Dawa Bar

Dawa Bar: dining at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park — location and planning data on MouseHub.

Visitor sentiment

4.1· 39 Google ratings

The MouseHub take

Dawa Bar is the open-air bar in the middle of Harambe, a few steps from Tusker House Restaurant, and Disney sells it on South African wine. The card runs four wines from $12 to $16, two drafts at $12.50, a shelf of bottles and cans, and five specialty cocktails at $17.50 to $18.50, including the Lost on Safari rum punch. The build is a bamboo bar under a canopy, with shaded seating and overhead fans. There is no indoor room and no air conditioning.

The draw is the shade and the view. Tables face the street, and the Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe and the street band Burudika both perform at this corner of the village, so reviewers describe holding a table through a whole set. Seating is the catch. Parties waiting on a Tusker House table take the seats and keep them, and there is nothing to reserve, so arrival time is the only lever you have. Reviewers also notice the signature drinks coming out of batch dispensers rather than getting mixed, and anyone who wanted a bartender building a drink from scratch leaves flat.

At a glance

Best for
Adults who want a shaded seat, a cold drink, and Harambe's street musicians a few feet away
Skip if
You want a quiet indoor lounge, or a bartender building the cocktail in front of you
Worth ordering
Ngumu Jungle Juice, Safari Amber
Reservations
There is nothing to book. My Disney Experience offers no reservations, no walk-up list, and no Mobile Order, so every seat is walk-up, and reviewers describe circling the tables through the afternoon while parties waiting on Tusker House hold them
Value
Specialty cocktails run $17.50 to $18.50 and the drafts are $12.50, which is ordinary for the park, though reviewers who watch a drink come out of a batch dispenser question what they paid for

The good

  • The canopy and the fans are the whole point
    Shaded seating and overhead fans under a bamboo bar canopy, which reviewers treat as the best heat break in Harambe. Disney's own copy calls it an oasis from the midday heat.
  • You watch the street from your seat
    The Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe and the street band Burudika both work this corner of the village. Guests buy a drink, sit down, and get the set thrown in.
  • A margarita is the drink people name
    Reviewers keep singling out a margarita as the highlight of the stop, and the card carries two: the Prickly Pear Margarita at $17.50 and the Malawi Mango Margarita at $18.50, built on an African agave spirit with Cointreau.
  • The wine list is actually South African
    Beyond Sauvignon Blanc at $12, Kara Tara Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at $14, and a Black Pearl Shiraz blend at $16. Disney leads its own description of the bar with the wine rather than the cocktails.
  • Safari Amber is on draft
    $12.50, and beer drinkers rate it the right call in the humidity. The other tap is a Tampa Bay Old Elephant Foot IPA at the same price.

The bad

  • The signature drinks come from dispensers
    Reviewers report watching cocktails poured out of batch machines instead of built to order, and describe the result as sweet and flat next to a mixed drink.
  • Getting a seat takes luck
    The seating area is small and Tusker House is next door, so parties waiting on a table settle in and stay. Guests who bought a drink report standing with it.
  • Service turns brusque early in the day
    Several reviewers describe curt handling from the bartenders in the first hours after opening, and say they felt like an interruption.
  • There is no air conditioning to escape into
    Shade and overhead fans are the only relief on offer. In a Florida summer, that means the space stays sticky.
  • Tusker Lager is not on the board
    Disney's description still sells this bar on the elusive Tusker Lager, and the current drink list does not carry it. Two drafts, six bottles and cans, and none of them are it.
  • There is nothing to eat
    The card runs from the cocktails to the last red wine and stops. Five cocktails, two drafts, six bottles and cans, four wines, and no food at all, so build the snack into the walk over.

Veteran tips

  • Be there at 10:00 AM
    That is when the bar opens, and reviewers find the tables free before the lunch crowd and the Tusker House waits build up.
  • Last call comes earlier than you expect
    Closing is 7:00 PM most days and 7:30 PM on Saturdays, so an evening drink here means late afternoon.
  • Time it to the drummers
    The Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe and Burudika play this stretch of the village. Check the times in My Disney Experience and buy the drink before the set starts, not during it.
  • Use it as the Tusker House waiting room
    The bar sits beside the restaurant, and a drink here is the standard way to pass a check-in wait. Reviewers use the tables as the meeting point for the whole party.
  • Order the Ngumu Jungle Juice
    $17.50, and it is vodka and peach schnapps over Tusker's Jungle Juice, so it is the drink that ties back to the restaurant next door. Reviewers call it the refreshing one.
  • Order the Safari Amber if you want a beer
    $12.50 on draft, and the one reviewers keep coming back to. It pours faster than the cocktails, which matters when the bar is three deep.
  • Nothing here can be booked ahead
    The app offers no reservations, no walk-up list, and no Mobile Order, so when you show up is the only thing you control. Plan the stop around the heat and the entertainment rather than around a time slot.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed .

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