Disney World excels at presenting live performances and the Festival Of The Lion King at Disney's Animal Kingdom is one of their best.  This engaging musical performance will delight Disney fans of all ages.

Festival Of The Lion King
The Lion King is one of the best loved Disney Animated Classics and Disney World has created a live action stage show that is worthy of the title.  You will find the Festival Of The Lion King in the Camp Minnie Mickey section of Disney's Animal Kingdom.  There are currently no other attractions in this land other than the Meet & Greet area for Mickey Mouse, Minnie, & friends, but it is certainly worth your effort to make the walk to see this show.

The specially designed theater is reminiscent of a circus tent.  There are 4 seating areas that surround a central stage area.  Each of the four areas is assigned to a particular animal: Lion, Elephant, Warthog, & Giraffe.

The Disney Imagineers tried to make this building feel like an auditorium that you might attend at a large camp to gather together to sing songs and have fun.  They wanted to feel like a camp structure since it is located in Camp Minnie Mickey!

The Show
After the theater is filled, each of the four sections is taught the sound that their animal makes.  Members of the audience are chosen to help during this part of the show. (Hint: Giraffes make a bleating sound like a sheep!)

The opening section is taught by the four main actors/singers for the show.  They are all quite talented and do a great job performing the songs from the movie.



As the show begins large animal based floats enter the theater and take their positions in the four corners representing: Elephant, Giraffe, Lion, and Warthog.  The lion is actually Simba and the Warthog is Pumba from the Lion King.

A collection of colorful dancers in animal based costumes come out to join the festivities.  The costumes are amazing and really add to the show.  You will see zebras, snakes, antelopes, lions, giraffes, monkeys, and more.

For the next 20 minutes or so you are treated to a continuous series of musical numbers featuring songs from the movie, dancing, acrobatics, & fire twirling.  The show moves along quickly and holds the attention of young and old.

One of the crowd favorites is the performance of the acrobatic "Tumble Monkeys," who provide the comic relief for the show as Timon sings.  Then they perform their acrobatic routine on the mini-trampolines and trapeze.

The costumes are well done and the performers always appear to be enthusiastic and having a good time as they dance during the show.

Worth Seeing Multiple Times
The Festival Of The Lion King is a show that you can see again and again.  Even thought the show has not changed much over the years, it is still worth seeing each time you visit Disney's Animal Kingdom.  This show is well done and does not appear to be "tired" even after all of these years.  Each time I see the show it is an uplifting experience and I am glad that I went.