Animal Kingdom characters in Christmas attire and a farewell to Camp Minnie Mickey

We began our day about 9:11 am on a Satruday morning.  We had Fastpass+ reservations for the Mickey and Minnie meet, Expedition Everest and Finding Nemo the Musical.  We started out day with some photos of the Animal Kingdom Christmas tree.

As it’s listed in the Character Locator app, Rafiki was meeting outside the gates in the Oasis area.  You’ll find him on the right hand side before the ticket booths between 9:00 and 10:00 am. each day, unless Animal Kingdom makes changes.  “All entertainment is subject to change without notice!”

Gratuitous tourist photo op.

Since the Kilimanjaro Safari had a bit of an unexpected line due to large crowds, we chose to move our Fastpass+ reservations around and grabbed an immediate load on the Safari ride.  I’ll save you the torture of looking at elephant buttocks and try to just post a couple of decent photos.  Like the new Jingle Cruise, the animals don’t wear any type of Christmas costumes.

What’s the most dangerous animal in Africa?

If you guessed the Hippopotamus, you were correct.  Watch for them wiggling those teeth.  Did I fool you into guessing the White Rhino?

Watusi

Roll Tide!

I call him Charles Johnson

After a leisurely ride on the Safari that was cut back from 2 weeks down to about 30 minutes, we hustled down to Camp Minnie Mickey to meet the characters.  I always recommend being in Camp early.  If you arrive as a Festival of the Lion King Show is ending, you’ll find 4 really long lines.

As we arrived we saw this line of people.  Disney always encourages people to “fill in all available space,” so we walked up the right side of the path all the way to the front where there was empty space.  We didn’t leave the path and didn’t push, shove or need to excuse ourselves.  The young lady behind us said, “They just beat us at our own game.”  The young man with her encouraged her to “choke em out.”  Lol.   A really nice lady recognized my girls from the blog.  It was the first time that they were recognized.  I asked them how celebrity feels.

We headed for Chip n Dale first because we liked their costuming.  They came out to meet at the head of the queue for several minutes because many people wouldn’t know they were all the way in the back, and tourists love to join lines for things for which they can’t see end of the line.

Kewt huh?  And the chipmunks aren’t bad either.

There’s all kinds of lovely Christmas (Holiday if you’re politically correct) decorations in camp.  Many are themed to the character that meets on the trail.

Donnie Duck dressed for the occasion.

After meeting Chip n Dale and Donald, I noticed Pocahontas would be out in about 5 minutes and went to join the short line before the “See a character, meet a character” crowd arrived.  Know when and where characters appear and you’ll be far ahead of the game.  Here’s Pocahontas’ Christmas Tree.

Row, row, row your boat…

Don’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their Nikes.

Spirally Christmas wrap thingy complete with lights for those who get to stay in Camp after dark during the later closing Thanksgiving and Christmas weeks.  I’ll go back some time and snap some after dark photos at Animal Kingdom.

Pocahontas is celebrating Christmas with a special hair twig complete with dessert berries.  I hear they are sponsored by Sunsweet.

Wingapo!

We saved Baloo and King Louie for last, not because we don’t love them, but because they have the shortest line.

This tree is bananas.

Baloo and Louie were sad that they haven’t gotten to celebrate in years past, so they pulled out some special scarfs.  Nothing says, “Merry Christmas” like a Bear and an Ape in a scarf.

Debbie came up with a new interaction tip.  She asked Louie if he would share his bananas with her because she loves bananas.  King Louie didn’t seem very excited, but offered her a hug instead.

You wouldn’t believe I was there unless there was photo evidence.

We did it. We met all four sets of characters before going in to see the Festival of the Lion King Show.  This show is expected to close along with all of Camp Minnie Mickey on January 5, 2014.  This will be the FINAL Christmas season.

After viewing the show, we took in some more Christmas decorations and trees.

My oldest plays violin, so she liked this little ornament.

That’s Minnie’s tree, but she moved out long before the other forest animals can sense the danger of future bulldozers coming.  Am I the only one that sees the humor in Avatar coming and they have to destroy an existing land to build it?

Awww, how sweet.

Daisy already said goodbye to Camp Minnie Mickey.  She and Donald will be taking over for Tigger and Pooh pretty soon.  I’ve heard after the new year.  More evidence of that coming later in the post, so don’t close the window yet!

We used Fastpass+ to meet Mickey and Minnie in their snowflake sweaters.  They meet all day, every day at the Adventurers Outpost.  If you choose not to use Fastpass+, the best times to meet them are rope drop, immediately after the parade and before closing.   Waits are typically 20 minutes or more depending on crowds.

Okay, so I promised you EVIDENCE that Daisy and Donald would move into the Character Landing that is currently occupied by Tigger and Pooh.  Take a look at the packages in each meet and greet area.  The Tigger side has blue writing on them and the Pooh side has pink writing on them.  They are clearly marked with Donald’s nephew’s names, which has NOTHING to do with Pooh and Tigger.  Once Daisy and Donald move into the area, it will become a Fastpass+ exclusive meet.  There won’t be a regular standby line.

Isn’t Pooh Bear adearable in his top hat and scarf? Tigger was already prepared for today’s cold snap in Orlando.  What will he do when it returns to highs in the 80’s later in the week?  Tourists…bring a coat and shorts when travelling in November-February because it could be 85 or 45 on a given day.

Tigger got all up in my face.  Bring it tiger!  Bring it! 

Nothing says Christmas like Dinosaur, so we grabbed a free paper FP and went to do other stuff.  The wait time was 60 minutes.  The only place I ever wait 60 minutes is the DMV.  I’ll take that free FP and return later.

Snowman!

Santa Goofy is with Pluto all day long in Animal Kingdom beginning at 11:00 am.  There is always a line of at least 25 minutes and could reach much higher.  Arrive early.  Santa Goofy also meets at the Osborne Lights.

We returned later to meet Goofy and Pluto, but I had killed the battery videotaping Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo, so all I got was this phone pic.  Always need reasons to return later :)

Gas Station is decked out.

Why is it that Triceratop almost never has a line?  It’s the same ride as Dumbo and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.  Both of those rides offer Fastpass+, but Triceratop doesn’t.  If you’re travelling during a really busy time and don’t want to wait, ride early or late.

Dinosaurs enjoy candy canes too!