One of my favorite shows in Disney World is located in Animal Kingdom. It’s a Broadway style show with lots of singing, dancing, acrobatics, and even floats. It’s called Festival of the Lion King and it’s a show you shouldn’t miss!
This is a show that is definitely up to Disney standards. All of the performers are fantastic! A favorite among a lot of guests are the tumble monkeys. They are gymnasts that jump all around and perform some pretty impressive acrobatics. There is another performer who is attached to a rope and at points throughout the show she is raised up and circled around; it’s a really beautiful part of the show.
Since it is Festival of the Lion King there are plenty of songs from the popular movie. When they start singing “Circle of Life” it always gives me goosebumps. The performers have such beautiful voices and they sing with such passion. Love that part of the show.
The only part where one of our little ones got a little scared was during Scar’s song, “Be Prepared.” It gets a little darker in the theater and there is a performer who is dancing around the stage with fire, so that can be a little scary for little ones. The adults, however, thought the fire dancer was pretty cool.
The best part is that they include the audience in the show. When you first walk in you will be directed to a section to sit and there are four different sections. Once everyone is seated the four main performers will enter and introduce themselves. They then explain that each section will represent a different animal and they each lead a section. So, of course, there is a little friendly competition.
The four different sections are:
- The Lions
- The Warthogs
- The Elephants
- The Giraffes
When you find out which animal you are representing the performer leading your group will ask for a volunteer to come up and help them lead the group in the sound of that animal. The goal is to be the loudest group. It’s a fun way to include the audience in the show.
This really is a Broadway style show. The performers bring their best and it shows. It’s a fantastic show and a must-see for us on every trip. The queue line is covered, so during those hot days you don’t have to worry about having the hot sun beating down on you while you wait.
In case you can’t tell, I highly recommend this experience. So if you haven’t seen it yet, try to make it there the next time you are in Animal Kingdom. You can get a FastPass for this experience, which is helpful during the busier times.
Here is a clip from show:
The Festival of the Lion King is located in Africa at the Harambe Theater just past Tusker House Restaurant. There are multiple performances scheduled each day and the duration of each show is 30 minutes.
Have you seen Festival of the Lion King?
Thanks for reading!
*Liz*