Yesterday Disney Studios invited us to a special event to celebrate the home release of The Lion King! The movie is now available on Digital and Blu-Ray to add to your collection. (Click here if interested in reading our review of the film.) We met up with a group of other Disney bloggers for a behind the scenes tour of Central Florida Animal Reserve to get up close and personal with some real life lions (and other big cats!). Read on to hear more about this amazing learning experience.

The facility grounds are really peaceful.

About Central Florida Animal Reserve (CFAR)

Most people know we are pretty passionate about animals and non profits that support them. We were excited to learn about The Central Florida Animal Reserve (CFAR). This amazing wildlife sanctuary is located south of Orlando and specializes in wild cats including lions, tigers, leopards, and cougars. Large cats that have been raised in captivity and face hardships (such as being given up by their owner, health problems, etc.) can find a second chance at this home in the company of other furry friends.

The staff is comprised of people of many different backgrounds (medical, construction, etc.) that all have one thing in common: a passion for the cats. Everything is done on a volunteer basis so all funding can go directly to the care of the animals. Our tour guide, known as “Simba”, has been with CFAR for several years and is actually a pharmacist by day. The facility offers tours as a way to raise money. You can visit their website at https://cflar.org/ to learn more about tours and other ways to support this amazing group.

Our group being given a tour from Simba.

Learning about Lions (and tigers, and more, oh my!)

CFAR is located on some farmland about an hour away from Disney. Over 1.3 million has been spent on the facility to include special enclosures for all of the cats (that also stand up to weather concerns in Florida). They have everything they need such as shady spots for napping, water tubs for bathing, and super strong play structures. In addition to hundreds of pounds of meat to eat, the cats are also provided with any special medical attention they need (we witnessed one lion receiving his daily medicine during our visit). The cats are also provided a big assortment of toys. To stand up to a several hundred pound animal with claws and teeth, special toys are manufactured. Even something like a bowling ball will only last a few weeks before being broken down by play. It really puts into perspective how strong these kitties are.

The first cat we saw took our breath away to see how close he was.

We saw quite a few tigers (as well as a black leopard and cougar too!). Then we were able to see the featured animal of the day: lions! The male lion Coty looked so majestic sitting upon his play structure. We learned that he will live a much longer life here than in the wild, as male lions have a low survival rate competing for the head of the pride. One of the female lions we met had been there the longest and she was quite playful. She even kept nuzzling up to the fencing to get a scratch from Simba. It truly was unbelievable to be so close to these beautiful creatures.

Coty is “The Lion King” at this reserve.

All of the cats had different personalities and it was interesting to hear about their back stories and particular behaviors. We couldn’t believe how many similarities we saw between these huge cats and our little fur balls at home. If you are an animal lover this tour was amazing to get uber close to such beautiful creatures. It was definitely a different perspective than a far away view at a zoo or Disney’s Animal Kingdom safari. These pictures really don’t even do it justice to being there in real life. Trust us, if you have an opportunity to go, you won’t regret it!

Celebrating “The Lion King”

This event was such a unique way to celebrate “The Lion King”. Getting so up close and personal with real lions was an experience we will never forget. We love that Disney is such a supporter of animals in real life and we would like to give a big thank you to them for inviting us to this special experience. To top off an already awesome day they gifted us with an exclusive Lion King swag bag (which included a copy of the new movie!). We also wanted to say a big thank you to Simba our guide, and the whole CFAR team for a wonderful visit. (Don’t forget to check out Disney’s The Lion King, now available on digital and Bluray!)