REVIEW: 3 NEW Reasons to Go Out of Your Way to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

Have you heard? It’s time to head to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge!

Animal Kingdom Lodge

Why? Because several restaurants are getting new menu items, including the Maji Pool Bar, Jiko: The Cooking Place, and The Mara. Come along with us at The Mara as we try several new dishes!

Animal Kingdom Lodge’s quick service spot, The Mara, has added NEW dishes to its menu!

The Mara

We tried out the Marinated Sun-dried Tomato and Herbed Ricotta Flatbread for $11.79. This dish is made with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herb ricotta, tomato sauce, a four-cheese blend, and arugula. This baby was so saucy and cheesy (and you know that’s something we LOVE).

YUM!

The flavor of everything, including the flatbread, was ON POINT. All of the ingredients tasted very fresh and worked so well together. This was also very filling and if you’re not very hungry, you might want to split it with a friend.

NEW food options have dropped at Animal Kingdom Lodge! Starting off strong, The Mara has this Marinated Sun-dried Tomato and Herbed Ricotta Flatbread with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herb ricotta, tomato sauce, four-cheese blend, and arugula! 😋 pic.twitter.com/uTk1rLKIrK

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 8, 2022

Three new bowls are also available now and each one is made with The Mara’s special spice blend. We tried the Chermoula-spiced Shrimp Bowl for $14.49, which comes with grilled shrimp, pilau rice, kale slaw, cucumber-tomato salad, and chermoula sour cream. This one is SO fresh, and again, the flavors are just perfect, ALTHOUGH we wanted a little more from the slaw.

Shrimp Bowl

But everything worked well together, although we would’ve preferred a little more spice (what can we say? We LOVE the heat!). The shrimp, though? That was FAB. We also liked the crunch that the vegetables added to the overall texture.

Chefs at Animal Kingdom Lodge have also introduced two new bowls! First up, we’ve got the Chermoula-spiced Shrimp Bowl with grilled shrimp, pilau rice, kale slaw, cucumber-tomato salad, and chermoula sour cream. pic.twitter.com/3MmApc64Em

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 8, 2022

And the Oak-grilled Chicken Bowl comes with marinated chicken thighs that are slow-roasted over the oak-fired spit for $12.99. The chicken in this bowl really surprised us — it was juicy and had a bit of char flavor to it. However, the slaw was also a little bland for us in this dish.

Chicken bowl

The veggies in this one also offer a nice crunch.

That same bowl can also be modified to the Oak-grilled Chicken Bowl made with marinated chicken thighs, slow-roasted over an oak-fired spit. pic.twitter.com/kPHuQVMLXb

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) December 8, 2022

Overall, we’d say all three of these dishes are solid and a good value, especially considering Disney prices.

Stop by The Mara at Animal Kingdom Lodge if you’re interested in trying any of these dishes! New dishes were also released at Maji! We will have a review for you on those soon! Keep following DFB for more Disney World food reviews!

Click here to learn about the other new menu items coming to Animal Kingdom Lodge!

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Would you try any of these new menu items? Tell us in the comments!