Merry Menagerie at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The Merry Menagerie is a group of performers with life-size, Artisan-sculpted puppets in the form of penguins, reindeer, polar bears, foxes, and more. A few performers have instruments and play music while the animal-like puppets mingle with the crowds.

You’ll find these puppeteers in the Discovery Island area of Disney’s Animal Kingdom during the Christmas holidays. They originally debuted in 2019 and returned in 2021. They’ve been present each holiday season since and are scheduled to return for the 2025 holiday season.

How Disney Describes it:

See Discovery Island come to life with artisan-sculpted puppets of arctic animals—like penguins, reindeer, foxes and polar bears.

©ResortsGal

Overall, the Merry Menagerie is a wonderful addition to the holiday season at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. If you’re visiting the park over the holidays, make sure to take a few moments to interact with some of the artists. You might be surprised at how life-like you find the puppets. Children often enjoy petting them as though they were real creatures.

Photos from previous years:

For other holiday attractions, you might also enjoy Frozen Holiday Surprise and the Jingle Cruise at Magic Kingdom. At Epcot, Glimmering Greenhouses on Living with the Land has the perfect holiday overlay. While you’re at Hollywood Studios, make sure to take in a performance of the Frozen Sing-Along’s holiday edition with Olaf and Sunset Seasons Greetings, a nightly projection show on the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Then, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you might take a moment to meet Mickey and Minnie in their holiday outfits at Adventurer’s Outpost. And don’t miss the Tree of Life Awakenings Holiday Edition at nightfall.

Christmas at Disney World

Each year, we cover the Christmas season across Walt Disney World from the theme parks to the resorts. You can use the links below to explore more of our coverage:

More Planning

Resorts Gal specializes in Disney World Resorts, Characters, and Dining. Explore our resources, including our Disney World Resorts Guide. It provides an overview of everything you need to know about the Disney Resort Hotels. For dining, our Disney World Dining Guide is an excellent place to start. Our Disney World Transportation Guide is a wonderful resource for planning your routes. It’s one of our most popular resources. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Lastly, our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.

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