What’s New in Animal Kingdom: A Unique Mickey and Minnie Meet-and-Greet Returns

It’s time for us to take a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom to see what’s new!

Tree of Life

Over the past week, the park debuted the reimagined Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond show (with some hiccups, but we’ll get to that later), started some newer refurbishments, and welcomed in new merchandise! There’s a lot to update you on, so let’s get right into it!

Animal Kingdom Merchandise Updates

Riverside Depot

We saw a lot of new merchandise pop up at this location, like the 50th-Anniversary Water Bottle for $19.99! The design features the 50th-Anniversary logo, and Mickey and friends wearing their EARidescent outfits!

Water Bottle

There was also a Stitch Pop Socket, which shows Stitch hanging out in some shade! You can grab this for $16.99.

Stitch Pop Socket

We also saw the Country Bears Pin for $19.99, which features some of the bears playing music (of course)!

Country Bears Pin

They also restocked items like the Knit Steamboat Willie plush…

Steamboat Willie

and the Oswald plush for $27.99 each!

Oswald

They also restocked the Donald Duck Wishable for $16.99!

Donald Duck Wishable

And that’s all the new merchandise at Riverside Depot! Let’s keep going on our walk around the park.

Discovery Trading

In Discovery Trading, we saw the Ariel Watchband for $36.99! It’s a white watchband featuring the Little Mermaid, Flounder, and Sebastian!

Ariel Watchband

There was also a Stitch Sweatshirt available, which has a blue and white tie-dye background, with Stitch playing the ukulele in the water.

Stitch Sweatshirt

The sweatshirt costs $49.99!

Island Mercantile

Lots of Turning Red-inspired merchandise hit this location, like the Turning Red Nightlight for $27.99! It shows Mei in her Panda form, and lights up the night!

Red Panda Nightlight

There’s also a Turning Red Large Plush for $34.99. Look at how snuggly that panda looks!

Panda Plush

And we found this Turning Red Backpack for $39.99!

Panda Backpack

The location also restocked their Timon and Pumba Plushes for $34.99 each! So if you’ve been looking for these friends, you can grab ’em now!

Timon and Pumba

And that’s all the merchandise updates from Island Mercantile. Come with us to Pandora — The World of Avatar for more updates.

Windtraders

We saw this Christmas Ornament for $26.99 over at Windtraders. It shows the Valley of Mo’ara with a Banshee flying by!

Christmas Ornament

And that wraps up all of our merchandise updates. But wait — there’s MORE you need to know about in Animal Kingdom!

See if Animal Kingdom is the Best Disney World Park!

Animal Kingdom Construction Updates

TriceraTop Spin

TriceraTop Spin is currently closed for refurbishment! We noticed they put up this sign during our last visit to the park.

Closed Sign

The refurbishment is only supposed to go on through June 17th though. The ride shows operating hours on the 18th, so the closure should be fairly short. Of course, refurbishment schedules are subject to change, so check back with us for more details.

Pavement Work

We also noticed some pavement work being done outside of an animal area. It’s no longer fenced off, so guests can walk through the area normally.

Pavement Work

And that’s all of the construction updates!

See the Construction Update for Fantasmic! in Hollywood Studios!

Animal Kingdom General Updates

Adventurers Outpost

Recently, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom the Mickey and Minnie meet-and-greet at Adventurers Outpost had a soft opening! This spot is set to become available on Genie+ on June 19th, but if you catch it during its soft opening phase, you’ll still get the chance to meet Mickey and Minnie using the standby line.

Mickey and Minnie

This location is unique for a few reasons! First, it’s decor and backdrop make it a unique spot to get a photo with this dynamic duo. Second, Mickey and Minnie are dressed up in their expedition outfits, which is not something you can find at many places. And third, you can meet Mickey and Minnie TOGETHER. Oftentimes, at other meet-and-greets, guests can meet Mickey and Minnie separately. So getting to take a photo with both of these fabulous friends is a great thing to check off of your bucket list!

Click here for full details about the return of this meet-and-greet!

Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond!

The reimagined Finding Nemo show officially opened to guests on June 13th, with a media preview and soft opening leading up to the debut!

It’s here!

Both the Stand-by and Lightning Lane queues are now available.

Lightning Lane for the Finding Nemo Show

In celebration of the debut, check out the new PhotoPass Lense for Genie+ users! It takes you underwater with Nemo and Dory, and is available in Animal Kingdom!

©Disney

But back to the show — the reimagined show features some of the popular songs from the previous Nemo musical, but tells the story from a unique perspective. The show catches up with the fish from Dr. P. Sherman’s office, who have made their way across the sea to the Marine Life Institute. It’s shorter than the previous musical and features some new technological enhancements.

Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond!

The show has experienced some hiccups though, as 2 showtimes were canceled for the show on June 14th, just one day after the official debut. Both the 10:30AM and 4:30PM shows were canceled.

Finding Nemo Showtimes

A Cast Member told us this was due to technical difficulties. This is a good reminder that shows can experience complications sometimes, so be sure to check the My Disney Experience app throughout the day (or stop by the show’s sign outside) to see if anything has changed during your trip.

Come with us to see the updated Nemo show!

That’s what’s new in Animal Kingdom! For more details about what you can expect from the reimagined Finding Nemo show, check out our post here! Or, check out more information on the changes that have been made to another Animal Kingdom show.

KiteTails

We’ll continue bringing you the latest updates from Disney World, so stay tuned to DFB!


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Are you excited about the opening of Adventurers Outpost? Let us know in the comments!

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