Camp Minnie Mickey Photos

A short entry on Camp Minnie Mickey in Disney's Animal Kingdom.



Camp Minnie Mickey is know for two things. Maybe three. This is the best area of the Animal Kingdom to meet characters. The standard crew is available on the Greeting Trails (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald). I did not visit them because I have met them all before and the wait was generally pretty long. I did meet Thumper!



Aren't we cute?

Hanging around the area is Guitar Dan. He sings songs around the flag pole about the people he sees. Some of the songs were pretty creative, some were obviously reused.



Another big reason people venture across the bridge into the Camp is Festival of the Lion King. I like this show, mostly because it reminds me of Cirque du Soleil. It's not nearly as art-sy, but I still like it.



What is the third thing people know about Camp Minnie Mickey? It may be a part of a lost land in Disney lore.

There's a popular rumor that Animal Kingdom was suppose to pay tribute to animals of the present, creatures of the past, and beasts of mythology. The present is obvious. The past is too with Dinoland U.S.A. The fictional? Not there, but there are some clues they were suppose to be.

A few signs point to this being true, including a part of Camp Minnie Mickey.

First of all, the logo for Disney's Animal Kingdom.



This features a lion, an elephant, and a gazelle. Also featured is a tricerotops dinosaur. But it's the center that's surprising. A dragon. There is no dragon inside the park.

Sorta.

You can see above the ticket booths three heads, including a dinosaur, an elephant, and a dragon.

One of the parking lots is named Unicorn. Another mythological creature not actually referenced inside the park.

The last bit of hints that still exists is a waterfall just outside Camp Minnie Mickey. It looks like a dragon. See for yourself...



Now, I didn't really research to see what Disney's official position is on whether or not Beastly Kingdom was to happen or not, but I am absolutely positive it was. And not just because of these dragon sightings. I have other information that I will share with you in a later secret segment.

Other rumors I've heard included three rides. A unicorn attraction, a dark ride featuring Fantasia characters, and finally a roller coaster to feature a dragon theme. I've heard other rumors that Universal Studios' Dueling Dragons ride was planned for Disney, but after Disney bailed on the project, they took the fully designed coaster up the street.

Again, I don't know what the official word is about Beastly Kingdom, but those are the rumors along with some factual sightings strongly hinted towards its truth.



That's just me and Thumper again because we look adorable.

TTFN

On Deck: Port Orleans, Riverside
In The Hole: Secrets

Africa Photos, from the Animal Kingdom

Welcome to Africa!



There are a lot of pictures for Africa. Like I said once or twice before, Animal Kingdom has some of the most detailed, picturesque structures in all of Walt Disney World. There are also some characters walking around that are difficult to see elsewhere in Walt Disney World. Technically, I should probably have included Flick in the Discovery Island photos, but I screwed up. My bad.

Let's dive in with some overall scenery. You'll notice first of all one of my greatest finds. While eating with Stephanie, I looked at the wall and noticed it looked sorta funny. Then it occurred to me, it's a siloette of Scar talking to a hyenia from The Lion King. I was shocked to find it and Stephanie had no idea what I was talking about, so she was a little concerned at my suddenly excited behavior.



One of the great places to eat is the Tusker House Restuarant. It's attention to detail is magnificent. You can sometimes catch some African dancing outside. If you are lucky (or perhaps unfortunate), you might get pulled up to dance with them.



Nearby is a train that will take you to Rafiki's Conservation Station. This is a unique area where one can see different ways Disney interacts and treats the animals. There is a daily check on some animal (most days) availble for the public to view. It's pretty cool. There are also quite a few characters to see. In addition, there is a petting zoo. Disney Cast Members also bring out different animals for shows. They talk about the animals, ways to preserve their environment or something conservative-y, and generally give kids the opportunity to visit. There are two different types of animals Stephanie and I saw. There was the demon bunny and a big hairy spider. Stephanie still gets very angrily animated when talking about the spider incident.

"That's not something anyone wants to see! Are they trying to give kids nightmares?"

Stephanie does not like spiders so her comments are at least a little anti-spider bias.



Once you get back to the village of Harambi via the train, you can go on the Pangani Forest walking trail. There are meerkats, gorillas, and an assortment of tropical fish amoung other animals.



The biggest attraction in Africa is the giganitic Kilamajaro Safari, a guest favorite. This attraction is huge, bigger than the entire Magic Kingdom.

I'm not going to describe each animal, but there are a lot. The coolest thing about the attraction is how different it is each time because of the habits of the animals.

Two quick Safari stories.

While visiting two years ago, we all went on the Safari. Well, we came up to the rhinos and two of them were fighting. The truck stopped and we just sorta sat there watching. One of the rhinos pushed the other into our truck, kinda hard. Everyone was okay, but when we returned, I'm 99% sure they took the truck out of commission to check it for damages.

Second story / tip. Stephanie and I were waiting in Mexico for Illuminations to start. A girl starting talking to me when Stephanie was away getting her food (nothing happened!). It turns out she was a Safari truck driver. She told us that one of the best times to go on the Safari is not necessarily first thing in the morning, which is a popular belief. Instead, she recommended trying to get on one of the very last safari's because the animals are very anxious because they know it's almost time to go in for dinner.

Without further ado, Kilimanjaro Safari. Let's go find that baby elephant that's been seperated from his mother!



That about wraps up this lengthy, long long long entry. I hope you enjoyed looking at all the animals!

On deck: Secrets and stories of the EPCOT resorts
In the hole: A photo essay of one of the resorts

Oh, and did ya get that ting I sencha?

TTFN