'Festival of the Lion King' will return to Disney's Animal Kingdom in July following a 10-day closure to update the show

By WDWMAGIC Staff · Tuesday May 24, 2022 10:30am ET · "Festival of the Lion King"
'Festival of the Lion King' will return to Disney's Animal Kingdom in July following a 10-day closure to update the show
'A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King' will transition into 'Festival of the Lion King' in July.

Photos / 18 in this gallery

A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King

The tumble Monkeys and flying birds are returning to the Harambe Theatre as the 'Festival of the Lion King' at Disney's Animal Kingdom returns on July 16 2022.

The modified 'A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King' will close at the end of July 4, with the 'Festival of the Lion King' beginning July 16 2022. No shows will be performed July 5 through 15. When the show reopens on July 16, Genie+ access via the Lightning Lane will continue as before.

The tumble monkeys are a team of acrobats that adds a lot of energy to the show and are especially popular with the younger members of the audience. Although the show will be called by its original name, the audience participation elements will not be back in the show from July 16, but may return later.

The return of A Festival of the Lion King in May 2021 was a significant moment for Walt Disney World's entertainment department and its return to the parks followed the pandemic closures. Although in a modified format, it was the first time that large numbers of guests were indoors for a show.

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↩ replying to wdwmagic
Rather disappointed to hear of such a long closure as it pretty much covers my entire trip and with the problem changing park/dining reservations it’s really tough to reorganise to include it 😅
Oh well, I can give this a miss in June. Tumble monkeys are the best part of the show for me. I was hoping they would be back for my trip.😔
↩ replying to nicb88
Well…they’ve got to rehearse.
↩ replying to Bastet
🎵 Yes, we have no bananas !! 🎵
↩ replying to raymusiccity
I can't connect that song to WDW without this classic bit.
↩ replying to celluloid
Loved that! Thanks for sharing. Definitely needed it after this weeks events!

Why don't the the "tumble monkeys" look like the ones following Lucy? 🤣
↩ replying to rumcat
I know… No need to go on the defensive… I’m just expressing my disappointment at missing the show.
↩ replying to rumcat
Typically though at WDW that would be done during overnights. I don't really see why this needs a 10 day closure.
↩ replying to wdwmagic
But what about the fact that half the cast would also be preforming during the day (Timon, dancers, singers) I’m sure that runs afoul of union rules. While I guess one cast could do it at a time, running half shows during the 4th also sounds like a disaster for park ops.
↩ replying to wdwmagic
YES! YES! YES!!!
↩ replying to wdwmagic
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.
↩ replying to Nick_A
That was my thought exactly.