A Farewell to Camp Minnie-Mickey

Camp Minnie-Mickey closed yesterday. It's going to be demolished so an Avatar themed land can be built. I have always really enjoyed Camp Minnie-Mickey. It was one of my favorite places at Animal Kingdom. I loved watching Festival of the Lion King, meeting characters, and just relaxing there for a while.



Here are some of the characters that I loved meeting at Camp Minnie-Mickey.

December Characters

Take a look at all the characters that I met in December.

Christmas Day Parade Taping

The Christmas Day Parade was taped at Magic Kingdom on Saturday. I got to Magic Kingdom around 8:00 am and went to find a spot on Main Street to watch the taping. I was able to find a spot behind people. I stood there for over two hours and never saw a thing. The sun came out, it was hot, and I had to move. I decided to go to Town Square and just get pictures as the characters came out. I'm glad that I decided to move because it took five hours to tape the opening performance.

After they were done filming the opening performance, the parade floats came out. I watched in Town Square as they came around to go in. The biggest surprise was seeing Huey, Dewey, and Louie for the first time. I had my head down when their float first came into view and I looked up, saw them, and just stood there in shock. It took me a minute to actually pick my camera up to get pictures of them.

Doc McStuffins was also out. I saw her as she was going in and only got a picture of the side of her. I was hoping that she'd be in the parade but she wasn't.

Holiday Storytellers

The Holiday Storytellers are out daily right now in World Showcase. In each country, except for Canada, you can hear stories about their countries holiday traditions. After they are done telling their stories, some of them will stay for pictures. This year I was able to meet the Kwanzaa storyteller, Hanukkah storyteller, the nutcracker in Germany, La Befana in Italy, the Monkey King in China, and the Daruma Vendor in China.

It's fairly easy to watch several storytellers in one day. They do plenty of shows per day and they last about ten minutes. I found that you could easily walk up right as they were starting and get a good spot to watch. Most of the storytellers have a stage or some sort of decorated area. If they don't, just look for the sign that's near each location.

Pere Noel tells his story about Babette in France.

Christmas Decorations at Epcot

Epcot is all decorated for Christmas and it looks beautiful. I love seeing all the decorations around the park. There are some new decorations this year, which I love. I hope they add even more next year.

Goofy and Donald are ice skating in front of Spaceship Earth.




Thumper and Flower are on one side and Bambi is on the other.




Stitch is in the back.

November Characters

Take a look at all the characters that I met in November.

Cinderella's Holiday Wish

During the Christmas season, Cinderella's Holiday Wish is performed nightly at 6:15. It's about a ten minute show in which the castle is transformed into a shimmering ice castle. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy come out on stage and shortly after, the Fairy Godmother joins them from a balcony on the castle. They discuss how they should transform the castle but then decide that Cinderella should get to choose how her castle is decorated. She decides that she wants it to sparkle like her glass slippers. After a little bibbidi bobbidi boo, the castle begins to light up.

Jingle Cruise

This holiday season, for the first time ever, the Jungle Cruise has been transformed into the Jingle Cruise. There are decorations in the queue, all the boats have been renamed, and the skippers have holiday themed jokes that they are telling. I had a skipper that told lots of holiday jokes, which were pretty cute. Unfortunately, there are no decorations on the ride though.

Christmas has arrived at Animal Kingdom

Characters are now meeting at Animal Kingdom in their holiday attire.

Mickey and Minnie are in the Adventurers Outpost.


Pooh and Tigger meet at Discovery Landing. Unfortunately, the Christmas decorations that are normally in their area weren't there this year.

Favorite Moments from 2012

I had a lot of fun at Disney World in 2012. I met lots of characters, watched numerous shows and parades, rode lots of rides, attended parties, celebrated One More Disney Day, and experienced new Fantasyland. I thought I'd share some of my favorite moments from 2012.

Meeting characters at Millennium Village at Epcot.


Valentine's Day at Epcot.


Meeting Mickey and Minnie in their pajamas during One More Disney Day.

Christmas Characters at Animal Kingdom

The characters at Animal Kingdom are ready for Christmas.

You can meet Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Donald in Camp Minnie-Mickey.




 



Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger meet at Discovery Landing.
 



 

Goofy and Pluto meet in Dinoland.