Meet Santa at Santa’s Holiday Grove at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Santa’s Holiday Grove is the official location to meet Santa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom this holiday season. You may remember that in the past couple of years, he met in the former Dinoland, USA. We visited Disney’s Animal Kingdom to meet Santa at the Holiday Grove. Below, we’ll discuss location details, how long we waited, and preview a few photos from our experience.Â
Santa’s Holiday Grove is located across the walkway from the Theater in The Wild where Finding Nemo: The Big Blue …and Beyond is performed daily. If you’re coming from the front of the park, you’ll pass by the construction walls where the Tropical Americas land is being built.
Here, you’ll run into long rows of benches with seasonal potted plants and trees on both sides of the walkway. A sign indicates you’ve reached Santa’s Holiday Grove. The meet-and-greet line for Santa Claus will be a little further up on the left.
The actual meet-and-greet is set up along the far side of the Discovery River Amphitheater. We got in line at 11:57 a.m. His next meet-and-greet time was listed at 12:15 p.m. in the My Disney Experience app.
Santa’s meet-and-greet is listed as Greet Santa Claus at Santa’s Holiday Grove. During our visit, Santa wasn’t listed in the character section of the My Disney Experience app. We found his listing by using the app’s search feature for “Holiday Grove.” The app showed that Santa was meeting intermittently between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 pm. on the day of our visit. It also showed a list of individual times for the day.
Right after we joined the line, Santa stepped away for a short break. We were told that he would return shortly. Apparently, it was time for his reindeer to have lunch, and he needed to feed them. True to his word, he returned a few minutes later. We were given a pack of Life Savers Gummies before we met him. The Cast Member at the meet-and-greet said they would have Skittles at this location in the next few days. The candy offering was sponsored by Mars.
The theme of this location is Santa’s campsite. The surrounding props offer a glimpse into his travels around the world, with handcrafted toys, sculptures, tools, maps, and navigational instruments scattered throughout the setting. Here are a few photos.
It was our turn to meet Santa at 12:24 p.m., so we waited 27 minutes.
Santa was more than eager to pose for a few photos.
A Disney PhotoPass photographer was available to take photos for those who purchased the Memory Maker.
Overall, this is a fun location and makes for a great family photo!
After we exited the meet-and-greet, I saw that a couple of tents were set up with holiday treats.
A sign at the start of the line features all of the items available. You may remember we previewed each of these items in our list of 2026 Christmas Food at Disney World.
Final Thoughts
Overall, we enjoyed meeting Santa at his Holiday Grove at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Of course, all of the Santa locations at Disney World are exceptionally themed and wonderful opportunities. For other locations, you might like the following:
For more festivities at this park, see our overview of Christmas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. For more on Walt Disney World in its entirety, see our list of Christmas Events at Disney World. Check back with Resorts Gal for the latest Disney updates and reviews.
In the Comments
Will you have the chance to meet Santa at Santa’s Holiday Grove? Let us know in the comments below.
