Polar Bear Puppets, Holiday Tree of Life Awakenings, and More! — All the NEW Holiday Entertainment in Disney's Animal Kingdom!

We spent the weekend taking in all the sights, sounds, and tastes of the all-new Animal Kingdom holiday celebrations!

Holiday Mural

There is SO MUCH to do in Disney World for the Christmas season! You know we’re all about those holiday treats, but we can’t overlook the ALL-NEW entertainment that has arrived in Animal Kingdom. Of course, we’re talking about the new holiday version of Tree of Life Awakenings, but there’s so much more. Check out our full rundown of the awakenings, character meet and greets, and performances that have appeared at Animal Kingdom this season.

Merry Menagerie Puppets and Musicians

Well, let’s dive in with one of the prettiest sights to see right when you enter the park. You may have seen one of our sneak peek at the Merry Menagerie — the new puppets that are roaming Discovery Island. These puppets come as a part of the celebrations near the Tree of Life and are meant to appear “artisan-crafted by the residents of Discovery Island” and boy, are they BEAUTIFUL!

Fox Puppet

There’s all sorts of puppet designs like arctic foxes, polar bears, and penguins! The puppets interact with each other and with guests in a super cute way and we feel like they definitely bring some holiday magic to the streets of Animal Kingdom.

Puppeteer

Plus, the puppets are accompanied by holiday musicians who add a festive soundtrack to the merry menagerie and their interactions! We can’t get over how CA-YUTE these guys are!!!

Puppets

Tree of Life Awakenings

Then, there’s the new holiday version of Tree of Life Awakenings! We love watching stories of nature come to life year-round on the Tree of Life, so we were super psyched to see the new holiday take on those stories. This show features beautiful projections on the Tree with a story guided by magical fireflies.

Animal Kingdom this Holiday Season!

The stories featured visions of different wildlife creatures in cute holiday stories, like deer sliding across ice and a polar bear family. The music was a fun twist on familiar holiday tunes and the show as a whole was an absolute delight!

Holiday Tree of Life Awakenings

Awakenings takes place after dark every night and occurs about every 10 minutes until the park closes. Between awakenings, the Tree of Life features special lights that make it look lit up with those magical holiday lights!

Tree of Life

Character Encounters

Some classic character encounters in Animal Kingdom are here with a holiday twist! Around the park, you can meet up with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy with holiday accessories to celebrate the season.

Dinoland Holiday Decorations

You can also hang with Chip & Dale during their Holiday Hoopla Dance Party in Dinoland and that’s sure to be a ROARIN’ good time! They will also be meetin’ and greetin’ throughout the day. Be sure to check out your My Disney Experience app for more information.

Check out Goofy with his Christmas tree test-your-strength carnival game in Dinoland U.S.A.!

Dinoland Decor!

Dance Performances

In Africa and Asia, we checked out the special holiday dance performances! Harambe performers have a special Christmas-y soundtrack and outfits and there’s the stunning Diwali dance performances that go on throughout the day in Animal Kingdom’s Asia.

Diwali

The performers looked like they were having a blast!

Diwali

And that’s the new holiday entertainment in Animal Kingdom this season! We really loved seeing all of these new additions along with all of the new holiday decor. It has really brought a new feeling of joy to Animal Kingdom for the holidays! Read all about the Animal Kingdom holiday decor here!

Click here to check out everything else we spotted in Animal Kingdom (including NEW treats)!

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