Festival of the Lion King moving to Africa

drew81

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Rumor-

Camp Minnie-Mickey will be seeing many changes in the upcoming future. The most significant of these will see Festival of the Lion King relocated to Africa.

The Camp will also be losing the character kiosks and the replacement for those will be the new meet 'n greet location at Beastly Bazaar(which was reported a few weeks ago).
 

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Rumor-

Camp Minnie-Mickey will be seeing many changes in the upcoming future. The most significant of these will see Festival of the Lion King relocated to Africa.

The Camp will also be losing the character kiosks and the replacement for those will be the new meet 'n greet location at Beastly Bazaar(which was reported a few weeks ago).


Any more info on what will be replacing these?

Surely they aren't just moving attractions around for the heck of it.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Will they open the new FotLK before closing the current one?

Seems like that wouldn't be too difficult but I guess we should just be happy they are keeping the show.
 

Ignohippo

Well-Known Member
FotLK is one of our favorites. Glad to see it would make the cut, and move rather than close completely.

It would make sense that Avatar would be built in that corner since it would be the least intrusive for the animals (especially if this area will remain open later and make AK a full day park).

It's weird that the main attraction for AK would be at the front of the park, but it sounds like it's inevitable.
 

threeyoda

Active Member
This makes sense, and it works out quite well! It would add another attraction to Africa, which needs more, and frees up room for Avatar, while keeping a great show around.

FotLK is one of our favorites. Glad to see it would make the cut, and move rather than close completely.

It would make sense that Avatar would be built in that corner since it would be the least intrusive for the animals (especially if this area will remain open later and make AK a full day park).

It's weird that the main attraction for AK would be at the front of the park, but it sounds like it's inevitable.

It also keeps the extinct/mystical animals at the front of the park, and the mystical ones in the same place Beastly Kingdom would have gone.

The back would stay as the real-world, current animals in Africa and Asia (except the Yeti), which is nice. And Avatar in the front would leave the back expansion pad for the long-time rumored Australia, which would fit with Asia and Africa as the three continents in the back!
 

AVPTI

Member
While it makes sense, I can't see where it will fit.

It has a rather large footprint as the "floats" that hold Simba and crew are kept in tunnels that extend way past the show building. Would require expanding Africa into Asia quite a bit
 

threeyoda

Active Member
While it makes sense, I can't see where it will fit.

It has a rather large footprint as the "floats" that hold Simba and crew are kept in tunnels that extend way past the show building. Would require expanding Africa into Asia quite a bit

Just by looking at Google Maps, it could fit behind Tusker House. There's a stub of a path between Tusker House and the river that could be extended and the theater could be put back there, with easy access to the backstage road.
 

JustInTime

Well-Known Member
Yeah. Something is coming to that area. Finally. Lion King should have always been in Africa, so this is great news to me. Drew, thanks for the updates as always. Any idea of where in africa this might go? Also, any idea of a timeframe?
 

AVPTI

Member
Just by looking at Google Maps, it could fit behind Tusker House. There's a stub of a path between Tusker House and the river that could be extended and the theater could be put back there, with easy access to the backstage road.
That area is the same area that is used by the Jungle Trek "entrance". I also think the training area is back there

Probably a lot easier to re-route them than to tear down buildings for a theatre.
 

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
I really hope this is true. Right now (even moreso once the new meet-n-greet opens), there is an entire Adirondack-themed land whose sole attraction is an African-themed stage show. If they kept Camp Minnie-Mickey around just for FotLK and built Avatarland right next to it, I don't think it would've served either project well. It looks like the show in its current format will be with us for a while, so why not have it in a land that makes sense?

Think about all we know about theme park/urban design. That the crowds (myself included) love that show enough to find it without a wienie to draw them in and without much non-FotLK foot traffic in that land is really all the proof you need that it should stay.

Just paint Gi-tar Dan blue.
 

Tip Top Club

Well-Known Member
Festival of the Lion King does NOT belong in Africa. It takes place in OUR real world with REAL animals, not fantastic animals. I would accept it if it were in a different neighborhood of Africa, but hopefully not connected to Harambe Village at all. That being said, it's not going behind Tusker, a good portion of the Wild Africa Trek takes place back there, and they've pretty much solved their occupancy problems, so if anywhere I would expect it to be moved to a newly expanded area.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
I really think the easiest spot to move FotLK is where Creature Comforts currently sits, right before the bridge to Africa from Discovery Island on the left hand side:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.3566072&lon=-81.59172&z=18&l=0&m=b

Another option is to put Festival of the Lion King on the pathway between Harambe and Flights of Wonder, but without altering the train layout this is an extremely tight fit:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.3589203&lon=-81.5908832&z=18&l=0&m=b

Really, the best option is altering the train layout and Maharajah Jungle Trek, pushing Flights of Wonder further back in Africa with an entrance near the current Harambe train station is. By altering or removing the current train layout and modifying the Maharajah Jungle Trek, they can position the park much better for future expansion into the plot North of Asia. I would also argue that if the buildtime for Avatar is 2016 at the earliest, then a modified Maharajah Jungle Trek that includes Giant Pandas should be an immediate priority for this park.
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.359803&lon=-81.589998&z=18&l=0&m=b
 

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
I really think the easiest spot to move FotLK is where Creature Comforts currently sits, right before the bridge to Africa from Discovery Island on the left hand side:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.3566072&lon=-81.59172&z=18&l=0&m=b

Another option is to put Festival of the Lion King on the pathway between Harambe and Flights of Wonder, but without altering the train layout this is an extremely tight fit:
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=28.3589203&lon=-81.5908832&z=18&l=0&m=b
What? Worried that you might be able to see a show building from the train ride?

Festival of the Lion King does NOT belong in Africa. It takes place in OUR real world with REAL animals, not fantastic animals. I would accept it if it were in a different neighborhood of Africa, but hopefully not connected to Harambe Village at all. That being said, it's not going behind Tusker, a good portion of the Wild Africa Trek takes place back there, and they've pretty much solved their occupancy problems, so if anywhere I would expect it to be moved to a newly expanded area.
I don't think it belongs right in the village like Mombasa Marketplace or Tamu Tamu, but I think you could have a path leading behind the village with some Harambe-appropriate signage pointing you in the direction of the show. Like I said earlier, there is pretty much no chance that you just stumble upon FotLK right now. The healthy crowds that it gets are all people seeking it out, so it doesn't need to be in your face in the village.
 

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