Thank you Baloo!

[Reto]

I posted this earlier this year on the Theme Parks board but I feel it would fit in here as well - so here it goes: EDIT: I'm not sure why the photos don't show up - the links from Flickr appear correct when I hit the edit button... So if you want to see the pics, click the links. Sorry!

My 2nd trip to WDW took place between November 5-11, 2010. Baloo is my very favorite character since my earliest childhood when I got The Jungle Book on VHS (those large, black things with tape in it) To this day I really LOVE the relationship Baloo and Mowgli have in the movie and as a little boy I always dreamed of having such a big buddy on my side. Weird, huh? So you bet one of the activities I always look forward to is to meet him.

He is by far not the most popular character anymore - many of the kids didn't even recognize him. Sad, in a way, since The Jungle Book is a real classic that should not be forgotten in my opinion (it is more popular here in Europe I have to say). Anyway, and that's why I'm even more glad Baloo still does meet & greets daily at the AK. I always make it a point to go see him at least once a day on my trips. That wasn't any different on my recent trip and I'm going to show you some of my best moments I had with my big bear friend.

His greeting location at the AK is often overlooked, since he's way deep into the jungle, off the main road between Africa and Asia. When I was there in November, I experienced many moments without any other guests around. On one hand, it's sad Baloo & King Louie don't get a large amount of guests, but on the other hand, it's good for me. Almost no wait times and sometimes the CMs allowed me to stay with my favorite until the next guests turned up. Now that's what I call quality time!

First, here's one moment where King Louie posed in kind of a funny way:


Me Meeting Baloo & King Louie - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

But well, since I love Baloo, I can't really stand King Louie - that's why I always requested to have only me and Baloo in the shots. King Louie didn't like to hear that (and I'm sure he hears that a lot...), but the CMs and Baloo were always happy to fulfill my wishes.

Being the fact he's my favorite Disney buddy, I wanted to go for more that just the usual pose-and-smile photo. I had a storybook copy of The Jungle Book with me and that was definitely a good idea. Got some great comments from guests and CMs and of course, Baloo was very delighted to see something different than the standard autograph books. I showed him my favorite parts of the story and it was so sweet how Baloo put his paw around me, and "read" the book with me together. Kudos to the Photopass CMs who snapped these wonderful pics:


Me Reading The Jungle Book to Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

This was actually one early morning right on the main road between Africa and Asia. More guests around, but knowing he was my favorite, Baloo took a lot of time for me.


Me Meeting my Childhood Idol Baloo - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Back at his usual location - one of my favorite photos. Captures the fun I had pretty well:


Me Reading The Jungle Book to Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me reading The Jungle Book to Baloo at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Reading The Jungle Book to Baloo at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Of course he even signed the book, more than once. And that page shows what is my fondest memory from watching The Jungle Book - seeing him having a good time with his man-cub:


Baloo signed my Jungle Book at Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

After a couple meets it seemed Baloo remembered me everytime I went to see him. One day, when I was waiting for him to return from Mowgli, he came onstage, I walked straight up to him and he took me by his paw. Wow, now cool is that?! As said, as a child, I always wanted to be able to walk with Baloo on my side. This dream came true right now:


Me Walking Hand-in-Paw with My Childhood Idol Baloo at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

And that was not the only time that happened. A bit later, I was again smart and handed my camera to a friendly dad waiting in line. When I saw Baloo coming around the corner, I asked him, if I could take him again by his paw. He seemed to remember again and was glad to do another hand-in-paw walk with me trough the AK jungle. By the way, the accompanying character attendant was one of the nicest I've met so far. Her name was Tricia from someplace in New York (I'm bad at remembering such things unfortunately...). She often let me stay with Baloo when there were no other guests present and was glad to help taking pictures and stuff. Great CM to interact with. You can see her in the next photos:


Me Walking with Baloo to his Greeting Spot at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Walking with Baloo to his Greeting Spot at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Walking with Baloo to his Greeting Spot at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

As you can see in the above photo, the Photopass CM knew what was coming and he did his best capturing that great moment:


Me Walking with Baloo to his Meeting Place - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Walking with Baloo to his Meeting Place - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Of course, no visit to Baloo would be complete without getting some big bear hugs. Awww!


Me Meeting Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Meeting my Childhood Idol Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

And without too many guests around, we had time for even more funny poses. It definitely helps if you tell the character that he's your favorite. Then they often go out of their way, take some extra time for cool pics. Here's me high-fiving him:


Me Meeting my Childhood Idol Baloo - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Meeting My Childhood Idol, Baloo at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Meeting my Childhood Idol Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Meeting my Childhood Idol Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Meeting my Chlidhood Idol Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Two "Papa Bears" in one frame. That's my Dad to the right. Not a Disney fan, but after seeing how much fun I had, he agreed for a photo:


Me Meeting Baloo with my Dad - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

One of the moments without any guests. Baloo tried to gather attention from the folks walking on the main road. Not always successful, since most guests want to hit the rides first in the morning. I just couldn't stand seeing my friend being so alone:


Baloo at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo at Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

This was actually on the last full day of my trip, 11/11/2010. After countless meets, I had to say him goodbye. Baloo was sad I had to "go back to the Man-village". He put his paws around me and then we just hugged for almost a minute. Even I had to shed some tears. But I promised him to return soon!


Me Meeting my Childhood Idol Baloo - Disney's Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

But wait - there's MORE! I'll continue this in the next post due to the pics-per-post limit. I have some more moments with Baloo to share - from the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party at the Magic Kingdom. Stay tuned.

 

[Reto]

Here’s the continuation from the first post…

Currently, the only other place to see Baloo is at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party in the Magic Kingdom. I could care less about this parade – if it wouldn’t have my bear friend in it. So it’s a sure thing I always attend MiSiCi several times during my trips.

It’s definitely cool being able to dance with Papa Bear himself. Even better, if there’s a Photopass photographer who captured me one day. I didn’t even realize it and was quite surprised when he handed me the card after that. He created a magical memory – really!


Dancing with my Favorite Baloo at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Dancing with my Favorite Baloo at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Some more dancing pictures from my own camera. I can’t really dance, but hey – it was fun anyway!


Me Dancing with Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

The usual high-fiving:


Me Dancing with Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

And again a big bear hug:


Me Dancing with Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Of course, Baloo must have remembered me from my visits over at the AK and so he took some extra time for two quick photos:


Me & Baloo at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me & Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Good to see I wasn’t the only who had fun being around him. Anybody recognizing himself?


Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

„Can you move it like this?“ *sing*


Baloo at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Some more dancing with me. Can you tell I was having FUN?


Me Dancing with Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Dancing with Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Dancing with Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Dancing with Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Dancing With My Childhood Idol, Baloo at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party in the Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Me Dancing With My Childhood Idol, Baloo at the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party in the Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

Butt he most spezial thing always happened at the end when the floats left the hub. Baloo always used to wave at me for a VERY long time – even turning back to me, until his float was out of sight. And that didn’t happen just once but on several parades. So he must have really remembered me from all my visits.


Baloo Waving at Me in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo Waving at Me in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo Waving at Me in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo Waving at Me in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo Waving at Me in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr


Baloo in the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party - Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney World by Reto Kurmann, on Flickr

So that was my selection of photos from my encounters with Papa Bear. Hope you enjoyed it. It’s cool he’s not (yet) completely forgotten in the parks and there are still a couple opportunities to see him. Wish they would bring back a MK meet & greet with him though. Would love to see him popping up on Town Square or in Adventureland from time to time, like it was a couple years ago. But I can’t complain for now.

I’ve not always been on the sunny side of life (different health issues since my birth) and to me, even such a „simple“ thing like meeting my favorite character means the world to me.

Of course I’ve sent an e-mail to WDW Guest Communications and listed all the dates and times I saw Baloo and thanked the involved CMs. Got the usual standard reply saying it has been forwarded to the appropriate leaders, so I’m not sure if the concerning CMs really get to know how they made my visit special. If you’re a CM reading this: Thank you so much for the magical memories you still create! That makes the 10+ hours flight from Switzerland well worth.

I’m already looking forward to my next trip, probably either November 2011 or 2012.

I’ve also uploaded a couple of these photos to the Let The Memories Begin website. If you type in Baloo into the search box, you’ll see them.

Finally, I’ve also created a video, since I also had my HD camera with me. Here’s a compilation of some of the best moments:

Magical Moments with Baloo at WDW.