JAMBO, EVERYONE!!!! The latest addition to the Walt Disney World parks is Animal Kingdom – the gateway to all things 4-legged! The animals there graze and snack away all day long, and I am no different!! Although AK is my LEAST favorite of the parks, it is my 1st choice for snacks. Due to the heat of the Florida summers, it is best to keep your snacks light & cool when visiting this park, and with all of their great choices, this is not hard to do.Harambe Fruit Market is my 2nd favorite snack stop. I love the iced-down assorted fruit cup. You can also pick up a bowl of fresh pineapple, watermelon or grapes. I have a routine when I am at Disney, which I do not do at home, or anywhere else I visit, only Disney. I MUST have a tag of cold grapes for breakfast every morning. The resorts normally have them in their food court, and My Boyz will walk down while I’m finishing up getting ready (us gals take longer), they’ll eat their breakfast & then grab grapes for me on their way out. Once we’ve caught the Disney transport bus, I eat my grapes on the way to wherever we’re headed that day. They are refreshingly cool, while not sitting on you like a sack of wet rags, like so many other breakfast foods tend to do. When we’re visiting AK, I’ll sometimes skip my bus-ride breakfast, and stop in at Harambe FM for my morning grapes. I find that because most of AK is outside (there’s not many “inside”, air-conditioned rides), ice cream and heavy snacks tend to make me feel a little nauseous. The fruit is perfect. Plus, if you have little ones, the grapes are an even more perfect healthy finger food.
My husband’s AK snack choice is a hot fresh soft pretzel with cheese sauce. It wins with him, hands down. My son, must have what Dad’s having, of course, but he also loves the Frozen Fruit Punch. Now the Frozen Fruit Punch can be found at Safari Popcorn, and at Safari Popcorn, along with most other ice cream carts inside the park, well, that’s where you will find my #1 all-time favorite snack of any park in the “World”……THE FROZEN ORANGE JUICE BAR! You can stop at ANY ice cream cart, in ANY park, and buy the Frozen Strawberry Bar (also yum), but AK is the only place you can find the Orange Juice Bar. I’ll never understand it, and I’ll certainly never agree with that decision, but I look forward to that OJ Bar. Sometimes I’ll have one about 11:00 a.m., and another about 2:00 p.m., before leaving AK, because I know that’s the last time I’ll have it for the trip. We only visit AK one day (and not even a full day), so I must shove in my OJ Bar quota in a short amount of time!
Now if you’re just wanting an indulgence and you’d still prefer something cool & refreshing, then there’s no question – stop by Flame Tree for their Key Lime Pie. Southern awesomeness at it’s best. That tart lime velvet concoction on a graham cracker crust will cause you to make a “happy plate” much sooner than you’d hoped. But if you’re a gal like me, just do what all of us good ladies do, don’t get another piece, just convince your husband to have a piece, too, then eat half of his when he’s not looking.
Disney is always great at giving you variety, and AK is no different. You can have croissants, bagels, rice krispy treats, chocolate or carrot cake, raw veggies with ranch dipping sauce, turkey legs, even egg rolls, and the list just goes on and on and on. The choice is yours, but I hope I’ve given you some insight as to my picks for best snacks at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Now, the tough part for you is what will you choose?….oh well, HAKUNA MATATA!
DeAnna, along with her husband and teen-age son, lives in Wiggins, Mississippi, and has a passion for all things Disney. She is always eager to share the knowledge she has gained from her many trips to Walt Disney World, and has helped numerous people in their vacation planning to realize it’s not an unattainable dream. Her must-dos on every trip are Pirates of the Caribbean, Rockin’ Roller Coaster & a stolen moment of quiet with her “Boyz” (as she affectionately calls them) having a pastry from Boulangerie in Epcot World Showcase’s France. Disney is so much a part of her life, that she & her husband were married in front of Cinderella’s Castle, and she says it doesn’t get any more magical than that………
The OJ Bar sounds yummy! May have to check that out… Thanks!