Best Animal Kingdom Snacks
Whoever said Animal Kingdom is a half-day park obviously wasn’t thinking with their stomach. It’s home to some of the best dining in all of Walt Disney World, and thanks to a strong snack and dessert game, it’s arguably best experienced as a 2-day culinary adventure. (They should use that as the park’s new catchphrase!)
Between stands offering treats and savory snacks in shareable portions, and counter service restaurants serving desserts and side dishes, there’s a lot to try at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We’ll cover all of the best options in this post, detailing what’s worth your money, and limited stomach space if you’re not planning on doing a multi-day snack safari at Animal Kingdom.
Many of these are also Disney Dining Plan snack credits, and a couple make our list of the Best-Value Uses of Disney Dining Plan Credits at Walt Disney World. Several of these snacks are good values out of pocket, but you’ll want to use Disney Dining Plan snack credits on any eligible item at or above the $5 mark.
Before we get started, I have to offer a pretty big disclaimer: half of the snack stands at Animal Kingdom are closed on any given day. It’s not uncommon for Walt Disney World to shutter a few out-of-the-way outdoor vending locations on slow days in other parks, but at Animal Kingdom, this happens all the time and even with prominent locations.
This list has been a work in progress since last fall as I’ve tried to sample the few elusive items that looked appealing on the menus of closed booths, and we went during the heart of spring break season to make that happen. Even then, closures abounded.
As such, I’m leaving off several items that are good, but are so rarely available that your chances of being able to order them are minimal. (Many of these are featured in our Snacking Our Way Around Animal Kingdom with the Tasting Sampler post.) However, you should also be aware that pretty much any snack stand could be closed at any time, so don’t get too attached to your choices while planning–they may not be available.
With that said, here’s our list of the best snacks and desserts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom…
The most well-known snack at Animal Kingdom is the Pongu Lumpia: Pineapple Cream Cheese Spring Roll.
This arrived with the opening of Pandora – World of Avatar, and immediately won a lot of fans–us included. It’s relatively inexpensive, offers a satisfying blend of sweet and savory, and has a crisp exterior to contrast with the gooey interior. It’s a good value out of pocket.
Our next snack is a relatively new, “perfect for Instagram” dessert at Harambe Market. Unfortunately named, “The Most Beautiful Cake” features coconut cake topped with creamy coconut Mousse filled with a pineapple center and accompanied by coconut crisps.
I was really weary of this at first, worried it’d be another photogenic-but-flavorless dessert. I have zero problems with photogenic food–to the contrary, I value presentation–but it needs to be backed by actual quality. This is.
The light coconut cake blends well with the creamy pineapple, and the mouse on the exterior provides added depth. The crisps may not seem like much, but they too offer enhance the dessert with a bit of texture. This is Sarah’s new ‘favorite snack’ at Animal Kingdom.
The Buffalo Chicken Chips at Trilo-Bites are my current favorite snack at Animal Kingdom.
This is a hearty, lunch or sharing sized portion of house-made chips covered with shredded buffalo chicken and coated with creamy blue cheese and drizzled with ranch dressing, plus some garnishing. These chips are made to order (and generally take a few minutes to prepare) and offer a range of flavors–salty, spicy, savory, creamy, and even a zesty freshness.
I love them–if these were served in Magic Kingdom, they’d be my go-to lunch option. In Animal Kingdom, it’s tough to turn down Flame Tree BBQ, Satu’li Canteen, or Yak & Yeti, though.
Another rich dish I love is the Baked Mac & Cheese served at Eight Spoon Cafe.
There are two varieties of this, with the Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Shrimp and Sweet Chili Sauce version pictured above. It’s good, but I prefer the version with pulled pork. However, there’s only one problem with that…
Just down the path is Flame Tree Barbecue, which recently began serving something similar. As we note in our updated Flame Tree BBQ Review, this is fantastic and one of the sleeper hits of the menu.
Aside from some cosmetic differences, it’s also almost identical to the Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Pulled Pork at Eight Spoon Cafe, but for less than double the cost for nearly triple the portion. If you’re solo and wanting to graze, go for the Eight Spoon Cafe version. Everyone else should share the one served at Flame Tree BBQ–it’ll provide snack sized portions to 3-4 people.
Within the last few weeks, Mr. Kamal’s has changed up its fries to being a seasoned offering topped with Tzatziki Salad and Sriracha Ketchup to what you see above: seasoned fries with four different dipping sauce options.
The price, however, has not changed. This means you’re looking at dropping $6 (or wisely using a Disney Dining Plan snack credit) on a thing of fries.
Above are the various options. You’re probably familiar with ketchup, which is also known as catsup in some localities and doubles as a feline greeting.
As for the other dipping sauces, they’re all varying degrees of good. I love the saffron aioli, but I’m a total sucker for aioli. It’s tough to justify paying this much for fries–even nicely seasoned ones like these. Instead, we’d recommend grabbing some of the dipping sauces on your way to Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe, where you can order a side of fries for ~$2 less.
Switching gears with a sweet dessert, here’s the ice cream cookie sandwich at Dino-Bites Snacks. This is actually the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Sandwich, which is a limited time offering, but they’re all good.
As for another limited time offering that we really hope becomes permanent, there’s the Scrooge McDuck’s Billionaire Bacon Caramel Sundae at Trilo-Bites Food Kiosk. That plus the Buffalo Chicken Chips is about the perfect Walt Disney World meal!
Next up, the Malva Cake Sundae: Warm Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce.
This might be an unconventional pick with the Dole Whip with Rum offered at this same window and the Colossal Cinnamon Roll for two over at Kusafiri Bakery, but we think the “just add booze” to Dole Whip trend is played out and that cinnamon roll is overrated. By contrast, this gooey dessert is melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Use a Disney Dining Plan snack credit on this.
Finally, a potentially honorable mention: the Donut Holes at Isle of Java. When I had these earlier in the year, they were fantastic. Warm and fresh on the inside, with apple pieces, and a delicious cider glaze. (In fact, that’s how they’re still described on Walt Disney World’s online menu.)
When I ordered them last week, they were a weird chocolate variant that tasted a few days old. Even if they weren’t ridiculously stale, the overabundance of chocolate flavor masked any amount of citrus flavor that was present. If you have snack credits to burn, it’s worth rolling the dice on these; the Apple Cider ‘version’ they used to have (and might still have some days?) is/was excellent when fresh.
That covers it for our favorite Disney’s Animal Kingdom snacks. As we’ve repeated several times, this is the unheralded food park of Walt Disney World, and what Animal Kingdom lacks in quantity as compared to World Showcase it makes up in quality, with a better signal to noise ratio. Of course, it’s unlikely that you’re going to be spending multiple days at Animal Kingdom, so choose your meals and snacks wisely!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your favorite savory snacks and decadent desserts in Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Do you agree or disagree with list of the best options? Ever caught any of the elusive options in a rare window when their kiosks were open? Any “extinct” Animal Kingdom snacks that you miss? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
The Tzatziki fries from Mr. Kamal’s were one of my favorite snacks at Disney – I am so incredibly disappointed that they’ve been replaced by some “dipping sauces.” We usually spend one of our AK days eating snacks as our meals because they have some of the best snacks…
We were disappointed too. Today they only offered three sauces as well. Not a lot of fries for $6 certainly. Good way to burn snack credits if needed. Also, we are gluten free and these passed the test.
Are the buffalo chicken chips on the DDP? I’ve been doing my research (I’m planning a trip for out entire family, 11 people!) And on some sites it says it is and others say it’s not.
Sorry if I missed this, but are the snack offerings a year-round thing? Or is this part of some sort of small food and wine festival type season?
The menu offerings at all quick service/snack kiosk locations change with some regularity, but in general these are offered year-round. This isn’t a food-and-wine festival type thing. (Some menu items stay for years/decades, some rotate after a few months.)
Thanks for mentioning the Malva cake as it is one of my absolute favorites! And if you are adventurous I recommend also getting some dole whip and adding a little to the Malva cake as they go well together. Since Tom didn’t mention where you can get both its from Tamu Tamu.
I loved the catsup joke…I would never fire you, you get a promotion!
Bwahaha! same. I literally laughed out loud.
u missed mr Kamals chicken dumplings!!! 😀
You missed one ( in my opinion) of the best desserts in the animal kingdom ! It is the blueberry cream cheese mousse at Pandora’s Satu’li Canteen, not only is it a pretty dessert to look at but it is so good ! I have to have one every time I go to Animal Kingdom, although now I will be checking out some of these other tasty desserts you have mentioned !!
Thank you for this post! Our upcoming trip is our first one without the Disney Dining Plan and I am ashamed to admit we rarely have snacks because of saving our appetites for big character meals. This is new territory for us and you have given us several very exciting options for our two Animal Kingdom days. I will skip the feline dips at Mr. Kamal’s this time!! 🙂 (I read this pun to my 10 year old and he can’t wait to share it – well done!)
This is an outstanding post! I’m going to search your site now hoping to find similar ones for the other parks. My mouth is watering for our family’s upcoming trip. Thank you!
Okay, I found them for Magic Kingdom (https://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-magic-kingdom-snacks-desserts/) and Hollywood Studios (https://www.disneytouristblog.com/best-hollywood-studios-snacks/). They were just as helpful! It would be great if there was one for non-Food Festival Epcot … if you were inclined to tackle that one!
I realize this is not a post about booze, but my wife insists that the Bloody Mary at Dawa Bar is something special. (I don’t do tomato juice.) But they put a piece of candied bacon in it, and that is a damn fine snack, so it should qualify for this post. It’s delicious.
Tom, I had the Baked Mac & Cheese with Pulled Pork from Flame Tree on a “I really just want mac and cheese” craving whim on a trip a few weeks ago while I was also streaming the Kentucky Derby in the parks (talk about heaven). I almost fell out of my Flame Tree food court barstool it was so delicious. This is now my favorite meal in AK, and IMO one of the most underrated quick-service dishes in the parks. Also, applause on the spot on cinnamon roll observation. I feel the same about all the cupcakes as well. And lastly, whatever sociopath decided to try and make chocolate better by adding orange flavor, and to donuts… :/ . But the Baked Mac and Cheese, man.
Ali – I have to agree with you. the Mac & Cheese with Pulled Pork was really, really good.
What ARE you THINKING ???
THE GIAnT MICKEY CINNAMON ROLL from Creature Comforts / Starbucks is the ALL TIME KILLER of ALL SNACKS…………………..PERIOD ! In AK Anyway.
To each their own, but I’ve never bought into the hype on Walt Disney World’s various cinnamon rolls. Pretty much all cinnamon rolls are varying degrees of ‘really good’ and Disney’s are no better than average freezer section varieties.
For me, it’s a lot like the Mickey ice cream bars. Yes, they’re very good–but that’s the bare minimum for literally any product with “ice cream” in the name.
They bear no resembelence to all the others that you mention, are usually fresh baked, and deserve honerable mention. You are missing out on a good one!
Great post and great timing! We WILL use this list, and will keep a realistic expectation of availability. And, I’ll now peruse your posts on runDisney events since I’ll need to expend plenty of calories training and eventually running a race so I can indulge in most of these.
The apple cider donuts are no more. The current donut holes at Isle of Java are called Chocolate Donut Holes. Rolled in sugar and spice with a chocolate orange glaze. Sadly they tasted stale when I had them 2 weeks ago as well. Thankfully I had a Smokey Bones Chocolate Shake from Trilo-Bites to wash them down.
“You’re probably familiar with ketchup, which is also known as catsup in some localities and doubles as a feline greeting.”
Oh my goodness. You’re fired.
(Because this is the internet I have to disclaim my own joke: I still love your sites. You wouldn’t actually be fired, even if I could fire you. But still, turn your badge into the front desk on your way out. Cat, sup with THAT?)
If you’re suggesting that I should quit while I’m on top, because I’ll never be able to do any better than this hilarious joke, you may have a point!
Where are the Buffalo Chicken Chips from? I didn’t see that the restaurant was named. Thanks!
Sorry–I’ll go back and include that in the description. They’re at Trilo-Bites.
Thanks Tom! I love your posts but I think this post is the best yet! I would never have known to check out these “obscure” snacks!!! Perfect for our late upcoming June visit!