The day is FINALLY here!

Much of Disney’s live entertainment has been suspended since the parks reopened last March. But at the beginning of the year, we got some BIG news: Festival of the Lion King was returning to Disney’s Animal Kingdom! We followed closely as the show prepared to return in a modified format, and now the time has come. The “new” Festival of the Lion King debuts for its soft opening TODAY!

As we mentioned, this IS a modified show. That means the experience won’t be quite the same as before! First of all, the show has a new name: “A Celebration of The Festival of the Lion King.” And some changes, according to Disney, include adjustments both onstage and backstage, choreography changes to allow for social distancing, and changes to how the audience is seated.

Of course, we had to check this all out for ourselves! So we went to see the show during its soft opening!

It felt great to line up at The Lion King theater again! And this time, we are actually going into the theater, and not to Kilimanjaro Safaris…

Getting SO excited!

We are headed to see a soft reopening of the Festival of the Lion King! pic.twitter.com/gKD1HVewWW

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) May 8, 2021

 

 

 

As with other theater shows at Disney World nowadays, they’re cutting down on group sizes. This means seating inside the theater is limited, and in order to go in, you MUST have your whole group together, and you MUST stay together.

This also means four people maximum per sticker in the line, which means larger groups will get split up. A Cast Member is standing by with a clipboard to ensure parties are together… .

There is also no eating or drinking in the theater.

As we lined up and made our way into the theater, we were SO excited to wave at Cast Members, who were clearly as happy as we were!

We’re inside the theater again! How we’ve missed this!

When we made it inside the theater, we noticed that every other row is closed…

…and benches have certain sections blocked off as well.

This means there’s plenty of space in the theater.

Every other row is closed for the Festival of the Lion King. pic.twitter.com/io0Wuf67OE

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) May 8, 2021

 

 

They can sit four in most sections, which is why parties are restricted to that size.

Now ON with the show!

One thing we noticed right away is that the choreography is different, so that performers stay socially distanced from each other.

Rather than include a singalong element, performers encourage guests to wave and clap!

We are SO HAPPY right now!

So happy to see the Festival of the Lion King is back in Animal Kingdom! pic.twitter.com/zxIhxvqwZC

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) May 8, 2021

 

The part with the four different sections of animals has been cut. Another difference from the original Festival of The Lion King show is that kids no longer come out for the parade portion. Birds do a beautiful dance, though!

Cue the pyrotechnics!

The Lion King himself!

Timon and Pumbaa!

Pure. Magic.

Festival of the Lion King in Animal Kingdom 🧡 pic.twitter.com/XOWcJsHMbC

— AJ Wolfe (@DisneyFoodBlog) May 8, 2021

And that’s a wrap!

We also learned that the official — and full — reopening of the show is May 15!

We’re SO happy this show is back! If you’ll be in Animal Kingdom soon, make sure to stop by and watch it. We’ll continue to keep you posted on the progress of live entertainment in the parks!

Read More About the Festival of the Lion King’s Return!

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Are you excited to watch Festival of the Lion King again? Let us know in the comments!