Hi, DFB friends! We’re back with more of what’s new from Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The week of the Christmas holiday brought lots of crowds to Disney World and a few surprises along the way! Check out all the news from Animal Kingdom.

Animal Kingdom Merchandise Updates

Snack Carts

The shiny Christmas Tree Popcorn Buckets were back in stock during one of our recent visits to Animal Kingdom! These buckets are $25 and we found them somewhat hidden at The Feeding Ground at Discovery Island, and Corn-Ivores in Dino-Land U.S.A.

The 2021 Christmas Tree Buckets are gold and they also light up! If you want one be sure to look for them in the parks.

Check out more photos of the Christmas Tree Bucket here!

A holiday Mickey Bottle Topper has also arrived! While we’ve seen a peppermint Mickey bottle topper in the past, this year’s bottle topper has a blue snowflake design with a blue straw.

You can find this bottle topper at most snack carts around Animal Kingdom for $6, and it must be purchased with a beverage. We bought it with a bottle of water for $3.50, bringing our total cost to a bit under $10.

Check out more photos of the 2021 Mickey Snowflake Bottle Topper here!

Riverside Depot

Riverside Depot had a new Mystery Pin Collection for $17.99 per box. Each box contains two randomly selected pins out of 12 possible options.

We also noticed that an older ornament with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald had been restocked. You can grab this Holiday Sleigh Ornament for $24.99.

Is Goofy holding mistletoe?

Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures

Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures in DinoLand U.S.A. had a new (or, at least, new to us) Dinosaur Crystal for $19.95. You can get your very own silver dino perched on top of a crystal!

Now let’s get to some other updates!

Animal Kingdom Various Updates

During our visit, the line for Expedition Everest had been closed due to capacity, which is something we don’t remember seeing before. Typically they just extend the line back toward the Finding Nemo — The Musical building. In the My Disney Experience app, the ride was listed as “temporarily closed” though it was still running.

Soon after, the Cast Members reopened the line and were informing guests that it was a two hour wait, though the main ride sign listed the wait time at 90 minutes. As we are in the middle of the holiday season, you may find some large crowds in the parks which lead to some interesting situations like this one. Just be sure to ask a Cast Member for help if you have any questions about how a specific ride’s line is being handled.

Expedition Everest will have a 3-month closure in Disney World — Click here to read more!

And in other random but interesting news, we watched Cast Member Carter retrieve a cell phone that a guest dropped over a fence! If you happen to drop something in an awkward spot, Cast Members might be able to use this long pincher tool to get to it.

Of course, this is just what we saw done for this particular circumstance. Note that this might not always be an option. We appreciate the hard work of Cast Members — especially when they help us find a lost item!

And that’s all the news from Animal Kingdom! Are you planning a Disney World visit soon? Keep reading DFB for more Disney World news and updates!

PHOTOS: See what the holiday crowds are like in Disney World now!

Have you visited Animal Kingdom recently? Tell us in the comments!