Since Disney World’s 50th Anniversary started last weekend, there’s a lot of new things around the parks.

We spotted lots of merchandise, TONS of new snacks and treats, and a few new shows around Disney World. Today we’re looking at Disney’s Animal Kingdom to check out what’s new in this park since the 50th arrived.

We’ve got to warn you — this is a really big update. There’s a whole lot of new things to catch you up on, so just stick with us to learn about all the new things in Disney’s wildest kingdom!

Animal Kingdom Food Update

Most of the new things in Animal Kingdom are food-related. We found snacks, treats, and drinks for days in the park! We’ll break it down by the restaurants so that it’s easier to show you what’s new.

Warung Outpost

This update isn’t necessarily about a new snack, but rather a classic snack in a new location. We spotted popcorn at Warung Outpost!

This stand usually just has drinks (including some frozen margaritas) and very limited snacks, but reccently we saw that they’re also selling popcorn in boxes.

So now you can enjoy a salty snack to go with your refreshing drinks.

Flame Tree Barbecue

We headed to Flame Tree Barbecue next, where we usually enjoy some classic barbecue and maybe even concoct a delicious new menu item entirely our own.  This time, though, there was a brand new menu item: the Smoked Meatloaf Platter.

The platter came with meatloaf, fries, macaroni and cheese, and chili for $13.99. On the menu, it said it would include garlic bread, fries, baked beans, and coleslaw, so it’s possible that our order got a little mixed up. That didn’t stop us from enjoying this tasty dish, though!

There was also a new drink, the EARidescent Firefly for $8.49. The drink is  pineapple juice, Powerade Mountain Berry Blast, a splash of Sprite, and garnished with pineapple “ears.”

Read Our Review of the Meatloaf Platter and EARidescent Firefly Here

For dessert, we tried the Scar-themed cupcake, which was a Red Velvet Cake that has a Toasted Marshmallow filling. It’s topped with Chocolate Marshmallow frosting, Chocolate Pebbles, and White Chocolate flames with an edible icing picture of Scar.

The cupcake was $5.99 at Flame Tree Barbecue!

Read Our Review of the Scar Cupcake Here

In addition, both the little water cups and the bigger soda cups got a 50th anniversary makeover at this spot. The cups are sponsored by Coca-Cola, so you’ll find their logo alongside classic Disney characters.

But we’re not full yet, so let’s look at some other Animal Kingdom treats!

Creature Comforts

Creature Comforts is the Starbucks location at Animal Kingdom. We found a few different 50th treats here, including a Colossal Mickey Cinnamon Roll with new blue icing for $7.49…

…the 50th Celebration Mickey Mouse Dome for $5.99…

…and a 50th Celebration Cupcake for $5.99 as well!

Not that none of these treats were the top picks in this park, so read on to check out some more options.

Click Here to Read Our Full Review of the Treats at Creature Comforts

Tamu Tamu Refreshments

Remember how we said that cupcake was one of the only tart treats for the 50th? It actually doesn’t even compare to the sourness we experienced with the new Dole Whip at Tamu Tamu Refreshments. This treat is called the Lion’s Lair, and it’s Dole Whip Pineapple topped with a sour-apple flavored syrup and Parrot Bay Coconut Rum for $10.

Really, this drink was SOUR. The flavor was also super sweet, so it reminded us of sour candy. But the bright colors made it look really fun, and we always love a new Dole Whip option!

Click Here to Read Our Full Review of the Lion’s Lair

ACE Mobile Treats

If you head over to Pandora, you can find the next treat at ACE Mobile Treats. There you’ll find the 50th Anniversary Birthday Muffin, which is a House-Made Blueberry Muffin with a surprise addition of Colorful Sprinkles for $4.25.

This treat wasn’t really very different from other blueberry muffins. Pretty much the only difference was the sprinkles on top. But if you’re in the mood for a tasty muffin, you can’t go wrong with this one! Just don’t expect it to knock your socks off. 

Click Here to Read Our Review of This 50th Anniversary Muffin

Dawa Bar

Speaking of knocking your socks off, this next drink might do just that. It’s the Firefly Margarita at Dawa Bar. It’s made with Casamigos Reposado Tequila, Ancho Reyes liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup, and pineapple juice. 

The drink was actually really spicy! The pineapple garnish is dunked in red chili pepper and red chili liquor, and it is not messing around. You can grab one from Dawa Bar or Nomad Lounge for $16.

Read Our Full Review of the Firefly Margarita Here

Anandapur Ice Cream Truck

We stopped by the Anandapur Ice Cream Truck to get the next treat: a KiteTails Sundae! The sundae is strawberry and lemon-flavored soft-serve swirled together and topped with a white chocolate medallion. 

While it was a fairly basic treat, we thought it tasted amazing. The sweet strawberry ice cream balanced out well with the tart lemon, and it was perfect for a warm day. You can grab one for $5.49.

Click Here to Read Our Full Review of the KiteTails Sundae

Drinkwallah

The next treat we found was a twist on one of the most classic Disney treats out there — the Mickey Premium Bar. This bar got a special 50th Anniversary makeover at Drinkwallah in Animal Kingdom!

The 50th Celebration Mickey Premium Bar was a normal ice cream bar hand-dipped in a blue raspberry-flavored coating with celebration sprinkles and pixie dust. We always love a good Mickey Bar, but the raspberry flavor threw us off for a minute. In the end, we decided we liked the mix of fruity flavors with the classic ice cream, but we recognize that some Disney snack purists might be offended by this new concoction.

You can try it yourself now for $6.69 at Drinkwallah!

Click Here to Read Our Full Review of the 50th Celebration Mickey Bar

Dino-Bite Snacks

At Dino-Bite Snacks, we found the latest edition of their classic ice cream sandwich: the 50th Ice Cream Sandwich.

We’ve seen lots of themed versions of this treat, and honestly, we’ve loved it in all its forms. This version was vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two house-made double chocolate chip cookies, dunked in glittery celebration sprinkles, and topped with a 50th Anniversary medallion.

Take one of our favorite treats ever and add sparkly sprinkles? Yes, please! We thought the chocolate to vanilla balance was perfect, and the gooey cookies plus refreshing vanilla ice cream made it 100% a win in our books.

Read Our Full Review of the 50th Ice Cream Sandwich Here

Restaurantosaurus

There were a few new treats at Restaurantosaurus over in DinoLand U.S.A.! First, there were two different drinks, although neither of them was really our favorite. The 50th Anniversary Celebration Milkshake was the better of the two. It was a vanilla milkshake with strawberry syrup, a buttercream rim, whipped cream topping, and a sugar cookie coated with crunchy bits of fruit-flaked cereal.

As you can imagine, this one was VERY sweet. It was a heavy milkshake, and you need to have an intense sweet tooth to get to the bottom! If you think you can handle it, it’s $8.99 at Restaurantosaurus. But we would order that sweet monstrosity over the Firefly Appletini that we found in the Restaurantosaurus Lounge any day of the week.

The appletini was very sour and sweet at the same time. It tasted like you were drinking a green apple Jolly Rancher, but not in a good way. Plus it was just way too small for its price of $16.

Click Here to Read Our Reviews of These Two Drinks

The last new treat here was the Maleficent Dragon Cupcake, which was a purple velvet cupcake with “dragon blood orange curd” inside and vanilla frosting on top. It’s decorated with an edible picture of Maleficent as a dragon, white chocolate flames, and green and purple crispy pearls.

Once you got through the small mountain of purple frosting, the cupcake itself was really tasty! If you’re curious about what “dragon blood orange curd” tastes like, you can try this cupcake for $5.99. (Spoiler alert: It tastes just like regular blood orange flavor.)

Read Our Review of the Maleficent Dragon Cupcake Here

KiteTails Popcorn Stand

If you’re planning to see Animal Kingdom’s new KiteTails show, you can stop at the popcorn stand right outside to grab a snack for the show. There we found a new Chili Lime Caramel Corn mix in a souvenir popcorn bucket for $12.

Although the chili and lime flavors weren’t super strong (mostly we tasted the sweet caramel), we could still tell they were there. We really liked the unique popcorn overall, and it’s a great snack to munch on while you enjoy KiteTails.

Click Here to Read Our Full Review of Chili Lime Caramel Corn

Joffrey’s

Joffrey’s is a coffee company with stands in the Disney World parks, and they created a new drink for each of the four parks. In Animal Kingdom, the drink is called the Golden Savannah.

The drink is a Frozen Matcha Frappe topped with Whipped Cream and EARidescent Green and Gold Sprinkles. We LOVED it. The colors match Animal Kingdom really well, and we thought it was smooth, creamy, and refreshing. Matcha is a very unique flavor, and it can taste a little grassy if you’re not used to it, so be aware of that!

We bought our Golden Savannah at the Joffrey’s location just outside of Animal Kingdom’s entrance for $6.39.

Read Our Full Review of the Golden Savannah Drink Here

Whew! That’s it for all of the new snacks in Animal Kingdom. So what else is new around the park?

Animal Kingdom Entertainment Update

One of the BIGGEST updates is that Animal Kingdom has a new daytime show called KiteTails! This show features big kites and floats that sail through the sky over the Discovery River Lagoon.

There are two different versions of this show: One themed after The Jungle Book and the other after The Lion King.

To watch the new show, head to the Discovery River Amphitheater in the Asia section of the park. It’s showing daily at 11:15AM, 12:15PM, 1:15PM, 3:15PM, 4:15PM, and 5:15PM, according to the Disney World website.

But that wasn’t the only entertainment update this weekend. All four of Disney World’s park icons got a 50th Anniversary makeover to transform them into “Beacons of Magic.” This makeover came to the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom, which meant colorful projections all over it. 

The show (which happens nightly) has music that plays as the projections appear on the Tree of Life.

We’ll admit that the Animal Kingdom Beacon of Magic is maybe not as dramatic as, say, the EPCOT version. But did we still feel the magic from the music and colorful projections? Absolutely we did.

Animal Kingdom Merchandise Update

We saw 50th Anniversary merchandise all over Animal Kingdom, including at Island Mercantile (which also had sparkly EARidescent decorations), Discovery Trading, and Chester and Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures.

Chester and Hester’s also had a special 50th Anniversary display, made out of gold bottle caps! You can find the themed artwork at the entrance to this store.

At Island Mercantile, we also spotted a new kids’ t-shirt that looks perfect for the 50th celebrations. It has the Cinderella Castle surrounded by classic Disney characters.

You can grab this shirt for $19.99.

Finally, at Creature Comforts, we found a set of all four Starbucks pins for Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. We’ve seen these pins sold individually before, but now you can get the complete set — one for each of the Disney World parks.

You can get the set of four pins for $34.99 at Creature Comforts.

That’s all for our big Animal Kingdom update! Keep following DFB, and we’ll let you know about all the Disney World news.

Click Here to Check Out ALL the New 50th Anniversary Treats and Eats at Disney World

Which new Animal Kingdom treat would you try first? Let us know in the comments!