Santa’s Holiday Grove is new at Disney’s Animal Kingdom this holiday season, giving Santa Claus a snowy spot of his own across from “Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!” at Theater in the Wild. Disney describes it as a trail with intermittent snow flurries that leads to Santa himself, who will be there to hear holiday wish lists.
The Grove will also have specialty food and beverage items and a festive holiday soundtrack. Disney revealed it in its 2026 holiday guide for Walt Disney World, which sets the resort’s holiday season for November 13 through January 6, 2027.
A New Home For Santa At Animal Kingdom
Santa has spent the last two holiday seasons meeting guests in DinoLand U.S.A. That land closed for good in February to make room for Tropical Americas, which is still listed for a 2027 opening, so this year he needed somewhere new to set up.
Families heading to the Finding Nemo show can walk across the way for a visit with Santa before or after, which makes it an easy pairing on an Animal Kingdom day.
The setting is a big change from the past two years, when Santa met guests on the patio of Restaurantosaurus. At the Grove, guests walk a trail with snow flurries falling on the way to Santa.
What We Don’t Know Yet
Disney has not shared the Grove’s menu, its hours or the exact dates Santa will be there. Disney says Santa will meet guests at all four Walt Disney World theme parks this season and is pointing guests to the My Disney Experience app for specific times and locations. He is also set to appear at Disney Springs through December 24.
If you are planning a visit after Christmas, check the app before you go. The holiday season runs into January, but Santa’s own schedule may not.
More Holiday Fun Around The Park
Santa’s Holiday Grove joins a few returning Animal Kingdom traditions. The Merry Menagerie brings artisan-sculpted puppets of penguins, reindeer, foxes and polar bears to Discovery Island, and the Tree of Life Awakenings Holiday Edition lights up the park’s centerpiece every night after sunset.
The ECO-RHYTHMiCS, the park’s conservation-minded percussion band, are playing in holiday gear too. Between the band, the puppets and the nightly projections, Animal Kingdom has enough going on to fill a festive afternoon and evening, and now Santa has a place of his own in the middle of it.
We’ll share the Grove’s food and beverage items and Santa’s hours once Disney releases them.
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