Good morning from Disney’s Animal Kingdom! We’re starting our day with the animals, and later on we’ll be heading over to Disney Springs to assess things at the shopping and dining district. We’ve got loads of new merchandise and food today, so let’s get our day started.
The first, and most apparent, thing guests will notice at Animal Kingdom in mid-January is that Christmas decorations are still up. While they’ve been removed at the Magic Kingdom, they are still going strong here.
Of course, the Tree of Life itself remains in its standard, unaltered state.
At Discovery Trading Company, a display was set up with the Dooney & Bourke Mickey and Minnie Mouse Love Collection bags, despite the rest of the park still being stuck in Christmas mode.
We also found this “Up” Wilderness Explorers MagicBand which has a couple fun details for fans of the movie — or fans of unique MagicBands.
At Creature Comforts, we found this modified return of the Cotton Top Tamarin Cupcake. The cupcake has different styling and different flavors than the previous iteration.
Over in what remains of DinoLand U.S.A., we found this 2021 park icon pressed penny which completes the set of all four park icons. Check out our posts with the designs from Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
At Theater In The Wild, little has changed as Finding Nemo The Musical remains shuttered with no announced reopening date.
Also closed is Kali River Rapids, which is down for a rather lengthy refurbishment. Cast Members advised that the attraction is not expected to return until April.
Much like Finding Nemo The Musical, nary a word has been heard from Disney about when Festival of the Lion King might return.
Wrapping up our time in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we picked up one of these new double-chocolate butterscotch banana muffins from Pandora — The World of Avatar.
At Disney Springs, one of the first things we noticed is the significant progress on the construction of the M&M’s store, and the bright yellow paneling that has been added. The building is certainly starting to resemble the candy after many long months of work.
At the nearby City Works Eatery & Pour House, we picked up some of the offerings from their new “Express” menu. Options include unique items such as Duck Fat Popcorn and a Peanut Butter Snickers Cup.
As always, sweets can be found at many other locations within Disney Springs, such as this impressive cake from Amorette’s Patisserie. The Peanut Butter Snickers Cup at City Works was a bit more affordable, though.
Naturally, Goofy’s Candy Co. is big into sweets, and they had this fun Mickey candy art on display.
Other new food offerings at Disney Springs include the New Delhi Poutine at The Daily Poutine and Mac & Cheese Fritters from a food truck at Exposition Park.
Rounding out our trip to Disney Springs with some new merchandise, this Avengers convertible fleece hoodie was found at Super Hero Headquarters for $64.99.
A matching tank top and shorts were available at the same location, and both cost $34.99.
This Captain America t-shirt runs $36.99.
Lastly at Super Hero Headquarters, these Marvel baseball jerseys and t-shirts are new arrivals and cost $59.99 and $36.99, respectively.
We finish up our day at the Coca-Cola Store, where some new additions to the Coca-Cola x Walt Disney World Resort crossover line have appeared. These new items include a pin, keychain, hat, souvenir bottle, and most importantly, a Coca-Cola polar bear.
That’s it for today’s trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs! Today was a big day for new food items — cupcakes, appetizers, and more. Is there a new item you’re most looking forward to trying? Leave a comment and let us know what looks the best!