The past year has hit the economy hard, affecting people across the globe, and Disney was not immune to this. The Cast Members of Disney have suffered most, with many being furloughed up to 10 months now. For Walt Disney World, entertainment took a huge hit. The Festival of the Lion King, among others, was immediately closed and still is. We are happy to share that Disney announced plans to change that! This summer, Festival of the Lion King will return! In celebration, let’s take a look at this amazing show.
Did You Know?
The show was meant to be temporary, but became an instant hit! Thank goodness they decided to make it a permanent fixture at Animal Kingdom because….
It is ranked number 3 among the world’s top 25 theme park shows! (Number 1 goes to Fantasmic! in Disneyland, and number 2 goes to Finding Nemo – The Musical, also in Animal Kingdom).
Imagineers built an airconditioned theater to house the show. The Harambe Theater, located in Africa, can sit up to 1,500 guests.
There is an average of 7 to 8 performances a day. Each show is 30 minutes long!
There are over 136 beautiful costumes, for the 50 Cast Members in the show. Each costume is cleaned and maintained daily. That is a busy job!
In addition to Cast Members, the show features beloved characters, Timon, who performs and Simba & Pumbaa, audio-animatronics™ , on floats.
The floats and puppets were re-purposed from the Lion King Celebration, a parade shown in Disneyland. The parade ran from 1994-1997 to celebrate the film’s release.
The Simba puppet is 12 feet tall!
The Broadway quality show features beautiful song renditions. The four main performers/ narrators have unique Swahili names that reflect their personality. The lead man is Kiume (strong and manly), and the younger man is Nakawa (good-lookin). The lead woman is Zawadi (the gift) and there is Kibibi (princess).
Other performers include a fire dancer, aerial artists, and gymnasts named the Tumble Monkeys.
What are your favorite parts of Festival of the Lion King? Is it a must do when you visit the park? It is for us and we cannot wait to see the show when it returns to Animal Kingdom!
