PHOTOS – New Specialty Drinks and New Extended Queue Procedures at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Some new things are happening at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Our team was in Animal Kingdom yesterday and today and caught some new extended queue procedures at Avatar Flight of Passage. Plus some new specialty treats have arrived at Animal Kingdom, with more new treats available until after Easter. Besides some new stuff, Chrissy snapped some gorgeous photos at Kilimanjaro Safaris. Come take a look around Animal Kingdom with us.

Let’s start off world at Pandora – World of Avatar. Yesterday our team noticed a strong chemical smell. Turns out the special colored paint which creates a glowing effect on the ground at night is being refreshed. A portion of the walkway was blocked off to foot traffic as this refresh takes place. It’s good to see Disney sticking with the upkeep of this unique effect.

Also at Pandora we noticed a new procedure for the extended queue at Avatar Flight of Passage. The extended queue now weaves throughout the bulk of the land and has purposefully placed gaps so cross traffic can get through. Prior to this we’ve usually seen the extended queue weave through the portion of Pandora nearest to Flight of Passage and occasionally down the pathway that leads to Harambe. Perhaps this change in direction is temporary as the painting of the ground is in progress.

Now let’s fast forward to today. There are some new drinks and treats debuting at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This month is the anniversary month of this beautiful park, and Earth Day is three weeks away, so these specialty treats and drinks are a welcome addition this month. At Isle of Java you can often find specialty coffees as well as frozen slush drinks, both with and without alcohol.

The Red Crowned Crane is Frozen Coke topped with Frozen Cherry Coke and a Crown of Strawberry Cotton Candy. You can also order an alcohol version with rum. The Cotton Top Lagoon is a frozen blend of Blue Raspberry and Lemonade Blue Cotton Candy. The names of these drinks are fun when you consider the topping of cotton candy.

Chrissy ordered both and states they were overly sweet. So if your blood sugar is crashing and you need a jolt, these are for you. If you’re getting these for the ‘gram then order the Cotton Top Lagoon with alcohol. Disney typically serves non-alcoholic specialty drinks in a solid white cup, which means you miss out of the pretty layers.

Also, earlier this week, Ivonne hopped into Animal Kingdom to give the Thumper Cupcake from Restaurantosaurus a try. She mobile ordered it and it was sitting under a heat lamp when she arrived, so poor Thumper wasn’t looking so good. Taste wise the Thumper Cupcake is a solid choice if you’re craving some carrot cake this Easter season. Perhaps swing by Creature Comforts instead if you want to avoid the possibility of a heat lamp cupcake.

Let’s leave off with some gorgeous photos from Kilimanjaro Safaris as we enjoy this first day of April, or as I like to call it, Animal Kingdom month.

Which of these new specialty drinks would you try? Are you excited about celebrating Earth Day?