New Summer Food at Animal Kingdom
The “Incredible Summer” food offerings at Magic Kingdom fell far short of the ‘super’ reviews the Disney food and beverage team were hoping for…but when you slap names like ‘no capes just crepes sundae’ onto an underwhelming and sugar-laden dish of melty-looking ice cream, it’s really not a surprise. Between the food offerings, the dance party, and Edna’s inaugural park appearances, Magic Kingdom is the hub of the “Incredible Summer”, and if you’re looking to boogie with the best Supers on the block, you should definitely drop by.
If you’re hoping to sink your teeth into something worthwhile, the Magic Kingdom is the last park you want to visit, especially when the chefs over at Animal Kingdom apparently haven’t slept in the past few months. The amount of new food offerings they’ve announced for the summer is, to put it bluntly, absolutely staggering. Are you hoping to bulk out your visit to Animal Kingdom by splurging on new snacks? Is an all-new menu at a long-standing restaurant up your alley? How badly do you wish you could eat ALL of the new desserts? If your tummy isn’t already rumbling, I give until the end of the next paragraph…
Dessert Party
My grandma would not approve of starting off with dessert, but she doesn’t have internet access, so desserts first it is! In conjunction with Rivers of Light, a new dessert party was announced just this week and it features a menu of sweets that is directly inspired by the living, breathing, plant and animal life from the nighttime show. There will be plant-inspired desserts, like brightly colored daisy cupcakes and a potted ‘plant’ that looks very much like it will contain the kid-friendly ‘dirt’ dessert, and sparkling beverages- which will you taste first?
New Menu Items
With fantastic quick serve options like Flame Tree Barbecue and Satu’li Canteen, I’ve never seen a reason to eat at Pizzafari when I visit Animal Kingdom- especially not after they replaced their palatable round pizzas with soggy, flavorless flatbreads. Beginning this month, that’s all about to chance as the restaurant will not only welcome back the classic round pies (thank you Disney!), but for the first time will accept reservations for large parties who want to chow down on Italian fare, family-style! Choose from 4 types of pizza, Caesar salad, and garlic knots to create your family’s favorite combination, just don’t forget to save room for the chocolate cannoli-inspired dessert!
Eats Through the Streets
You don’t necessarily have to plop down at a dessert party or a table-service restaurant to enjoy the new food offerings at Animal Kingdom! Take a stroll through the streets of Pandora, Asia, and Africa for a true food tour that will take hungry explorers more than just one day to complete!
- Satu’li Canteen- Hip hip, hooray! The news of new build-your-own-bowl options at my favorite quick-serve restaurant may or may not have caused a dance party of one in the middle of a crowded city street…but that’s a story for another time. The story for right now is this: Satu’li has 2 new bowl bases (rice and beans, hearty salad) and now gives you the option to combine more than one meat! Since I usually start thinking about if I want chicken or beef around breakfast time, I and my very patient family are thrilled that I no longer have to make that choice!
- Harambe Market- Stop by for the street corn, stay for the new menu items! Serving now at Harambe Market are two new dishes, and its up to you what order you eat them in (sorry grandma!). When I first read through the description of the roasted veggie and rice platter with sweet potatoes, chickpeas, cauliflower, steamed rice, and yogurt sauce, the delicious-sounding ingredients overshadowed the fact that this dish is completely vegetarian friendly! Finish, or begin, your journey to Harambe with a dark chocolate-encrusted, pineapple-coconut mousse-filled dome inspired by the Okapi!
- Dinosland USA- Restaurantosaurus and the Dino Diner are serving up new eats just in time for Donald’s Dino Bash. The enormous broiled Italian sausage sandwich is gigantic enough to satisfy the lunchtime hunger pangs of a T-Rex, while the leafy, fruit-packed salad with grilled chicken is going to be the very next thing I order when I visit Animal Kingdom! Well, the first thing after the new bowls at Satu’li…
- Desserts- Throughout the park, you’ll be able to get your hands on not one, not two, not three, but more than five new desserts! There is the cannoli cake from Pizzafari, the Okapi dome from Harambe Market, EVERYTHING from the desserts party…and that’s still not all! Flame Tree Barbecue has a new maple cake on the menu to help wash down all of that barbecued food you’ve just enjoyed, and the Dino Diner is serving up a cute vanilla/white chocolate cupcake topped with blue and white buttercream, crisp pearl wafers, and a fondant bow. So…with ALL of that new food to digest, we want to know which you’ll be trying first! Let us know in the comments, and happy eating!
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Special thanks to Maria Salerno for writing this article: Hiya pal! I am a NYC-based writer thrilled to be a part of your Disney vacation planning! I’m a WDW Annual Passholder, so you can find me in the parks regularly throughout the year. In addition to being a Disney Parks loving girl, I’m also a Disney toy and merchandise collector, a runDisney enthusiast, and Disney music and movie aficionado. You can follow me on Instagram: NYCtoAP and find me on YouTube: NYCtoAP. Thanks for reading, hope to see ya real soon!
