There’s a very important date coming up SOON at Disney World, and no, we’re not talking about the opening date for TRON Lightcycle Run or Roundup Rodeo BBQ (although those are both important dates as well).

Animal Kingdom

We’re talking about the 25th anniversary of Disney’s Animal Kingdom! This park opened on Earth Day in 1998 (April 22nd), which means that on April 22nd, 2023, we’ll be there to celebrate 25 years. Now, Disney has announced a few ways that they plan to celebrate this momentous occasion!

During a recent media event, Disney showcased a few ways that Disney’s Animal Kingdom will celebrate its 25-year anniversary, including new snacks and merchandise. They announced that there will be a new collection of souvenirs coming, and we even got a sneak peek at some of the new items!

©Disney

It looks like there will be a button-up animal-print shirt…

©Disney

…as well as a pretty snazzy Animal Kingdom bucket hat. On this hat, you can see the logo for the 25th anniversary!

©Disney

There will also be NEW snacks and treats coming to the park! Disney showed off one of the upcoming treats, which is a cupcake that is topped with the Tree of Life (created using icing) and a medallion that has the 25th-anniversary logo. We’ll have to wait and see what other treats arrive for the occasion.

©Disney

Possibly the BIGGEST announcement about this celebration, though, is that Moana will be coming to Animal Kingdom! Disney said that the princess should arrive “just in time” for the 25th anniversary. Since the 25th anniversary is on April 22nd, 2023, it seems it’s likely the new character experience will become available on or near that date.

©Disney

Disney said they’ll be “presenting” Moana along the Discovery River. Disney showed an image of Moana in the park that seems to present her standing on the ground in front of the Tree of Life, but the announcement could mean that Moana will be appearing via some kind of flotilla on the river. We’ll be watching for more news from Disney about this experience.

Stay tuned to DFB for more updates on all the latest Disney news.

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Are you going to be in Animal Kingdom for the park’s 25th anniversary? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of select upcoming events. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ