other reserves and takes the bypass at the baboons, or that the family takes the bus for the whole loop and the vehicle waits at the lot. Families with young children who want the guide's commentary and the higher windows take the bus; families who want their own pace and the children's faces at the glass take the Sprinter through the lions and the giraffes. Either is inside the hourly hire; the chauffeur asks at booking.

The walking section and the schedule

Beyond the reserves the park's walking section is the day: the elephant herd — the park's Asian elephants, one of the largest herds in North America — and their afternoon swim in the lake, which the park schedules and the crowd lines the shore for; the birds of prey show with the eagles and the owls flying over the stands; the parrot show; the African Queen boat cruise past the island primates; the Nature Boy scenic railway; the petting corral; and the Misumu Bay Wet Play, the splash pad with the slides and the water cannon that the children ask for from the moment they see it. The park's daily schedule sets the shows and the swim; a family with the times on the phone does everything and the chauffeur's collection is timed to the splash pad's end.

The day, in shape

A family of five from Woodbridge in an SUV: pickup at 8:15 with boosters, towels and a change of clothes; the 407 and 401 to Highway 8 and the county roads; the park's gate at 9:45 for the ten o'clock opening; the reserves in the SUV until eleven with the baboon bypass; the walking section — the elephants, the birds show at noon, lunch at the Mombasa Market — the elephant swim at two, the train, the splash pad from three to four thirty, the change of clothes in the lot, and the SUV home by six with the children asleep by Milton. Ten hours of hourly hire, one number in the booking engine.

Birthdays and the group day

The school-age birthday is the Sprinter's booking: eight children and three adults from Thornhill, the bus through the reserves, the elephants, the splash pad and the birthday cake at a picnic table, and the Sprinter home with eleven people who have been in the sun since ten. Two families sharing a fare book the same; grandparents visiting from abroad make a family of seven and the Sprinter's tables are theirs.

The route

The 407 west to the 401, the 401 west to Highway 8 at Cambridge, Highway 8 south-east to Sheffield and the county road to the park's Safari Road — an hour and ten from Kleinburg or Woodbridge with the 407, an hour and twenty from Thornhill; or the 407 and 403 to Highway 6 at Hamilton and north — the same time. The routing estimate's hour and a half is the no-toll version.

Which vehicle

An SUV for a family with boosters at $25 each — and the SUV drives the reserves with the baboon bypass if the family wants its own vehicle in them; a Sprinter for the birthday, the two-family day and the grandparents, with the park's bus for the reserves; a Premium Sedan is not the vehicle for a splash-pad day and a couple without children does not book this trip.

What the chauffeur replaces

The 401 both ways with children who have been in the sun since ten; the park's lot in July, which is a field; the reserves' driving for a parent who would rather watch the children watch the lions; and the birthday's three cars. For a family of four it is a comfort purchase and the site says so; for a Sprinter of eleven it undercuts three cars and three sets of parking without a discussion.

Seasons

The park's season runs from spring to Thanksgiving with July and August the full days and the splash pad's months; May and June for the quieter weekdays and the baby animals; September's weekends for the cooler reserves and the thinner crowds. The park is closed in winter.

Pairing it

The safari pairs with Hamilton's waterfalls twenty minutes east for an older-children day, with Cambridge's Butterfly Conservatory fifteen minutes north for a younger one, and with Great Wolf Lodge at Niagara for a two-day children's weekend that this site books as one daily hire.

The reserves, one by one

The safari road's seven reserves run in a fixed order and the drive takes an hour at the park's pace: the Rocky Ridge Veldt with the giraffes and the zebras that walk to the windows; the Australasia and Eurasia sections with the deer and the Barbary sheep; the Simba lion country, where the pride lies in the shade of its rocks and a lioness sometimes walks the road; the Timbavati lion country with the white lions; the cheetah reserve; and the Wankie Bushland Trail's baboons, which climb on vehicles and pull at whatever moves — the reserve with the bypass that the chauffeured vehicle takes. The park's rules are windows up, no feeding, no stopping beside the animals, and the wardens' vehicles patrol; the park's site has the current reserve list and the bus's schedule.

The birthday, in order

Eight children of seven and eight and three parents from Thornhill in an Executive Sprinter: pickup at 8:30 from one address with the cake in a cooler, the 407 and 401, the park's gate at 9:50; the Safari Tour Bus at 10:15 for the reserves with the guide's commentary and the children at the high windows; the elephants at 11:30 and the birds of prey show at noon; the picnic tables at Mombasa Market for lunch and the cake at one; the elephant swim at two; the Nature Boy train at three; the splash pad from 3:30 to 4:45 with the towels from the Sprinter's bay; the change of clothes in the lot; the Sprinter home by 6:15 with eight children asleep at the tables. Ten hours of hourly hire, one number in the booking engine, and a birthday that three parents in three cars would have spent parking.

Grandparents from abroad

The other regular shape is the family with grandparents visiting from India, China, the Philippines or Italy — a family of seven in the Sprinter with the grandparents at the tables, the bus through the reserves for the higher windows and the seats, the elephants and the birds show, lunch in the shade, and a day that the grandparents describe at home for a year. The park's paths are flat and paved; a wheelchair from the gate is the park's; and the Sprinter's step is the one thing the chauffeur helps with.

Costs, in shape

A family of five driving to the park pays fuel, the 407 if taken, the park's admission and the field lot's walk; the chauffeured hourly day is one number in the booking engine with the toll inside it — the park's admission is not — and for one family it is a comfort purchase the site prices plainly. For a birthday of eleven or two families of nine in a Sprinter it undercuts three cars, three lots and three drivers who wanted to see the lions too.

Pickup notes

The 407 and 401 to Highway 8 from every Vaughan community, or the 407 and 403 to Highway 6; a Woodbridge or Kleinburg pickup joins the 407 at Weston Road and a Thornhill or Concord one at Bathurst or Dufferin. Give us the date, the seats, the bus or the vehicle for the reserves, the group's size and the birthday's cake, and the chauffeur confirms the plan the evening before with the park's show times on it.

Packing for the safari

Towels and a change of clothes for every child for the splash pad, sunscreen and hats for a day that is outdoors from ten, a cooler in the vehicle for the drive home's snacks — the park allows picnics at its tables and the Mombasa Market sells lunch — and, for the reserves in the chauffeured vehicle, nothing on the roof and nothing hanging from the mirrors. The Luxury SUV's cargo area takes a family's; the Sprinter's bay takes a birthday's. Boosters stay fitted through the reserves.

Booking it

Book an hourly day from your Vaughan address with the date, the seats, whether the vehicle drives the reserves or the family takes the bus, and the birthday's picnic if any; the chauffeur confirms the plan the evening before with the park's show schedule on it.

Book the safari day