What’s New at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: LOW Ride Wait Times and Some Zen Pictures

There have been a lot of new updates from Disney World recently, from princess-themed treats to celebrate World Princess Week to the introduction of the Disney Genie, which replaced the old FastPass system in the parks.

Tree of Life

We’re doing our best to keep you updated with all the news! Today, we’re walking through Disney’s Animal Kingdom to take a look at what’s new and changing in the park.

We’ll start with the most important update: Food! Then we’ll take a look at construction around the park and any new merchandise we spotted.

Animal Kingdom Food Update

We spotted a new slushy at Flame Tree Barbecue this week, the Tropical Breeze Slushy made with mango and raspberry flavors. It’s a little deceptive, though, since it’s bright green and blue — we weren’t expecting that for a mango slushy!

Tropical Breeze Slushy

You can try this super sweet drink for $8.49 from Flame Tree Barbecue.

Check Out Our Full Review of the Tropical Breeze Slushy Here

Animal Kingdom Construction Update

We saw a few updates with construction around Animal Kingdom! First, on our way in we noticed parking trams in the parking lot. Although they still weren’t driving guests up to the entrance, their appearance in the lot could mean they’ll be returning for service soon. We can hope!

Parking Trams at Animal Kingdom

While we were walking through the gorgeous Pandora section of Animal Kingdom, we noticed some construction walls going up. We’re not sure what’s going on behind these, but we’ll let you know if we learn anything about it.

Construction walls in Pandora

Finally, we spotted some people working on the raft on the Discovery River Lagoon.

Construction on the raft

This raft will be used for the new daytime show coming to Animal Kingdom for Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations!

Learn More About the New Show Coming to Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom Merchandise Update

We didn’t find any new merchandise this time, but we did see a really cool MagicBand get restocked in the Discovery Trading Company gift shop.

Sidekicks MagicBand

It’s Dooney and Bourke’s Sidekicks MagicBand, and it’s covered in lots of beloved sidekicks from Disney movies.

More Disney Sidekicks

You can get this band for $48 at Discovery Trading Company. It might be a little out of the budget for a MagicBand, but that doesn’t stop us from admiring the band when we see it in the parks!

Click Here to See More of the Dooney and Bourke’s Sidekick Collection

Ride Wait Times and Atmosphere Photos

We also checked out some ride wait times around Animal Kingdom as we searched for news. First, we stopped by It’s Tough to Be a Bug, which only had a 10-minute wait.

It’s Tough to Be a Bug

We were even more surprised to see the short wait times at Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest. Kilimanjaro Safaris had a 15-minute wait

Kilimanjaro Safaris

…and Everest was only 10!

Expedition Everest

The parks felt super empty the last few days, most likely because schools started again, so fewer guests are on vacation right now.

Low Crowds

We’ll end our update with some gorgeous photos of waterfalls around Pandora, for your enjoyment. 😊

Pandora Waterfalls

We can practically hear the banshees screaming in the distance…so peaceful.

More waterfalls

Keep following DFB for more updates on what’s new in the Disney parks!

Click Here to Find Out What’s New in Disney’s Hollywood Studios This Week


Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Don’t Miss Out on Any Disney Fun!

Order Your Copy of the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining Today!

With more than 750 pages, the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining is full of tips and planning tools developed by Disney World experts over 30+ years of visits. We’ve done the research for you, so you’ll know just which spots will uniquely suit your family’s needs!

With mini-reviews of every single restaurant, bar, lounge, kiosk and more; an entire chapter on the best snacks in Disney World; full Disney Dining Plan analysis (and how to get FREE dining); and a full chapter on discounts and deals; you’ll have everything you need to plan your best vacation yet.

Click here to order your copy of the 2021 DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining E-book with code WDW2021 to save 25% off the cover price today!

Use code WDW2021 at check-out for 25% off the cover price today!

ready-to-shop-button
Our guides are backed by a 100% money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose. 🙂

What’s your favorite land in Animal Kingdom? Let us know in the comments!

The post What’s New at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: LOW Ride Wait Times and Some Zen Pictures first appeared on the disney food blog.