DinoLand U.S.A. always shines bright for the holiday season with its campy Christmas décor, light-up dinosaurs, and characters like Chip ‘n’ Dale in special costumes. This year DinoLand is also home to the Santa Claus meet and greet at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. You can meet Santa on the “Parasaurolophus Porch” on the left side of Restaurantosaurus and directly across from DINOSAUR.
Santa will be meeting guests through December 24th at select times throughout day – typically at 10:00 am, 11:45 am, 1:45 pm, and 3:30 pm. You can double check these times by searching “Santa” in the My Disney Experience app. There’s also a Disney Photo Pass photographer on hand to capture all your special Santa photos.
There’s no denying the magic of meeting Santa especially at Animal Kingdom… but the real gift of all is the level of detail and fun at this special DinoLand location. The DinoInstitute team has gone ALL out decorating for their “75th Holiday Party,” and you absolutely must visit Santa there this December! Like the poster says, the DinoInstitute is “dancing ’till extinction,” which is all too real with the land closure beginning next year. So come with me to soak in all the dinomite details!
One of my favorite decorations is a festive record player being spun by a miniature Time Rover and of course playing the record, “Here Comes Santa-Saurus”.
Of course, there is no shortage of dinosaurs adorned in their Santa hats and there’s even a dino nugget-shaped pillow on the couch with Santa…. because who doesn’t love a dino nugget?
There’s really great Santa dinosaur art throughout the space and it really is a shame Disney is not selling the DinoInstitute 75th Holiday Party poster!
Of course, the main event is meeting Santa Claus himself! The line to meet Santa is standby only and I’m happy to report that even on a busy day, the line moved quickly.
The DinoLand Santa stop has got to be some of the best holiday theming at Walt Disney World and I can only hope there’s more like it next year!
