A Guide to the Holiday Festivities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2025

The holiday season is in full swing at Disney’s Animal Kingdom this year. With it comes the return of familiar decorations, special character offerings, and after-dark touches that most will want to enjoy. While the park doesn’t have any major new holiday offerings in 2025, there is still plenty to see and do. Below, we’ll walk through what’s returned and check out some of the decor. Then, you can decide what items deserve a spot in your holiday plans. You can also use this 2025 guide as a starting reference for planning next year’s trip. (We’ll provide a new guide when we know more about what’s to come next year.)

Updated: December 1, 2025

You are currently reading our guide to Christmas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2025. Please note that we have holiday guides for a few theme parks and Disney Springs. Here is a quick reference:

• Magic Kingdom Christmas Guide (2025 Edition)
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios Christmas Guide (2025 Edition)
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Christmas Guide (You are here.)
• Things to Do at Disney Springs for the 2025 Holiday Season

Note that Epcot’s Christmas offerings are unique to the current Epcot International Festival of the Holidays.

Holiday Offerings at Animal Kingdom in 2025

Here are the major holiday offerings at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2025:

• Merry Menagerie on Discovery Island
• Tree of Life Awakenings Holiday Edition
• Meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Holiday Attire
• Meet Santa in Dinoland U.S.A.*
• Specialty Food and Treats
• Holiday Decor Throughout the Park

* 2025 will likely be the last time to meet Santa in Dinoland, U.S.A., since this area of the park is closing in February of 2026.

Merry Menagerie

The Merry Menagerie returns to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the holiday season. These incredible artists wield artisan-sculpted puppets that resemble Arctic animals! They are truly a highlight of a holiday visit to the park. The puppeteers have a magical way of bringing each piece to life. You might see a fox, penguins, polar bears, and even reindeer! Here are a few photos of what to expect.

Tree of Life Awakenings Holiday Edition

Each evening after sunset, the Tree of Life wakes up to offer a visual display of holiday scenes. It’s a beautiful show that can be seen with little effort. It begins each evening after dark and occurs approximately every 10 minutes until the park closes.

Meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Holiday Attire

Adventurer’s Outpost is the only traditional meet-and-greet location for Mickey and Minnie Mouse at Walt Disney World. They meet here daily in their safari suits. However, at Christmastime, those looks get a little bit of a glow-up. They wear their holiday best at this location. Here is a photo that shows Mickey with a red shirt, festive tie, and plaid ribbon around his hat. Minnie is wearing a festive scarf.

Meet Santa on the Patio of Restaurantosaurus

Santa returns to Dinoland U.S.A. for the 2025 holiday season. He meets on the side patio of Restaurantosaurus. You can find him at this location most days until about 4:00 p.m. As always, you’ll want to check the My Disney Experience app for his exact times on the day of your visit. We noted it above, but just a reminder that this area of the park permanently closes in February of 2026. So it is your last year to take a photo with Santa at his Dinoland location. We’ll have to wait and see what next year brings.

Food and Treats

If you’re visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom this holiday season, you might want to add a few treats to your holiday snack crawl! Disney has released a list of snacks and other tasty seasonal items you’ll find in parks. Some of the items include a peppermint ganache brownie, a cranberry cheesecake pop, and more. See this year’s Animal Kingdom holiday foodie guide for location details and exact dates.

2025 Holiday Decorations at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Lastly, I wanted to share a few photos taken from a recent visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s important to note that all of the parks offer stunning holiday decorations. Each park is unique.

When you first arrive, you’ll see the park’s featured Christmas tree outside the main entrance. Even the ticket windows are decorated for the holidays.

I always try to pause and take in as much as possible. Disney goes out of its way to decorate, and the details do not go unnoticed.

Here is the park’s Christmas tree, taken a few days after it first went up back in November.

If you’re patient and have a little extra time, you can usually get a photo without someone standing immediately in front of it. PhotoPass photographers are stationed around the tree to take photos for guests who have the Memory Maker. Here are a few ornaments.

This tree always has fun presents with some of our favorite characters referenced underneath it.

We’ll move on to the turnstiles, where we see even more decorative garland.

After you walk through the Oasis, you’ll find yourself on Discovery Island. This area of the park is going to have the most Christmas decorations this holiday season. It’s all well done.

Across the walkway, we can see that Island Mercantile has also been decorated.

You’ll also find decorations in other parts of the park, like the lanterns in Asia. Most of the following photos are from previous years.

In Africa, you’ll find a nod to recycling. Most of the decorations come from recycled elements.

More decorations are available in Pandora, World of Avatar, and what’s left of Dinoland, U.S.A.

We hope you’re able to check out some of the holiday festivities at Disney’s Animal Kingdom this holiday season! For more on Christmas, see our entire 2025 holiday guide!

In the Comments

Do you plan to visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom during the 2025 Christmas season? Let us know in the comments below.