This past week, we headed out to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to experience some holiday fun! While there, we hopped aboard some of our favorite attractions, went on the hunt for seasonal snacks, and checked out some of the park’s Christmas offerings. Come along as we make our way through this wild winter wonderland!

HOLIDAY ENTERTAINMENT

In our opinion, one of the highlights of Animal Kingdom’s holiday offerings this year is the return of The Merry Menagerie, which is an artistic display of arctic animals in the form of puppets! Talented performers bring these creative sculptures to life, moving them to the sound of live musicians. We found these wintry creatures to be adorable and very interactive, and we were highly impressed by the realistic movements portrayed by the puppeteers. Some of our encounters included polar bears, penguins, arctic foxes, and snowy birds flying overheard. This unique experience is awesome for the little ones and older guests alike.

As in previous years, dazzling Christmas decorations can be found throughout the park. One that particularly caught our eye was a lit-up Christmas Tree in front of Kilimanjaro Safaris that was entirely composed of wheels! Pandora also boasted some holiday spirit, with a Santa-themed AMP suit decked out in colorful lights. To close out the night, we watched beautiful winter scenes projected on the Tree of Life to the tune of festive music. This mini show celebrates winter wildlife and the joy of nature. A perfect way to end a day full of holiday fun!

THE FOOD

Contrary to our experience at some of the other parks, we didn’t have a ton of luck finding holiday dishes at Animal Kindgom. However, we were able to locate some seasonal treats over at Zuri’s Sweet Shop, which is located in Africa. Here, we found an assortment of Christmas sweets such as decorated caramel apples, cupcakes, cookies, and rice crispy treats.

We decided to try the Holiday Gingerbread Mickey Cookie, a simple mouse-shaped gingerbread cookie with red, green, and white chocolate on top. This treat tastes like a typical Disney gingerbread cookie – very fluffy and light! We didn’t find it to be too gingery or too sweet, which we really enjoyed. This cookie would pair perfectly with a nice mug of hot chocolate!

While Animal Kingdom may not have as many holiday offerings as some of the other Disney parks, we still had a lovely night and we can’t wait to return with the whole family!