Difference between revisions of "Festival of the Lion King"

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==Attraction History==
 
==Attraction History==

Revision as of 21:22, 11 October 2012

The Festival of the Lion King is an attraction located in Disney's Animal Kingdom

Festival of the Lion King
Festivalofthelion.jpg
The entrance sign for the Festival of the Lion King.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Land Camp Minnie Mickey
Attraction type Stage Show
Opening date April 22, 1998
Ride duration 28 minutes
Based on The Lion King

Attraction History

Although currently the longest running show in Disney's Animal Kingdom, Festival of the Lion King was originally planned a temporary attraction. When Imagineers designed Animal Kingdom, the plan called Beastly Kingdom to be one of the park’s main lands. Due to budget constraints however, Beastly Kingdom was pushed back to phase II and a temporary land called Camp Minnie-Mickey was created in order to draw guests to this new land.

At the same time Imagineers were working on Camp Minnie-Mickey, Disneyland’s "Lion King Celebration" parade was ending its three year run. Eventually, it was decided that Imagineers could rescue many of the puppets and floats from the parade and create a new stage show for Animal Kingdom. The show that they created, The Festival of the Lion King was housed in a temporary theater which was not enclosed, and ready for Animal Kingdom's opening day.

The Festival of the Lion King (as well as the rest of Camp Minnie Mickey), proved to be so successful that it eventually became one of the parks most popular attractions. Finally in 2003, the show's theater was enclosed, and air conditioning was added. Outside of changes to the show's theater, the Festival of the Lion King has not seen any major changes, although a new Timon costume that allowed the meerkat to move his mouth and blink his eyes was added to the show in 2009.