'A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King' to open May 2021 at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Apr 19, 2021 in "Festival of the Lion King"

Posted: Monday April 19, 2021 12:10pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle has today announced that 'A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King' will open in mid-May 2021 at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Disney announced back in January that live entertainment will resume at Walt Disney World this summer starting with 'A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King.'

Although we don't yet have a specific start date, the mid-May timeframe continues to support Disney's move to increasing capacity at Walt Disney World theme parks for the summer season.

Jeff posted pictures inside the theater where preparations are underway for the return of the show. As you can see from his photos above, rehearsals are underway, and Cast Members are training to operate the theater under COVID-19 restrictions. As we have seen elsewhere, expect to see significantly reduced capacity, along with physical distancing between rows and groups.

The show itself will also see some modifications to assist with performer safety and will be reduced in length.

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SirwalterraleighApr 20, 2023

…only took 3 years…they’re cranking now

JohnDApr 20, 2023

Bumping again. So I saw it today. The entire show appears to be back including stilt walkers and children marching around the theater with a narrative change. After the children dance around the theater, singling out one child with Timon saying and pointing, "You were perfect, especially you!" was removed. This was not related to health but was clearly a narrative change. I get the impression what was done previously is not coming back.

mm52200Dec 16, 2022

Stilt walkers being there some days and missing others is due to staffing. No crowd interaction still.

RSoxNo1Dec 16, 2022

Sorry to thread bump but wanted to update people here. I could be mistaken but in late November the stilt walkers weren't part of the show, but they were definitely there a week later. They are also not doing the animal sections or having kids come around as part of the finale as of early December.

RSoxNo1Jul 21, 2022

Love to see this show back to it's former glory.

Figments FriendJul 17, 2022

Great to have the entire Show back! ✨ -

Henry MysticJul 16, 2022

More photos! Massive applause tonight! 653654

SplashJacketJul 16, 2022

Absolutely fantastic show. The enthusiasm by the performers and guests was extremely evident. The tumble monkey segment is fantastic. Way better than I remember and I have always loved it. Returns the show to its full glory. Acrobatic can you feel the love tonight is equally amazing. The sign language interpreters did an amazing job. Phenomenally talent and animated!

UnbansheeJul 16, 2022

Beauty and the Beast dropped physical distancing some time ago https://blogmickey.com/2022/04/beauty-and-the-beast-live-on-stage-begins-return-to-new-normal-removes-physical-distancing-at-disneys-hollywood-studios/

jrhwdwJul 16, 2022

Another First Day, another Standing Ovation!!! GREAT JOB AK/TDO!!!! Now all we need is the normal BATB & F!

wdwmagicMay 25, 2022

That was my thought exactly.

Zummi GummiMay 25, 2022

I really hope it’s not because they don’t want to pay the cast the overnight “premium” for those rehearsals, but it wouldn’t shock me if that were the reason.

Doug MeansMay 25, 2022

YES! YES! YES!!!