Photo Update: A visit to Disney's Animal Kingdom

With my mother-in-law visiting and the colder weather we’re finally getting, we decided to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom yesterday. Most of the animals were out enjoying the weather, but some looked like they were a bit cold.

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Sometimes I see things like these bird nests and think it’s a bit of Disney magic – that Disney built those nice nests for the birds. But while watching these birds I saw another bird carrying a large twig in his mouth, adding it to the nest. Surprise.

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This cast member was set up in the Island Merchantile store, personalizing your holiday merchandise for $3 per word.

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Disney was using this Fastpass area near It’s Tough To Be A Bug as test for getting all of your Fastpasses in one location. I guess the test has ended for now.

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This lively group called Village Beatniks had the crowd dancing and moving.

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This offer caught my eye. The 20 exclusive Disney pictures sound cool, but I wonder how nice they’d look on a tiny screen.

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I miss McDonald’s french fries. This food stand in Dinoland U.S.A. now serves turkey legs since McDonald’s food is no longer served in any of the Disney World parks.

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This new character meet and greet area has gone to the dogs. Goofy and Pluto have been making regular appearances in Dinoland for a long time. Now they have their own stand.

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I’ve noticed a lot more ride T-shirts in gift shops around the parks. It’s nice to see so many different design choices. If you’re a fan of Expedition Everest, just look at all of the options. They had even more designs available. Click on the photos for a larger view.

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A guest in front of us pointed out the hidden Mickey in this picture in the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

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Thumper from “Bambi” is new character appearing in the Camp Minnie-Mickey area of Animal Kingdom. Although I didn’t get to see her, Miss Bunny also appears with Thumper on occasion.

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We’ll end the update with a look at some other characters I spotted in Camp Minnie-Mickey. As you can see, they had quite a few more characters besides the usual Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald.