REVIEW: Is This Really Happening? A POG Juice Treat Just Broke Our Hearts in Disney World

We get SO excited about new food in Disney World!

Animal Kingdom Lodge

We had a blast hanging out recently at Disney’s H2O Glow Night Event at Typhoon Lagoon and trying some new food. But we recently discovered some new food hiding out at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, so we felt it was necessary to leave the parks and go try it out. So join us as we head to The Mara for some new sweet treats — and a new drink!

The Mara is the quick service location at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. You’ll often find fun seasonal treats here, but sometimes, the desserts change out, too. Well, the first thing we noticed was that our beloved Nyala Brownie had been removed from the menu. This is the Peanut Butter Brownie we’ve been raving about FOR YEARS. We hope it will turn back up…eventually.

Goodbye, Nyala Brownie

For now, though, a new brownie has taken its place: the Coffee and Coconut Brownie, which costs $4.99. Yes, it looks like Mickey! It’s a brownie topped with coffee buttercream dipped in chocolate-coconut ganache. Okay, Disney, you’ve got our attention. But is it a worthy successor to the Nyala brownie?

Coffee and Coconut Brownie

The answer is “YES!” If you’re not a coffee person, you can avoid the coffee beans on top because you don’t otherwise get much of a coffee flavor. We tasted more of a hint of coconut, but not so much to overpower the brownie. The brownie itself is very moist, and that’s helped with the chocolate and mousse on top. We could eat ten of these! It’s decadent and chocolatey.

So good

We also picked up The Mara Cupcake for $6.29. It’s a yellow cupcake with a POG (passion fruit, orange, and guava) filling and vanilla and guava buttercream icing. If you’re a POG juice lover like us, you may think this sounds pretty amazing right? Well, we were disappointed because this ended up being a basic Disney cupcake. Then you get to the middle with that filling…and the texture is grainy with an offputting taste. How SAD!

The Mara Cupcake

The frosting is just regular frosting dyed green, so your mouth and fingers will also probably turn green as you’re eating it. The cupcake was moist, though, and if you just want a basic cupcake, this could be perfect for you. For us, well, we expected more. The filling was a total miss.

A little bit of POG filling?

Next up is the Sunflower Cake for $5.99, which is described as a marbled chocolate and vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and chocolate chips. As you can see, it’s quite pretty. But then we found out that this cake wasn’t exactly as described.

Sunflower Cake

Inside, we didn’t see any kind of marbling, and the flavor was not vanilla. It actually tasted like carrot cake to us, so we’re not sure what’s going on here. The cake itself is very moist and rich, but if you get this thinking you’re getting a marbled chocolate and vanilla cake, you could be a little shocked. The chocolate chips on top don’t do much but add some crunchy texture. But yeah, this cake is not how it’s described, so beware.

Where’s the marbling?

Finally, we had to try a new drink. Okay, it’s a POG drink. We’ve already had one POG thing let us down, but what about the Passion Fruit, Orange, and Guava Frozen Slushy for $6.29? YAY — it’s really good because it tastes like POG juice. It’s also very refreshing, especially on a hot day. But it will also melt really fast on a hot day (however, it’s still good all melted).

POG slush

Now, this drink is very sweet, so some might think it’s TOO sweet, but if you love POG juice (which is also sweet), you’ll appreciate this one.

So, should you head to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge for snacks? Well, why not? If you already have a reservation for Boma, for example, why not pop by The Mara and at least pick up the brownie for later? You can even grab some Zebra Domes, too.

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

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What’s your favorite snack at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge? Let us know in the comments!