Disney Details – Animal Kingdom

Last week I talked about the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade at Magic Kingdom. Looking back I realize there are so many little details that made that parade beautiful, the costumes for instance. And while looking back through the photos of the colorful costumes from the new Magic Kingdom parade I started looking through my many Disney World photo albums and realized that there are so many photos I have yet to share with you here on Mouse Beat and many of them are of the details that make Disney World a wonderfully unique place. So I thought this week I would share with you photos of Disney Details and tell you the details of how I found that wonderful little detail.

First up this week is Animal Kingdom…



This little frog was found on a planter in the trees. It is hardly noticeable if you are not looking for it. I found along with several other frog planters near the gates to Africa. Once you past the Island Mercantile start looking in the trees on the left and you will not only find frogs but other little treasures as well.

Tomorrow my favorite Disney detail found in Epcot.

Animal Kingdom Character Greetings

I think out of all the parks it is Animal Kingdom that I have been able to spot the most characters and take photos with them. Below is a list of the most common places you can see in Animal Kingdom and where they hang out.

Front Entrance:
It seems that each time I go to Animal Kingdom as soon as I have my bag checked I look up and there is three or four characters with really short lines waiting for people to come up and take photos. I have seen Flick from a Bug’s Life, Meeko, Radcliff, Timon, Rafiki, Baloo, and Pluto. The characters seem to show up throughout the day at various times but usually we arrive at the parks around 10am and will often run into them.

Discovery Island:
The Character Landing across from the Flame Tree Barbecue is a hidden place where you can meet Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger (sometimes people have spotted Piglet). The entrance to the line to meet Pooh and Friends is right before the bridge to Dinoland. You will find them daily 9-11:50am and 1:00-4:50pm. Also if you are a pin trader you will find lots of Cast Members with great pins to trade here.

Also in the area you will often find Lilo and Stitch together outside the Island Mercantile. They are there daily (and during days with Extra Magic Hours) from 9am-1:50pm and 3-4:50pm (Extra Magic Hours they will be there until 8pm).

Camp Minnie Mickey:
Here you will find Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore, Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear. They are there daily from 10am- 4:50pm

Rafiki’s Planet Watch: (Conservation Station)
Of course you will find Rafiki here and sometimes Jiminy Cricket daily from 10:15am-1:00pm and then again 2:15-5pm. You can also find Pocahontas daily from 10:45-11:35am, Noon-1:05pm, 2:45-3:50pm and 4:15- 5:05pm

There are other characters you will see in the park, often I see characters from Tarzan across from Lilo and Stitch. Keep your eyes open and your cameras ready you never know who you might run into.

Cretaceous Trail – Animal Kingdom

Okay so you do not see live animals on the Cretaceous Trial (unless a bird wonders through) but there are some neat things to do on this short shady trail in Dinoland. Dinosaurs are everywhere on the trail, out in the open and in the trees. I discovered this trail while on a Hidden Mickey hunt at Animal Kingdom (yes indeed there is a Hidden Mickey on one of the Dinos in the trail). Now just because there are no live animals on the trail it does not mean that there are not fun things on the trail to take photos of or in the case of the little ones interact with. There is one very large Dinosaur that is a favorite of the little ones to climb and for us older kids with cameras look in the trees you can get some pretty neat shots.

Rafkiki’s Planet Watch- Animal Kingdom

Well since we have already ridden the Wildlife Express Train why not get off at Rafiki’s Planet Watch (formerly Conservation Station) and see some animals! Now I have heard from many Disney fans out there that Rafiki’s Planet Watch is kind of lame compared to other attractions at Animal Kingdom, personally I do not think this is the case. First it is a lovely walk from the train to the actual Station. I have seen beautiful flowers and butterflies, cast members feeding animals off the path and kids enjoying exhibits. Then at the station you can go to the petting zoo, which by the way is really clean considering it is a petting zoo. But my favorite thing about Conservation Station is that forest soundscape booths. I love to sit in there after a long hot day at Disney listen to the sounds of the rainforest. Plus there are characters out there and since not a lot of folks often make the journey out there are not that long of lines to have your photo taken with them. I was able at the end of the day to walk right up to three characters and have enough to talk to them and take several photos with them. Make the trip out at least once you will enjoy it.

Wildlife Express Train – Animal Kingdom

While on the Kilimanjaro Safaris you may have wondered where all those animals go when they are not out in the open watching you take photos of them. Well hop on the Wildlife Express Train to see the behind the scenes of the Kilimanjaro Safaris. I have been on the Wildlife Train several times and I found that the best times to actually see animals in the pins are usually in the evening right before the last train departs. I have seen Rhinos and Elephants in their pins. Granted most of the time I have only seen empty pins and buildings but there are those occasions when you catch that rare glimpse of an animal. Plus it is a nice ride.

Discovery Island Trails- Animal Kingdom

Did you know that there were live kangaroos in Animal Kingdom? While I had no idea until one day I spotted one while taking photos of the tree of life…



The Discovery Island Trail (was the Tree of Life Gardens… you can still see the sign near the flamingos) is home to many animals and not just the ones on the Tree of Life. It is a beautiful walk and around every corner there is a surprising exhibit with beautiful animals. My favorites are the birds …





Much like the birds in The Oasis the birds on the Discovery Island Trial will pose and watch as I take their photos and those two green birds are a riot. They will play with each other (one antagonizing the other) and are fun to watch but beware they can get a little wild. Besides the easy to spot not camera shy birds there are some harder to spot Axis Deer…



Every time I am in Animal Kingdom I have a hard time getting a photo of this cute little deer. He is always behind a tree but once with Norwood’s help I was able to get a shot. It is fun to walk around the trails and discover an animal I did not see the last time I was there. Here is a little list of animals that you might run into while on the Discovery Island Trail…

Abdim's Stork, Asian Small-clawed Otter, Axis Deer, Blue & Yellow Macaw, Cape Teal, Comb Duck , Eyton's Tree Duck, Galapagos Tortoise, Greater Flamingo, Grey Kangaroo , Green-winged Macaw, Red Kangaroo, Ring-tailed Lemur, Roseate, Spoonbill, Saddle-billed Stork, Salmon-crested Cockatoo, Silver Teal, West African Crowned Crane, White Stork, White Faced Whistling Duck, Woolynecked Stork

The Oasis- Animal Kingdom

So often when I talk about the animals in Animal Kingdom I talk about Kilimanjaro Safaris but there are so many great places to find animals in Animal Kingdom besides Kilimanjaro Safaris so all this week I will show you some of my favorite places to find animals in Animal Kingdom. First up this week is The Oasis which many actually walk right through without knowing that there are some pretty neat animals to be found. One of my favorite animals that is often hard to spot and photograph is the Rhino Iguana…




There is a rock ledge in his exhibit that you will often find him under. I was lucky to catch him in the evening actually facing out and looking at me. My other favorite animal to find in The Oasis is the Hyacinth Macaw. Every time I have been through the Oasis I have seen two Macaw’s hanging out together …

I love to stand there and take shot after shot of these beautiful birds and they are in no way camera shy. Often they flap their wings (I think it looks like they are waving at passersby). There are so many more animals to discover when in the Oasis at Animal Kingdom. I myself do not have pictures of them all but here is a list of the Animals you can find in the Oasis (if you have pictures of any of the animals listed here and want to share with others please feel free to post links to your photos)…

African Spoonbill, Babirusa, Bahama Pintail ,Bronze-winged Duck, Bufflehead, Chiloe Wigeon, Florida Cooter, Giant Anteater , Hooded Merganser, Hyacinth Macaw, Indian Spotbill, Javan Tree Duck, Mandarin Duck, Medium Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Military Macaw, Parma Wallaby, Puna Teal, Radjah Shelduck, Reeves' Muntjac, Rhinoceros Iguana, Ringed Teal, Rosybill Pochard, Ruddy Duck, Scarlet Macaw,Sharpe-winged Teal, Swamp Wallaby, White Ibis

Tomorrow I will share another great place to find animals that is often overlooked in Animal Kingdom.

It is Tough to Be a Bug – Animal Kingdom

I have to admit there is something about this attraction that is not always appealing, perhaps it is the attack of the stink bug? Whatever it was I used to walk by on my way to get a closer look at the Tree of Life (finally found the Hidden Mickey on the tree by the way). But one evening after a nice photo hunt at the Tree I noticed that there was not a line, no wait and a very enthusiastic cast member (who had some great pins to trade) beckoning us to head into the tree for what was to be the last show of the evening. I turned to Norwood raised an eyebrow and he said “Why not!” So off we went down the winding trail to see the bugs perform. Much like the happy people on Pirates of the Caribbean I told you about yesterday there was a group of children who were bouncing along and chattering about… the stink bug! Apparently it is their favorite part of the show because all the adults “Get really grossed out.” What made this experience different was… after hearing the chattering kids talk about what fun it was to watch the faces of the adults near them when the stink bug comes out I could not help but do the same. People really do make the funniest faces when they smell something… unpleasant. Sometimes just watching the expressions people make can turn a ride that you almost have memorized because you have ridden it so much into a new experience. (Oh and you bet I made the same face as all the other adults and kids in the room when the stink bug attacked.)

Kilimanjaro Safaris- Animal Kingdom

I was recently asked by a good friend who is not as big a Disney fan as Norwood and… “How do you not get bored going to Disney each week?” It occurred to me then that perhaps non-Disney nuts do not realize that each experience is different. Even the rides and attractions that you would predict to stay the same can change and have a different feel from one day to the next. As I was thinking about our conversation I started to make a little list of the rides Norwood and I have ridden during our year at Disney and this week I want to share just a few of those experiences with you.

First up is the Kilimanjaro Safaris. Literally as many Animal Kingdom fans know this ride can be different every time you ride it. Why just two weeks ago I was talking about the amazing experience of seeing four Cheetahs running around. While last week we had another experience that was different from all the rest. The safari started like any other (with the exception of the hour wait… in all my time at Animal Kingdom I have never before had to wait an hour… wow it was a busy day). As we stood in line we heard all the first timers talking about what they expected and marveling at the detail in the queue. Being veterans of the ride we thought nothing of it and boarded our safari vehicle. Here is where the ride became a whole new experience. Meet Alex…



Before I go into how fantastic Alex was let me just mention that I have not run into a bad tour guide on Kilimanjaro Safaris, some are just more enthusiastic than others. Alex was the most entertaining guide we have run into while venturing out on our two week safari. When those bridges started to groan and creak everyone on the truck believed that we stood the chance of falling into the crocodile pit. When the gates were rammed and we began our high speed chase of the poachers everyone ducked at the gun shots and held on. His enthusiasm made the experience not just on the lookout for a great shot but also an adventure.

Tomorrow more of the same old rides becoming more exciting because as all Disney fans know each trip can be magical in its own way.

Hidden Mickeys Found in Animal Kingdom

Our perfect day at Animal Kingdom started off as a day to hunt for Hidden Mickeys and trade pins. I did a little of both but there was so much more that we did just because of perfect timing. All week long I told about the things we would not normally get to do while at Animal Kingdom either because we showed up just a little too late or habit directed us to another park of the park. It was truly a perfect day and all week while I wrote about it I realized that there is a pattern beginning to happen in my year at Disney World. Each day we spend at the park has been better than the next. Each day at the parks I discover a little more. I am so glad that Norwood and I decided to take a year and see the World. I am also really pleased that so many of you like to read about our adventures. But we are here today to talk about Animal Kingdom Hidden Mickeys…

During our recent perfect day at Animal Kingdom I found four different Hidden Mickeys. All of them came from DinoLand USA. To get the notes (that outline where the Hidden Mickey is) just click on the picture and under the picture is a link to each photo that will show you the Hidden Mickey. It is too much fun finding the Mickeys!

DinoLand USA Animal Kingdom

Most of the time when we visit Animal Kingdom we stick to two areas of the park; Asia and Africa. It is rare that we make our way to other areas of Animal Kingdom. On our perfect day at Animal Kingdom we ventured into DinoLand USA. What a neat place! I did feel like we left Animal Kingdom and walked right into a lively carnival. While we were hunting for the elusive Hidden Mickey we stumbled onto a juggling performance. Three painters were throwing around their painting equipment. It was hilarious. Here is a look …







They joked, they messed around with each other (and the audience… that second picture is Splat’s pose for me when he saw that I was taking his photo) but they never missed. Now I know what you are thinking… “Amanda I thought you said you were on a Hidden Mickey hunt? Where are all the Hidden Mickeys?!” Well I saved the best for last and tomorrow I will show you the Hidden Mickeys I found.

Cheetahs in Animal Kingdom

Norwood and I are big fans of the Kilimanjaro Safaris in Animal Kingdom’s Africa. Each time we go to Animal Kingdom we must take our two week safaris. Well during out Perfect Day at Animal Kingdom we caught the last Safari before close and we found something spectacular! Remember way back in time when I told you about getting a pretty decent shot of the Cheetahs (you could actually tell they were Cheetahs!)? Well on this Safari we were held back for a couple of minutes and left to watch the cattle graze. That delay set us up to arrive at the perfect time to see four Cheetahs walking around and looking at our vehicle. Our driver amazed herself that they were so far out and so active stopped the vehicle for a little bit which was enough time to get this shot…



Wow! Talk about a unique Safaris!!! We wanted to go again after that to see if we could get more photos but alas that was the last Safaris of the day. It was another awesome thing that made the whole day one of the best we had at Animal Kingdom. Tomorrow I will tell you about our discoveries in DinoLand.

Characters at Rafiki’s Conservation Station

Yesterday I told you all about finding Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore without a line well they are not the only characters I just walked right up to during our perfect day at Animal Kingdom. For the first time this year Norwood and I decided to head over to Rafiki’s Conservation Station and see what was out there. We caught the last train to the station and walked to the petting zoo to see the little kids playing with goats and then went into the back door of the Conservation Station and began to look around. I am not always that observant so when Norwood told me he saw Jiminy Cricket I thought he meant one of the animals on display was named Jiminy. Then I saw them….



These three characters were all by themselves talking to each other and I was able to walk right up and have my picture taken with them. First off I do not think I have ever seen Jiminy Cricket in the parks. I am not sure how rare it is to see him but I was excited. And on top of it Pocahontas and Rafiki! Much like with Winnie the Pooh , Tigger and Eeyore we had enough time with them to joke around and take pictures. When I approached them Pocahontas asked me if I wanted a photo with all three of them or just one of them. I of course went for all three (how often do you get such a mix!). While we lined up for a photo I was reminded a Three Stooges movie. Jiminy wanted to hold my arm on the left but Pocahontas also wanted to be on the left so after stumbling around with how to arrange ourselves and laughing about how silly we all were we finally decided on the above photo. After taking our photo together I told them all how great it was to meet them all and Jiminy bowed and told me he was honored to meet me. Meanwhile Pocahontas wanted to know about my treasures (my pins). Rafiki was much more reserved and just wanted to get a hug before we went on to see the rest of his conservation station. I do not think I have had so much fun with the characters before.

Tomorrow I will tell you about another unique find at Animal Kingdom during my Perfect Day at Animal Kingdom.

Finding Pooh Bear and Friends at Animal Kingdom

Norwood and I had a perfect day at Animal Kingdom this Sunday. Armed with my Hidden Mickey guide and my Disney Pins and of course camera we headed out to Animal Kingdom and thought we would find a few Hidden Mickeys and maybe go on a Safari. Well we ended up doing so much more and found things that after eight months at Disney World (yep we are in our eighth month!) I have not yet found. All this week I will tell you about the amazing things we found.

The day started like any other day at Animal Kingdom. As we walked into the park we strolled along Discovery Trail so Norwood could find a bench and I could take photos of flowers and birds. While taking photos of a really beautiful flower Norwood told me he found the perfect bench to sit and have coffee on. It was indeed the perfect bench because it overlooked the characters greeting trail where there just happened to be Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger with no line! While I was taking a shot of them from the distance Eeoyre noticed me waved and invited me down to take a photo.

Well who could resist such a face so we made our way down to the Character Greeting Trail and we hugged we laughed and took photos…







I absolutely love all the photos that Norwood took of Pooh, Eeoyre and I and they are my first photos will all three! It was so much fun and we actually had time to talk to the characters because there was no one behind us. While we were talking a photo with Eeyore (yes I have photopass photos with the two of us and all the characters… coming soon!) Norwood and he hugged and then Norwood told him “You know… you do not smell like I thought a donkey would?” Eeyore put his hands on his hips and then he laughed. It was so much fun.

Pooh and his friends were not the only characters we had fun with during our perfect day at Animal Kingdom. Tomorrow I will tell the unique group of characters I meet and the laughs we shared.