What’s New at Animal Kingdom: BIG Holiday Crowds, a Secret Menu Cocktail, and Baby Animal Pics!

Having some post-holiday blues? Step inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom for a little pick-me-up!

Tree of Life Chameleon

It’s time to head into the theme park full of wild animals and wild rides! We headed inside to seek out new food, merchandise, and attraction updates. Come check out what’s new at Animal Kingdom!

Animal Kingdom Food Update

Nomad Lounge

Did you think we were done with Christmas treats?? Guess again! We found a Holiday Trio dessert special from Nomad Lounge so we had to give the treats a try! The special comes with a Gingerbread Mousse, a Peppermint Mickey Dome, and a Black Forest Cake. Fair warning: these desserts were SWEET, but we did enjoy having another holiday snack!

Holiday Trio Dessert at Nomad Lounge

The dessert trio is $13 and is available until January 2nd.

Read our review of the Holiday Trio right here!

Trilo-Bites

A NEW Golden Margarita has popped into DinoLand, USA! This marg is what salty, tequila dreams are made of. It’s made with Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila, Grand Marnier, Sweet-and-Sour, Lime Juice, and Sparkling Golden Salt.

Golden Margarita

The drink is supposed to come topped with a Golden Lime slice, but the Cast Member said they were having a hard time keeping them stocked. Ah, well! We still thought it was delicious and refreshing! The drink costs $14.

See more glamour shots and a review of the Golden Margarita!

Restaurantosaurus Lounge

We headed into Restaurantosaurus seeking out more holiday specials. There weren’t any on the menu, but the bartender offered to whip us up a little something. The Raspberry Fizz used to be served at a pop-up bar so the bartenders mixed us this secret menu surprise! It’s made with Bacardi Raspberry, Sprite, and cranberry juice and garnished with a strawberry.

Raspberry Fizz

Disney bartenders are really experienced and knowledgeable. If you’re interested in a drink that’s not on the menu, feel free to ask if they can make it for you. They might be able to help you out and it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Read our Raspberry Fizz secret menu review here!

Also, just so you know, the Christmas Tree Popcorn Buckets were still on sale at the popcorn stands. Get yours before they leave for the holidays!

Christmas Tree Popcorn Bucket and Lion King Cup

Animal Kingdom Atmosphere Update

Crowds!

Disney World has been very crowded this past week. The leftover Christmas crowds are still coming in droves. We noticed LONG lines extending outside of attractions and winding through paths

Expedition Everest Line

…a huge PhotoPass line for a picture in front of the Tree of Life…

PhotoPass Line

…and crowd congestion in pathways.

Crowded Path

The line for Kilimanjaro Safaris was so long that it extended into the Festival of the Lion King queue! (We were hoping that we would be able to enter the empty theatre while waiting in line, but no such luck!)

Kilimanjaro Safaris Line in Festival of the Lion King

We should note that the looks extra long due to physical distancing. The wait time was posted at 45 minutes when it extended into the theatre queue.

See more photos from the extended Kilimanjaro Safaris line here!

Pandora – World of Avatar

We also popped into Pandora – World of Avatar to take in the atmosphere. We noticed that the main waterfall that flows from the Floating Mountains was turned off! We were told that the water is turned off when it’s cold so it doesn’t blow freezing water on guests. It still makes a cool photo op without the water!

Floating Mountain

Animal Kingdom Merchandise Update

Discovery Trading Co.

We found this awesome National Cane Cane Celebrate Today pin. It appropriately stars Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas and costs $17.99.

National Candy Cane Day Pin

Holiday merchandise went on sale earlier this month. While the sale included many Christmas items, some merch like the holiday face masks were excluded. The masks are now on sale for 30% off too!

Face Mask Sale

At this point, the only items not part of the sale are Christmas ornaments.

Learn about the holiday face mask sale here!

Two more important updates before we go. We got more pics of the baby Babirusa that was born last summer. Look at how big she’s getting!!

Baby Kirana!

And, as a quick reminder…

You ARE Most Beautiful!

That’s all for today! We’ll be back real soon to try more drinks, wait in more lines, and take pics of more baby animals!

Check out the new Chinese New Year Spirit Jersey from Disney World here!

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Are you heading to Animal Kingdom soon? Let us know in the comments!

The post What’s New at Animal Kingdom: BIG Holiday Crowds, a Secret Menu Cocktail, and Baby Animal Pics! first appeared on the disney food blog.