Animal Kingdom is the theme park at Walt Disney World that’s most overlooked at Christmas. This guide to the holiday season at DAK covers decorations, overlays and entertainment–with something in every land–including what’s new for November and December 2024. Here’s our reviews of each special offering, photos, info & tips for making the most of your visit to Animal Kingdom this Christmas.
Christmas 2024 is only the 5th or 6th year (depending upon how you count) that Animal Kingdom is offering marquee holiday entertainment and decorations throughout the entire park, so it’s easy to see why Walt Disney World diehards would overlook this holiday hidden gem. There was about a decade when Animal Kingdom wasn’t even open after dark during the holiday season!
With that said, it’s hardly the beginning of holiday offerings at Animal Kingdom. Who among us doesn’t still sing the song from the iconic Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade?! Mickey to Rafiki. Come in, Rafiki! (Nobody? Okay, I’ll stop. Your loss, though.) It’s been over a decade since Jingle Jungle Parade last ran, so we’ll forgive you if you never experienced that silly and fun daytime parade overlay.
More recently, as we cover in our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World, Animal Kingdom has celebrated the holidays and multicultural winter traditions from around the globe, albeit in subtle ways. There was obviously the icon Christmas tree outside the park, but even within the lands, you could find on-theme decorations, many “crafted” out of found materials by local artisans.
This has been evident in Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama, Asia, and Africa, where decorations had a handmade sensibility in keeping with the stories of those lands. These wreaths, garland, and other decor blended in really well…a little too well, in fact. Unless you had a keen eye looking for details, you might’ve missed them.
More recently, Discovery Island and Pandora – The World of Avatar have received added decorations. Not that the front of the park didn’t have them before, but it was on the subtle side. The park is already beautifully layered, begging guests to take their time, linger, and peel back layers of details. There was arguably a bit too much peeling back in the past–now Christmas at Animal Kingdom is more obvious.
Animal Kingdom is a hidden gem not in the sense that you need to look hard to spot the seasonal celebration, but that more guests skip Animal Kingdom at Christmas than any other park. Part of that is the still-shorter hours, but thankfully, Animal Kingdom will be open in the evening every night during the holiday season.
With that in mind, let’s start by covering what’s new for Christmas 2024 at Animal Kingdom…
Over the last few years, you may have seen Kris Kringle waving to guests as he sailed around the waterways of Disney’s Animal Kingdom during the holiday cavalcades. This year, you can meet Santa Claus at the 75th Annual Dino Institute Holiday Party on the patio at Restaurantosaurus.
As the guest of honor himself, Santa’s checked his list twice and invited everyone to join him in this festive new location as the students and faculty of the Dino Institute celebrate the season in (pre)-historic fashion from November 12-December 24. Bring the whole family, because a Santa sighting is perfect for the little ones!
I just want to say that I love this. I know I’m totally going to ruin my “street cred” with regular readers as Dino-Rama’s #1 hater. But if I’m being honest, I actually enjoy this time of year in Dinoland, and most of the reason for that is on the Dino-Rama half of the land. The kitschy decorations and character costumes just work, and I usually make a point of only visiting at night, when the overall ugliness of Dino-Rama is more difficult to discern.
What I really love about this, though, is that it’s a loving send-off for Dinoland. Now, some might argue that a metaphorical dumpster fire doesn’t deserve a fond farewell before being bulldozed and taken to the literal landfill, but I think that’s a bit harsh!
In case you missed it, Walt Disney World announced that the Dino-Rama side of the land closes in early 2025. The Dinoland side won’t close right away, but it’s almost certainly going extinct sometime in 2025. (See When Will DINOSAUR & Dino-Rama Close at Disney World? for announced closing dates and predictions for the other half.)
Accordingly, Christmas 2024 is the last year of Dinoland/Dino-Rama. Normally, Walt Disney World wouldn’t create a new holiday offering knowing that it’ll be a one-and-done, but I really appreciate that they’ve opted to do so here. Busting out my Christmas wish list, I’d also love to see this accompanied by a special menu for Restaurantosaurus. I’d love for my last meal here to be, you know, actually edible!
Speaking of holiday food and Dinoland, I’d also love to say goodbye to Dino-Bites Snacks with the Double Chocolate Peppermint Ice Cream Sandwich. This is not confirmed as returning for Christmas 2024, but I really hope it does–we should have a food guide for the holiday season very soon.
Unlike the other parks, Animal Kingdom doesn’t do many Christmas snacks, but this one is a doozy that we highly recommend! This rich and decadent thanks to those double chocolate cookies (one of which is partially dipped in white chocolate), but with a refreshing kick thanks to the candy cane crunch covering the vanilla ice cream.
The following is photos and info from past holiday seasons at Animal Kingdom. Walt Disney World has not confirmed the specific decorations that are returning–and probably won’t. It’s our expectation that Dino-Rama and every other land get their full decor packages for Christmas 2024, but construction could impact things adversely. We’ll update the following shortly after Christmas 2024 at Walt Disney World kicks off!
In addition to that glorious ice cream sandwich, Dino-Rama features kitschy Americana meets dinorific holiday fun. The highlight here is Dino-Sue fully wrapped in Christmas lights and complete with a Santa hat and beard.
Other enhancements include a giant snowman, tinsel trees, lights at Restaurantosaurus, and some fun gags and displays throughout the land. Even Dino-Rama looks nice at Christmas.
Additionally, Donald’s Dino-Bash gets into the spirit with eclectic Christmas decorations in the style of Donald Duck and each of his pals. These can be found both on the meet & greet spots and the characters themselves.
At night, guests can gather ‘round the “Truck-O-Saurus” for the Holiday Hoopla Dance Party, featuring plenty of interactive fun and games plus Chip ‘n’ Dale, who are wearing dinosaur costumes…with Christmas costumes on top of those. (Costumes on top of costumes on top of costumes!)
The village of Harambe in Africa blends the inspiration and style of western traditions with the colors and textiles of authentic African celebrations. Harambe’s performers appearing throughout the day introduce holiday-inspired enhancements, including costume additions and new music.
The holiday fun continues at Tusker House, one of the best and most ambitious character meals at Walt Disney World. There, Mickey and friends will have a light holiday overlay for this character buffet.
In Asia, the residents of Anandapur have decorated the theatre district in celebration of Diwali, the holiday festival of lights in India. Glowing flowers, lanterns, and more illuminate the square between Anandapur Theater and the waterfront stage.
This debuted last Christmas and was an underrated gem that really gave life to this area of Animal Kingdom at night. It’s a great spot for a family holiday photo at night, as it’s often devoid of people, but offers bright and vibrant lighting.
Notably, the holiday spirit stretches off-planet to Pandora — The World of Avatar. There, the ex-pats working for Alpha Centauri Expeditions who inhabit Pandora bring a taste of Christmas to their alien home, with cheeky holiday decor at Pongu Pongu.
In actuality, cheeky only describes some of this decor, which is like Jingle Cruise meets Disney’s Yacht Club Resort (an odd combo, we know).
On the one hand, there’s the homesick crew members stranded thousands (or millions, as the case may be) miles from home bringing a vintage slice of Christmas to an exotic locale–like Jingle Cruise.
On the other, there are meticulously handcrafted items–like the yachts that adorn the Christmas trees and garland at Yacht Club.
There’s not a ton of holiday decor in Pandora – World of Avatar, but pay careful attention to the garland overhead.
This features beautifully carved banshee and other alien creatures from Avatar. If only Walt Disney World sold these as ornaments in the gift shop! There’s so much weird merchandise no one wants, yet we can’t get a nice wood banshee ornament!
Saving the best for last, the unequivocal highlight of of the holidays at Animal Kingdom is Christmas on Discovery Island. Walking out of the Oasis and crossing the bridge to Discovery Island is actually a tad like stepping out from under the tunnel and stepping foot onto Main Street USA at Christmas, albeit in a very different way.
This area is in the midst of a celebration of winter, with holiday decorations that are hand-crafted by the eclectic community of artists who make Discovery Island their home. Discovery Island is brimming with sparkling white holiday decorations, animal luminaries on rooftops, wireframe bird-shaped lanterns, and themed garland adorning the buildings throughout the land.
During the day, Discovery Island is alive with a life-size “Merry Menagerie” of artisan-sculpted puppets that include reindeer, foxes, polar bears, penguins, birds, seals–and probably other critters we missed.
These winter animals are accompanied by serenading live musicians who mingle amongst guests and the Merry Menagerie of critters to create festive atmosphere.
The most obvious comparison for the life-size animal puppets is Kevin the bird from Up. This walk-around character debuted in Discovery Island this year and has been a smash hit with guests with spontaneous interactions and quickly posing for fun photos.
The Merry Menagerie of animal puppets is like Kevin, but less quirky and funny, and more majestic and awe-inspiring. Those are some strong words for what you could dismiss as visible humans moving around animals. You absolutely should not dismiss them, though.
In the sense that their human puppeteers are plainly visible, the Merry Menagerie is also like Finding Nemo Big Blue & Beyond. The puppeteers emote as they control the animals, and the line between performer and critter is blurs, as each takes on the personality and emotions of the other.
It’s truly remarkable how effective this is, and how easy it is for guests to suspend disbelief. The Merry Menagerie of animals is mesmerizing as you watch the creatures interact with guests and one another. This isn’t hyperbole on our part, either.
We observed more guests than we could count pet the animals, and genuinely react when a fox pounced or a seal snuggled them. Several kids were taken aback by the polar bears, and a few asked their parents if it was okay to approach and touch the gentle giants.
The Merry Menagerie is hilarious and engaging; these animals add personality and substance to Discovery Island. Merry Menagerie is something wholesome and pure for the holidays that makes a huge impact on guests.
It’s entertainment like this that showcases how Walt Disney World can do something special without being a blockbuster new attraction that cost $150 million and 5 years to build.
These Merry Menagerie puppets are the kind of thing that will be an indelible memory for some guests.
Merry Menagerie is the brightest star of the Christmas season at Walt Disney World–and that’s not something I say lightly. These little puppies–or foxes, polar bears, and so forth, as the case may be–are the real reason why Animal Kingdom is the holiday hidden gem at Walt Disney World.
I’m not even kidding. I consider Merry Menagerie to be the #1 highlight of Christmas at Walt Disney World–at least, of the things included in regular admission.
Now part of that is because Walt Disney World has cut so much from the other parks. Merry Menagerie is not better than the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights, Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, or the Lights of Winter (hmmm…anyone spot a commonality among my extinct faves?), but all of those things are gone.
“Magical” is a term we don’t often use, as it gets thrown around by Walt Disney World so haphazardly that it’s almost devoid of all meaning and significance. Everything from new cupcakes to shopping on your phone is worthy of that superlative, in Disney’s view.
Merry Menagerie is magical, really and truly. This is a guide so I won’t overdue it on the editorializing, but I’d implore you to read Merry Menagerie: Real Christmas Magic at Walt Disney World if you’re still on the fence about doing DAK during the holidays.
Seriously. Merry Menagerie is one of those things that’s deceptively simple but surprisingly effective at causing guests to suspend disbelief. These animals mesmerize guests as they interact with them, having pure and wholesome fun. Much like the aforementioned lights, Merry Menagerie packs an emotional punch that hits your heart far harder (?) than it should on paper. These photos do not do it justice!
The fun on Discovery Island doesn’t end when the Merry Menagerie heads off to hibernate for the night. The rooftop luminaries around Discovery Island create a warm and festive glow throughout the entire village.
Beautiful holiday background music continues to play, imbuing Discovery Island with a ‘winter wonderland’ elegance. At the center of Discovery Island, the Tree of Life is projected with a shade of deep blue, while snow collects on its trunk.
Beginning 30 minutes after sunset and continuing until park close, the Tree of Life Winter Awakenings tell a series of seasonal tales, complete with a familiar and heartwarming holiday-inspired musical score. In each vignette, you’ll see some of the same wildlife from the Merry Menagerie engaged.
As always, the Tree of Life Awakenings are awesome.
These brief scenes during which the animals on the Tree of Life come alive via projections are awesome. This is pure Disney magic, and the experience reminds me a lot of (a technologically more impressive version of) the Kiss Goodnight at Magic Kingdom.
The various Winter Awakenings only last a few minutes each, but they’re beautiful–both in story and visuals. These capture the spirit of the season at Animal Kingdom, and we definitely recommend making an effort to see a couple of them. They’re perfectly on-theme for the park–and the perfect way to end a holiday day at DAK.
In terms of strategy, not much is possible or even necessary. Our biggest piece of advice would be timing your visit to see the Merry Menagerie when crowds are lowest. It’s almost impossible to get ‘clean’ photos with the animals and puppeteers without other guests in the background.
However, avoiding high traffic times of day on Discovery Island can help with that. In our experience, Discovery Island is most busy as guests are arriving and when they’re leaving. This leaves the middle of the day, from around 1 pm to 3 pm, as the sweet spot. Note that the Merry Menagerie ends before sunset, with their last set currently ending at 5 pm.
With that said, we’re also big fans of Afternoon Arrivals at Animal Kingdom (see that post for step-by-step strategy). If you show up in mid-afternoon, you can easily enjoy the seasonal entertainment and most (if not all!) rides in the park.
Wait times decrease after about 2 pm, which happens in large part because Animal Kingdom opens early and there isn’t enough for most guests to fill an entire day in the park right now.
It’s perfectly realistic to arrive at 2 pm or so, knock out a few low-wait attractions, jump in line for the Pandora – World of Avatar attractions in the last hour the park is open, and then slowly make your way out of Discovery Island after Animal Kingdom has closed.
This approach means you’re necessarily watching the Tree of Life Winter Awakenings around–or even after–park closing. This is what we normally do.
With that said, we do recommend watching the Tree of Life Awakenings as soon as they begin if you want the best photos. This is usually 30 minutes after sunset, at which time there’s still a glow and bit of color in the sky. (That’s when all of the Tree of Life Awakenings photos here were taken.)
The downside is that this is unquestionably when Discovery Island is most crowded, as many guests don’t seem to realize the Tree of Life Awakenings occur continuously until after park closing.
Overall, the Christmas and other holiday entertainment at Disney’s Animal Kingdom are fantastic. While the level of ambition and thoroughness varies, each land is decorated with thematic integrity, and the look makes sense in context. Most importantly, the Merry Menagerie puppeteers on Discovery Island are simple but entrancing, and one of (if not the!) the holiday highlights in all of Walt Disney World.
We’ll be spending many afternoons on Discovery Island, watching them interact and listening to the live musicians before heading to Dino-Rama to say farewell and (hopefully!) grab one of those ice cream sandwiches after (hopefully!) an actually edible meal and meet & greet with Santa Claus at Restaurantosaurus, and then returning for the Tree of Life Awakenings. Animal Kingdom is going to be a mess throughout 2025 and 2026, making this holiday season the last time to see the park as “normal” for the next few years. We’d encourage you to do exactly that, as the park has quietly cemented its spot as the sleeper hit of the holiday season at Walt Disney World.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Animal Kingdom getting into the festivities this Christmas season? Are you excited to bid a fond farewell or gleeful good riddance to Dino-Rama during December? Think Merry Menagerie looks as awesome as our praise for it, or is it overrated? Any questions we can help you answer? Agree or disagree with our assessment of DAK during the holiday season? Hearing your feedback is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
