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Disney Kids’ Meal Replaces Side Dish With a National Geographic Book

The Walt Disney World Resort is always offering new and exciting dishes at both table service and quick service restaurants. Despite recent price increases, fans have continued to find delight in tasty new dishes ranging from the objectively delicious to the downright odd, but the latest menu change at Disney’s Animal Kingdom somehow falls into neither of these categories.

Restaurantosaurus

Credit: Disney

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Guests dining at Restaurantosaurus in DinoLand, U.S.A. previously had the option of choosing up to three sides that came included with kids’ meals, however, a recent update has replaced one side with a So Cool! Dinos book by National Geographic Kids.

Kids’ meals are still priced at $10.49-10.79 according to the menus on Disney’s official website, which could either still sting as a cost of a quick-service kids’ meal or feel like an okay deal where it now comes with a book. Options for kids’ meals at the restaurant have not changed, and still include a cheeseburger, Impossible (plant-based) burger, or chicken nuggets.

So COol Dinos Book COver by National Geographic Kids

Credit: National Geographic Kids

The menu change comes just over a year after Disney CFO Christine McCarthy made a comment that left fans disgruntled to say the least, when during a Walt Disney Company earnings call McCarthy shared that Disney could save money by cutting down portion sizes, “which is probably good for some people’s waistlines.”

The swap of the additional kids’ menu size for a book is likely not actually a cost-cutting measure, but really more a way of simply promoting National Geographic in Animal Kingdom, but we cannot gloss over the irony of McCarthy’s comment when a side dish is replaced with something inedible. Still, we do have to admit that we love the idea of giving a “free” book with a kids’ meal, especially to help little ones learn about dinosaurs while visiting DinoLand, U.S.A.

Disney Chicken Nuggets

Credit: Disney

Disney’s official description of Restaurantosaurus reads:

Delight in pre-hysteric, paleontology student humor as you dine on Angus burgers, chicken nuggets and more in a dino-themed dorm. Enjoy ice cold beverages and Safari Amber draft beer.

National Geographic has had a greater presence at Walt Disney World recently with the addition of merchandise from the channel in a gift shop in the Africa-themed land of Animal Kingdom and at Disney Springs. As such, we will continue to monitor any new additions of streaming-service products in the theme parks, and will report back with updates as we have them here on Disney Tips.

About Brittany DiCologero

Brittany is a New England-based writer focused on the history of the Walt Disney World Resort. She is the author of "Red, White, and Disney: The Myths and Reality of American History at the Walt Disney World Resort," and "Brittany Earns Her Ears."