Many seasonal traditions return to Walt Disney World year after year at Christmastime. These include Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, the Candlelight Processional, and Disney Jollywood Nights. We’ve been following news on these favorite offerings closely, and you can tap their names to see the latest coverage. Now, though, we turn to something new debuting for this year’s holiday season.
Disney revealed the menu for a new holiday dining location. This space will be unique, with snow flurries and a character meet-and-greet. We have the full menu with photos, plus details about this new dining spot. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including Disney Hallmark ornaments and best Disney World dates for lower crowds.
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Santa’s Holiday Grove Opening at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
A new dining location will open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for the 2026 holiday season. It’s nice to see this park getting some love, as it’s the only Walt Disney World theme park without a major Christmas party or festival. We’ll share one of our favorite other holiday offerings at this park later in this story.
The new dining location will be called Santa’s Holiday Grove. Disney describes it as “a magical trail with intermittent snow flurries and Santa himself, ready to hear your holiday wish list.” The above photo is from Santa’s Disney Springs meet-and-greet.
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Santa’s Holiday Grove will serve a full menu of desserts and drinks, including a new peppermint-chocolate version of Animal Kingdom’s cookie dough ice cream sandwich that went viral earlier this year. We list the full menu for Santa’s Holiday Grove below.
Disney says this space will be located “across from” the Theater in the Wild, the venue where Finding Nemo: The Big Blue … and Beyond! is performed. This could mean that Santa’s Holiday Grove might repurpose some of the unused amphitheater, which is the only thing immediately “across from” Nemo. Adapting this space into a dining/meet-and-greet area would take some restructuring of the bleachers, but I’d be happy to see Disney utilizing this abandoned area of the park again.
It’s also possible Santa’s Grove could simply be located on a nearby path. Either way, this area in general being used as a dining/character spot is new for the park, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Santa’s Holiday Grove will be open from November 13, 2026, through January 3, 2027. This is slightly earlier than the official last day of Walt Disney World’s holiday season, January 6.
Typically, Santa only holds meet-and-greets through December 24, Christmas Eve. After all, what good is telling him what you want for Christmas after his big flight? With this in mind, Santa may or may not be at Santa’s Holiday Grove from December 25 through January 3, but the space will still operate as a dining location during that time regardless.
The debut of Santa’s Holiday Grove follows the permanent closure of DinoLand, U.S.A., where Santa previously met guests. All of DinoLand closed earlier this year and is being transformed into a new land with Encanto and Indiana Jones rides.
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Full Menu for Santa’s Holiday Grove
Below is the full menu for Santa’s Holiday Grove at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. All of the items except the Mickey gingerbread cookie are brand-new to Walt Disney World this year.
Peppermint-Chocolate Cookie Dough Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich
Double-chocolate peppermint cookie dough layered with vanilla ice cream and fudgy brownie
This is one of two new cookie dough sandwiches at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Keep reading to see the other new version after we finish the rest of the Santa’s Holiday Grove menu items.
Jalapeño-Cheddar Pretzel
Cookie Butter Milkshake
Topped with whipped cream, caramel, and a chocolate-dipped cookie
Pistachio Cookie
White chocolate chip cookie with Sicilian pistachios, dried cranberries, and candied orange
Pan de Jamon
Smoked ham, olive, and orange raisin bread roll
Festive Chocolate Chip Cookie
Chocolate chip cookie with holiday sprinkles
Mixed Berry Focaccia
Blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry compote focaccia with lemon icing
Chocolate-dipped Mickey Gingerbread
Mickey gingerbread cookie dipped in chocolate
Chocolate Tree Croissant
Croissant filled with hazelnut spread dipped in white chocolate
Santa Hat Croissant
Croissant filled with hazelnut spread dipped in white chocolate
Chilled Mulled Wine
Chilled Cabernet Sauvignon mulled with fresh orange, star anise, cinnamon, and cloves
Another New Cookie Dough Sandwich
In addition to the peppermint-chocolate version of the cookie dough ice cream sandwich, described above, Disney’s Animal Kingdom will debut another new version of the popular treat for the holiday season. It seems like mostly the original version to us, but with red and green sprinkles.
It will be found at Terra Treats, the same snack window on Discovery Island where the original snack is served. It will be available from November 6 through January 3. See more Disney World holiday food here.
Festive Cookie Dough Ice Cream Sandwich
Cookie dough with holiday sprinkles layered with vanilla ice cream and fudgy brownie
Santa’s Holiday Grove Joins Returning Park Favorite
While you’re visiting Santa’s Holiday Grove at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, make sure not to miss the Merry Menagerie. This troupe of puppeteers and musicians is one of the best holiday offerings at Walt Disney World. The puppeteers roam around with imaginative versions of Arctic animals while a violinist or drummer, depending on the time of day, accompanies them.
The Merry Menagerie performs near the front of the park, in front of the Tree of Life, between Island Mercantile and Discovery Trading Company on Discovery Island. They are absolutely worth making time for.
The troupe will return to the park on November 13. Since Disney hasn’t specified an exact end date, we assume the Merry Menagerie will continue through January 6, the final day of Walt Disney World’s official holiday season.
Other New Disney Holiday Experiences
Santa’s Grove isn’t the only new offering at Walt Disney World this holiday season.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind – Holiday Remix, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, and Alien Swirling Saucers: Lilypad’s Jams will all debut new seasonal overlays this year. See those details and dates here.
Dozens of new food and beverage items will be served throughout Walt Disney World for the holidays. See all the food revealed.
The Candlelight Processional will once again feature celebrity narrators as part of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, including several narrators who are new for 2026. See the full list.
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