Can you feel you feel the love tonight? Well, we sure can and it is all on account of the latest Disney Parks Blog announcement… the return of live entertainment with ‘Festival of the Lion King’ at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park!

Projected to re-open this summer, the Harambe Theatre will once again present the classic celebration. Showcasing your favourite songs from the hit motion picture, this star-studded fanfare features a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colour, king-size colossal puppets, extravagantly costumed dancers, amazing acrobats, daring fire dancers and incredible stilt walkers! You may have seen The Lion King, but you’ve never seen it quite like this!

Chances are, if you’ve been to Walt Disney World in the past twenty-two years, you have witnessed the marvel that is this high-octane masterwork. After all, it is the longest-running show at Walt Disney World. However, you may not recognize this new upcoming version…

Presented in a modified format, the revival will present a slight twist to the crowd-pleasing people eater by remaining conscious of the current need for distancing. Such changes include alterations to the show on stage, and offstage, and updates to choreography to allow for suitable physical distancing. Naturally, Disney will have to make changes to the audience auditorium seating.

In addition to modification, it turns out some cuts will be made, as well. The Tumble Monkeys (four gymnasts who perform a trapeze and gymnastics routine) will not be returning to the modified version of the show.

This return of ‘Festival of the Lion King’ presents a few questions…

  • When will the rest of Walt Disney World’s five-star entertainment return to the parks?
  • Have Disney and the Actors’ Equity Association resolved their differences?
  • Will these modifications get in the way of the production value and/or guest experience?

While we do not know the answers to the above, we are just grateful that things are getting back to… well… modified normality.

Festival of the Lion King is the longest-running show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park!