I Like Warm Hugs! - Mommy/Toddler Trip ~ Updated 6/20: New Trip Report Link!

hokieinpa · Mar 27, 2015

Dugette said:
That probably would have been wise. Maybe with the Dole Whip.

I like where you're going with that!

Dugette · Mar 27, 2015

hokieinpa said:
I like where you're going with that!

It would be tasty, right? :hyper:

Dugette · Mar 29, 2015

Why Are You Holding Back From Such a Man?

As we waited to board Triceratop Spin, we saw Princess Snow White and Princess Minnie(?) disembarking:

And, soon, we were on the ride:

Hands in the air (I have no idea why , I don’t even do that on coasters):

I’ve got a Magic Band! :

Oh, hey there :

What a view:

Um, guys, there’s a dinosaur sneaking up behind you :

Enjoying the ride:

After that, we were headed to who-knows-where, because I spent most of the day feeling lost in AK , and I happened to notice a FP+ scanner. I wondered what it could be, as it wasn’t familiar to me. I stopped and asked the CM if it was where Mickey and Minnie meet (process of elimination guess ) and she said it was! The Adventurer’s Outpost. The posted wait time was 15 minutes, so I asked her if that was accurate and she said that it was actually shorter! Hold the phone! What?! I tossed all my plans out the window and we jumped into the Standby line to make sure we met Minnie (and Mickey) this day.

We were sent into a room with only one other family ahead of us (parents and a toddler). Yay, not bad at all! While we waited, we admired the cute pictures of Mickey and Minnie’s travels along the walls:

Hey, look, there’s a door back there! Won’t be long now…

Minnie’s nose needed to be picked :

Then we were led through the door into another room and…had to wait behind a whole bunch of other people. The actual meet was another room over still. This wait was a minimum of 15 minutes, felt like more. We continued to admire the artwork:

So cute! Izzy enjoyed playing, “Where’s Minnie” with the pictures.

We finally made it in and there were Mickey and Minnie, fresh off all their travel adventures, I’m sure. You can’t tell from these pictures the CM got with my phone, but Izzy made a beeline for Minnie and Mickey got sad, being ignored and all. That’s why I went up to give him a hug (and Izzy eventually followed suit):

She’s totally giving him a look like, “Mickey, are you moving in on my Mommy?!”

My Photopass has much better pictures that actually capture the whole interaction more accurately. Running straight into Minnie’s arms:

Hesitantly giving Mickey a high-five, with Minnie’s encouragement:

Peeking out from behind Minnie’s skirt to make sure Mickey doesn’t steal Mommy :

Group shot:

More Minnie hugs before heading out (this was right after the hug she finally gave Mickey):

I also have some video of the beginning of the interaction. I had to shut it off when I went up to comfort Mickey, though:

(click to watch)

The Photopass time was 9:49am. We headed out of the building to collect our stroller and were met by a CM doing a survey about Photopass experiences. I told him this was a pretty average experience – turns out the pictures were better and more plentiful than I thought they'd be, based on the less-than-enthusiastic photographer, but oh well. About Photopass in general, I told him that the price was the same for your trip, no matter if it were 1 day or 1 week (or more). On a short trip like mine, it was nearly impossible to justify the price. (I didn’t know until after the trip if I’d get in on Lauren’s share, but I did, clearly ). He was nice and took diligent notes and if you ever see a price-per-length-of-trip modification to PP, you’ll know it’s all because of me.

We got to the stroller and had some of our cold drinks before heading out at 9:56am for more fun on our second safari of the day.

Up next: We get distracted a couple more times. I’m sensing a pattern here.

SimplyGoofy · Mar 29, 2015

I love Izzy with her hands up! Adorable!

That girl REALLY loves her Minnie Mouse. :love:

DisneyKid4Life · Mar 29, 2015

HAHAHAHA, Hands in the air. I love it!!

The Adventurer's Outpost is definitely a meet spot that is so easy to miss. But how cute is the waiting area with Mickey and Minnie's travel photos? They sure do look like they have fun together.

I think it is so cute that Izzy recognizes Minnie so well. She clearly has total comfort with her. :goodvibes

TheMaxRebo · Mar 29, 2015

Dugette said:
Hands in the air (I have no idea why , I don’t even do that on coasters):

uh, I believe the correct answer is "like she just doesn't care!"

I was going to say that it was great the wait for Mickey and Minnie was so short ... except it wasn't Um, Mr./Mrs. CM - if you are going to indicate a wait is shorter than the posted time, that definitely better be the case. I do love the travel pictures of them though

Dugette said:
She’s totally giving him a look like, “Mickey, are you moving in on my Mommy?!”

Probably thinking "I mean, I don't want my dad to be replaced but if it has to happen I guess it being Mickey is the best case scenario ..... plus that would free up Minnie to have more time for me :scratchin

"

IheartDDuck · Mar 29, 2015

Wow, less than 15 minute wait to meet Minnie and Mickey. Score! Some of the character meets in AK are so hidden, I think that explains why the lines are shorter. Well, until I read that you waited a bit longer than that. LOL.

amazingact21 · Mar 29, 2015

I definitely got lost trying to find the Adventurer's Outpost in May. It's a pretty tucked away building. The theming is adorable inside, and Mickey and Minnie's outfits are really cute, but that wait seemed long. I guess the plus was that it was air conditioned...

Wow, Izzy really does love her some Minnie. Even when she's not dressed in her typical garb, she still recognizes her and runs up to her. That's amazing. And it had to make her feel special. I imagine most people wanna see Mickey first.

hokieinpa · Mar 29, 2015

Cute shots on Triceratops Spin! Love the hands in the air - you two really know how to live on the wild side!! :rotfl:

Great luck stumbling onto Adventurer's Outpost. I like the waiting area with all the travel pictures of Mickey and Minnie. I think that will be on our list for AK next time!

Izzy has some pretty serious love for Minnie!! :love:

Poor Mickey got left out in the cold but I'm sure he gets enough attention from everyone else so his ego probably isn't to bruised! :rotfl2:

schmass · Mar 30, 2015

Aw, such cute pictures with Mickey and Minnie! We have a FP+ for the Adventurer's Outpost next month - hopefully we can find it!

cindianne320 · Mar 30, 2015

Finally getting caught up! I really wish I was able to experience the Frozen summer party with my kiddos, but it's just not in the cards right now! I also love all the character meets- I hope my DD likes them just as much as yours!

Dugette · Apr 1, 2015

SimplyGoofy said:
I love Izzy with her hands up! Adorable!

Thanks!

SimplyGoofy said:
That girl REALLY loves her Minnie Mouse.

She sure does! Minnie's biggest fan. ::MinnieMo

DisneyKid4Life said:
HAHAHAHA, Hands in the air. I love it!!

Thanks, Triceratop Spin is much more exciting than you would think! :rotfl:

DisneyKid4Life said:
The Adventurer's Outpost is definitely a meet spot that is so easy to miss. But how cute is the waiting area with Mickey and Minnie's travel photos? They sure do look like they have fun together.

I'm glad I just ran across it, because who knows if I could have found it otherwise. :rotfl:

Loved that waiting area - such cute pictures! :lovestruc

DisneyKid4Life said:
I think it is so cute that Izzy recognizes Minnie so well. She clearly has total comfort with her.

Minnie is her BFF. ::yes::

Mickey's okay, but only because Minnie likes him.

TheMaxRebo said:
uh, I believe the correct answer is "like she just doesn't care!"

TheMaxRebo said:
I was going to say that it was great the wait for Mickey and Minnie was so short ... except it wasn't Um, Mr./Mrs. CM - if you are going to indicate a wait is shorter than the posted time, that definitely better be the case. I do love the travel pictures of them though

I was so excited to go into the room with only one other family, then my hopes were dashed with that next very crowded room. :sad1:

The pictures were adorable, though!

TheMaxRebo said:
Probably thinking "I mean, I don't want my dad to be replaced but if it has to happen I guess it being Mickey is the best case scenario ..... plus that would free up Minnie to have more time for me "

I think she was more worried about Mickey stealing Mommy away from her.

amazingact21 said:
I definitely got lost trying to find the Adventurer's Outpost in May. It's a pretty tucked away building. The theming is adorable inside, and Mickey and Minnie's outfits are really cute, but that wait seemed long. I guess the plus was that it was air conditioned...

True, air conditioning is good, but the wait was long. At least there are cute pictures to look at. Glad I found the place!

amazingact21 said:
Wow, Izzy really does love her some Minnie. Even when she's not dressed in her typical garb, she still recognizes her and runs up to her. That's amazing. And it had to make her feel special. I imagine most people wanna see Mickey first.

I was thinking the same thing - Minnie isn't wearing a bow on her head or anything, but Izzy knew immediately which one she was. She has an uncanny ability of knowing who's a boy and who's a girl. We've quizzed her on everyone we can think of and she's only gotten a few wrong: Goofy and Dug's sister's dogs (mixed them up). No idea how she knows these things. :confused3

hokieinpa said:
Cute shots on Triceratops Spin! Love the hands in the air - you two really know how to live on the wild side!!

We're two wild and crazy girls! :rotfl2:

hokieinpa said:
Great luck stumbling onto Adventurer's Outpost. I like the waiting area with all the travel pictures of Mickey and Minnie. I think that will be on our list for AK next time!

I really liked the theming and the fact that Mickey and Minnie were together. It can be a long wait though (another to come :rolleyes1

).

hokieinpa said:
Izzy has some pretty serious love for Minnie!!

She is crazy about her. Did you know that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is actually called "Minnie"? :rotfl:

At least in our house.

hokieinpa said:
Poor Mickey got left out in the cold but I'm sure he gets enough attention from everyone else so his ego probably isn't to bruised!

I'm sure Mickey will be okay. I hugged him, after all. :hug:

schmass said:
Aw, such cute pictures with Mickey and Minnie! We have a FP+ for the Adventurer's Outpost next month - hopefully we can find it!

I'd give you directions, but that probably wouldn't end well. :lmao:

I hope you have a great meet!

cindianne320 said:
Finally getting caught up! I really wish I was able to experience the Frozen summer party with my kiddos, but it's just not in the cards right now! I also love all the character meets- I hope my DD likes them just as much as yours!

The Frozen Package worked really well, since we just had one (partial) day for DHS. Allowed us to save time and hit the highlights. But you can have a great time without it. :goodvibes

I hope your DD loves the characters too. It's so hard to know, trip to trip, what the reaction will be. And, even if she ends up loving them, Izzy generally needs a couple meets to get warmed up first.

teekathepony · Apr 2, 2015

Currently wondering how many Disers are wishing they could jump into the garbage after that second cronut... hahaha. I had one last year, it was ok, I liked it, but wasn't as crazy for it as many are.
Glad you were able to get everything done and get to AK in pretty good time! I like early morning Safari rides, but it is too bad you didn't see too many animals.

Jackiemarie21 · Apr 2, 2015

Cute Mickey and a minnow greet! I love the pics where Izzy is checking up on poor Mickey. Sometimes I think it's fun to just kind of wander around the parks with no actual plan and just kind of see where you end up. Sometimes you find the best stuff that way! :thumbsup2

Imagineer5 · Apr 2, 2015

Loved the photopass pics from the M&M meet! Absolutely adorable - she know who she likes! Yeah - the line you had was basically after the "FP" and regular line converge, so just not short at all. I hate when the CM outside is totally wrong on their timing statements though, but doesn't seem like it was a big deal overall.

Triceratop spin was cute too, loved the arm in the air. We do that on the biggie rides and I think Aria's done it on that and dumbo too

Dugette · Apr 2, 2015

teekathepony said:
Currently wondering how many Disers are wishing they could jump into the garbage after that second cronut... hahaha. I had one last year, it was ok, I liked it, but wasn't as crazy for it as many are.

Haha, there's probably quite a few! :rotfl:

I do think it's required that I try a fresh one next trip before passing judgement on it, though. ::yes::

teekathepony said:
Glad you were able to get everything done and get to AK in pretty good time! I like early morning Safari rides, but it is too bad you didn't see too many animals.

Yeah, we ended up doing a lot more than I'd intended at AK. And I normally love the early morning safari rides too, but they were just quiet that day, especially that first one.

Jackiemarie21 said:
Cute Mickey and a minnow greet! I love the pics where Izzy is checking up on poor Mickey. Sometimes I think it's fun to just kind of wander around the parks with no actual plan and just kind of see where you end up. Sometimes you find the best stuff that way!

Minnow!

(love autocorrects!) It was really funny that she kept right by Minnie, but had to keep peeking over to make sure Mickey and Mommy were behaving. I definitely did a lot of wandering at AK. Pretty sure I did entirely too much walking that morning.

Imagineer5 said:
Loved the photopass pics from the M&M meet! Absolutely adorable - she know who she likes! Yeah - the line you had was basically after the "FP" and regular line converge, so just not short at all. I hate when the CM outside is totally wrong on their timing statements though, but doesn't seem like it was a big deal overall.

Thanks! She really loves Minnie, clearly. Yeah, I found that out later about the FP and regular line intermingling. But being the first time I'd been in there, I got so excited to see that first nearly empty room. Then it was disappointing to find out how long it really was. :sad2:

Like you said, though, it worked out okay.

Imagineer5 said:
Triceratop spin was cute too, loved the arm in the air. We do that on the biggie rides and I think Aria's done it on that and dumbo too

I have no idea why we were doing hands in the air. I honestly don't even remember it. :confused:

I guess we must have just been goofing around. I've never been a hands-in-the-air person, even on coasters. Maybe Izzy will turn me into one. :rotfl:

Dugette · Apr 2, 2015

Don’t Fall Off & Don’t Get Eaten

Naturally, on our way back to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris again, we got distracted. Back in June, we didn’t get any Photopass pictures with the Tree of Life. And now, I was passing a Photopass photographer that was doing Tree of Life shots with only a couple families in line. Not to mention that he was also doing magic shots! Izzy was not very happy about this unplanned photo stop, but put up with it. Here’s what we ended up with:

Notice how she's looking at the Tink I put in on this one :

So excited to be here :

And what’s a Tree of Life photo sequence without a slanted shot I took on the run:

We moved on after that…only to get distracted AGAIN! There was a short line to meet Baloo and King Louie. Despite not really knowing the characters at the time, I figured, “Eh, Izzy likes bears, why not?” and got in line. Turns out that she wasn’t too sure about them, being unfamiliar characters at the time, but she warmed up to Baloo. Cause bears are cool. She held his paw and didn’t want to let it go:

She also gave him a nose kiss:

And here’s what Photopass captured:

We headed away from that meet at 10:09am and finally made it to our Safari a minute later – only 5 minutes before the end of our FP+ window :

At the stroller hand-off, I grabbed Izzy and let them take the rest away. It wasn’t until we were on the ride that I realized I’d left my wallet on the stroller! However, I do keep it attached to the handle with a carabiner, so it can’t be swiped super easily. I just had to hope it would be fine and…it was! Whew!

We ended up in the second row this time and on the opposite side of the car from the last ride:

We saw Wild Africa Trekkers crossing the rope bridge:

That looks super fun to me. That is totally up my alley! Maybe someday.

We saw giraffes a bit closer this time (vs. way in the distance like last ride). Izzy really loved that:

We also saw this guy pretty close:

And back to checking out the giraffes:

Even though we did end up seeing more animals this time, there were still no lions!

At some point during the safari, Izzy must have gotten bored and pulled off my Magic Band to play with. I tried to get it back, but she kept insisting, “Mine!!!” I was super paranoid that she was going to throw it overboard and I’d never see it again (and get in all sorts of trouble for littering on the savannah or something). Thankfully, she held onto it and eventually gave it back.

However, I had another problem developing during that safari. My phone decided to just stop working. Like completely frozen (guess Elsa got to it). So, there will be a bit of a gap without pictures, as that was my camera for this trip. The screen was completely unusable, except for an accessibility feature I had on it (a volume button was broken and it allowed me to adjust volume on the screen) – I realized I could still take screen shots with that, but nothing else. So, I was able to record the time, as I did throughout the trip to help with writing this TR, but no pictures. So, I know it was 10:40am as I was trying to get my phone to wake up. No more safari pics, despite actually seeing some animals. Maybe it was good the lions weren’t out or I’d be upset that I couldn’t get a picture!

Once we got back to the stroller and verified the safety of my wallet, I pulled the portable phone charging pack out of my bag and hooked it up, hoping it might jolt my phone back to life. No such luck. I was really annoyed because I couldn’t even slide the bar on the screen to power down – thinking a restart might fix it. I played around with it more while we made our way over to the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.

On the train, I noticed that Izzy had a large black smear of something on her leg. I have no idea what or how she got it, but wanted to get it off. However, I’d been so preoccupied with the phone that I didn’t think to bring her diaper kit along, so I didn’t have any wipes (and, thankfully, she didn’t need any diapers). I ended up cleaning her leg with spit and my hands , knowing we’d need to head straight to a bathroom upon arrival, to finish the job.

I was still messing with my phone and super frustrated. I didn’t want to miss out on getting pictures of her petting goats and such.

We got off the train and before we could get to the restroom, we spotted Chip and Dale! They didn’t have much of a line, so we had to see them again, since Izzy had enjoyed them so much the previous day at Epcot. However, with my inoperable phone, I had to rely solely on Photopass (at the time, not knowing for sure if I’d have it). Thankfully, it all worked out and they got some cute pictures:

She sure loves those guys!

We finished that at 11:07am and finally made it to the restroom to finish cleaning up her leg (which fortunately doesn’t seem to be visible in those pictures). Got all of the black mystery substance off of her leg and my hand. Much better!

Walking through the building, we actually saw Rafiki, but decided to pass on a meet with him. I asked Izzy if she wanted to meet him and she said no, so I went with that. I guess he doesn’t look very cuddly.

We went to the petting zoo next. She loved petting and brushing the goats and pigs! She liked the cow too. It actually was looking right at us for a bit and I was so bummed that I couldn’t get a picture of its face. While I was following Izzy around goat-world, I finally figured out how to restart my phone without using the screen – just had to press both the home and power buttons at once (iPhone 4S). Maybe I should have known how to do that, but I didn’t and I sure couldn’t use the phone to look it up or ask Dug. And the good news is that it came back on and worked again! Yay, I could take more pictures! So, I was taking pictures of goats by 11:17am – hadn’t missed too much. Unfortunately, the cow now had its tail to us, so couldn’t make up for the face shot I’d missed.

Up next: Goat pictures! The backside of a cow! More technical difficulties! A gawker! And an unexpected character intervention! Wow, this one sounds action-packed!

DisneyKid4Life · Apr 3, 2015

HAHAHA, that is so stinking cute. Izzy is really giving Tink "the look".

Awww, it looks like she did really well with Baloo and Louie. They may not be Minnie level, but I'd count it as a win.

Ooof, I tend to get a little shell-shocked about lost or potentially lost wallets in Animal Kingdom. Happened to me (I got it back), but it was a tense few hours. Thank goodness all was well.

Ah the spit wash. I think all children have been the recipient of that at one time or another. If it's good enough for animals, and hey this IS Animal Kingdom.

amazingact21 · Apr 3, 2015

Izzy looked so unamused at the Tree of Life photo spot. She was probably wondering why there were no characters around, since usually when she sees PP photographers, they are with some furry friend.

Ugh, phone issues. That's never good. Especially when you're by yourself and there's no way to look up how to resolve the issue because the only thing on hand is the thing that's broken. Glad you got it figured out and could take pictures again.

schmass · Apr 3, 2015

You got some great photos - Tree of Life, Izzy holding the bear paw, and great ones with Chip & Dale! Too bad about the phone, though. I'm glad you eventually got it working again!

I'm glad Izzy like the petting zoo. I am very curious to see how Rory reacts to the animals there later this month!

I Like Warm Hugs! - Mommy/Toddler Trip ~ Updated 6/20: New Trip Report Link!

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