Adventurers Outpost Opens At Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Today Mickey and Minnie got a new home at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The Beastly Bazaar store closed several months ago to make way for this new meet and greet location, Adventurers Outpost. We were there this morning to check out the Big Cheese’s new spot.

Even though the official opening was today, there was still a lot of work being done on the building. Managers and Imagineers were all around working on things and excitedly greeting the first guests. The wait time sign out front wasn’t working properly, and the FASTPASS entrance sign was still covered up. Although there are two different rooms for meeting Mickey and Minnie, only one was in use today. The door to the other room was open; we could see there were still ladders and work materials around, and Cast Members were still painting.

The story behind the Adventurers Outpost is that it is a space for Mickey and Minnie to store all their keepsakes from their travels around the world. The queue is filled with pictures of the famous couple in exotic locations from Asia and Africa. The pictures are really cute and fun and will be something for guests to look at while waiting in line.

Once we got into the actual room with the characters, there was even more to look at. There was a board with field notes from their adventures, souvenirs from their trips, and luggage piled up. The backdrop they were standing against was a giant map showing locations around Animal Kingdom (DinoLand U.S.A., Asia, Africa, Tree of Life, etc.) they had visited. While we stood talking to them, Minnie used gestures to tell us about their adventure to Expedition Everest in Asia and how scared she was…but Mickey pointed out that he was brave and kept her safe. Mickey also conveyed that DinoLand was his favorite. In addition, they spent time showing us their luggage (Minnie indicated hers was from Africa) and pointing out other objects in the room. We really had quite a bit of time with them since it was early and there was no line. It was a great interaction!

I’m a big fan of this new meet and greet location. Everything was indoors and air conditioned, which was a nice change from the hot, all outdoors Camp Minnie-Mickey spot. Although putting the two characters together and the addition of FASTPASS may make for longer lines, at least the wait will be more comfortable. Also, the indoor location will mean the characters can go longer without a break, and the two rooms will also help things move more quickly.