Festival of the Lion King closes January 5th

[englanddg]

Why, The Disney Store, of course!

They sold Piggy there? How could I miss such glorious merchandise!

WE LOVES THE PIG!

 

[Neph-Neph]

Well, technically, my mug is Hamm but that is also an adorable piggy!

 

[englanddg]

Well, technically, my mug is Hamm but that is also an adorable piggy!

Oh, I see it now.

T. Rowe Piggy is cuter!

 

[Cesar R M]

Finding Nemo is 33 minutes long. How'd you waste 90 on the show?

when you suffer.. time moves slower.
Perhaps this person was dying from the inside, thus every second counted as thrice.. like the life passed thought his eyes.

See, I love Nemo specifically because of the songs; they're original to the show, and it has that Avenue Q feel.
Festival of the Lion King is alright, mostly because of the Monkeys, but there's nothing worse than a Disney theme park show that just re-hashes the songs from the movie its based on.

I love the songs of TLK

Awesome, That is one show which will NEVER be put on at a Disney property, But it's a scream and a must see.

they could disnezify it.

How many people fill the four main roles of FOTLK? I often felt like I saw the same performers over the years. Especially "Kiume" who always has such a distinctive voice.

I seen the show 4 times in my last visit, and they were the same.. some of the dancers changed (and the behavior pattern of Timon as well) but the main singers were the same.
Maratonic working hours!

Yes, everyone in the cast, both the equity performers (the singers) and the non-equity performers (the stilt walkers, puppeteers, etc.) is being asked to re-audition when the show moves locations. Some will probably rejoin the show, but others may not. It was the uncertainty that played into much of the emotion yesterday.

In the meantime, many of the performers will be moving into other roles- the non-equity performers are entertainment cast, so they can be moved around. The equity cast's contract ended yesterday, so their situation is a little different. Many of them are remaining with the company, however, in a different capacity.

Maybe its a good thing, sort of to keep things fresh..
remove the Artists that wants to go to something else.. and receive new fresh ones.

Oh my gosh, I love this post. As I've been saying for years, every new addition doesn't have to cost $500 million.

WDW is sorely lacking just pleasant areas to relax and enjoy. CMM was a nice quiet area that put you in the middle of the wilderness, away from the hustle and bustle.

While multi-billion dollar additions are great, at this point I'd rather see less-expensive additions (like old school dark rides) that would bring back a bit of the heart to WDW and add much needed capacity without breaking the bank.

Seriously, can you imagine how popular a little area at AK would do that consisted of a Jungle Book, The Lion King (and maybe something like Rescuers or Robin Hood ) dark rides would be? –and no, they don't have to be $350 million debacles like The Little Mermaid, either. You could probably do 3 dark rides and a nice little hub for under $150 mill – and just think what that would do for AK!

<tangent over, sorry>

Id love one of chip and dale and the jungle book!.

It has. I was pointed to a Twit pic of a full wall across the path under the CMM hanging sign.

any url for the image link?

I had the opportunity to see 2 performances on Sunday including the final one at the original location. My initial plan was just to catch one more chance to photograph the show from the old location. After experiencing the astonishing emotion of that 4:30 performance, I hung around for the final at 6:30.

I took a mountain of photos from 2 different locations but a couple that really stuck with me came from the 4:30 performance. For those who have seen the show, the Circle of Life sequence at the end of the show can be among the most amazing and emotional of the show. The lead performer singing that sequence at the 4:30 show gave it absolutely everything she could possibly give. I've had the pleasure to hear some truly amazing performances in this show over the years but this one was special. She gave 150% and was clearly emotionally spent when it was over. And the audience reacted in kind.

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During the final show at 6:30 a good portion of the audience was packed with WDW Entertainment CM's and former performers from this show in it's many years in this theater. Nearly every sequence of the show closed with a standing ovation from the crowd and the ovation at the end was really deafening.

I'm looking forward to the new edition of the show when it moves to it's new home this summer but also really glad I had the opportunity to catch the final performance in it's original home.

bless them for their amazing effort on giving an amazing show!

 

[Next Big Thing]

they could disnezify it.

I know you are joking, but still, doing that to BoM would literally kill the show. First of all, it'd be extremely hard to Disnify BoM and still have the show make sense. But even if you could, you've lost much of it's humor, probably half of it's songs would need to censored/cut and the overall heart of the show just isn't there anymore. Shows like Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, etc could/should never be done in any theme park setting.

 

[SirLink]

I know you are joking, but still, doing that to BoM would literally kill the show. First of all, it'd be extremely hard to Disnify BoM and still have the show make sense. But even if you could, you've lost much of it's humor, probably half of it's songs would need to censored/cut and the overall heart of the show just isn't there anymore. Shows like Avenue Q, Book of Mormon, etc could/should never be done in any theme park setting.

Spamalot could ...

 

[JWG]

Really wish Disney wouldn't end shows months before the new show was ready to go - possibly unavoidable but now there's a 6 month or so gap until return of FotLK and similarly, a 2+ month gap on the MK's parade.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Really wish Disney wouldn't end shows months before the new show was ready to go - possibly unavoidable but now there's a 6 month or so gap until return of FotLK and similarly, a 2+ month gap on the MK's parade.

The FOLK situation was admittedly avoidable on Disney's part- they didn't seem to coordinate the dates very well. However, I'm hearing construction on the new theater is moving along faster than they anticipated and the show might not be down as long as it was originally announced.

With regards to the parade, didn't I read on here somewhere that work needed to be done to the parade route in order to accommodate the new parade? That may have necessitated the down time.

 

[ford91exploder]

The FOLK situation was admittedly avoidable on Disney's part- they didn't seem to coordinate the dates very well. However, I'm hearing construction on the new theater is moving along faster than they anticipated and the show might not be down as long as it was originally announced.

With regards to the parade, didn't I read on here somewhere that work needed to be done to the parade route in order to accommodate the new parade? That may have necessitated the down time.

Or TDO is seeing how many complaints are registered, If not too many well then we don't NEED the parade and can apply the OPEX either to the MM black hole or the bonus pool for TDO execs

 

[rioriz]

There is a small update on another Planet website that show the new construction to be rather extensive. I forgot they were building a walkway to Avatar plus an expanded Harambe. I am actually looking forward to this more than SDMT

 

[doctornick]

There is a small update on another Planet website that show the new construction to be rather extensive. I forgot they were building a walkway to Avatar plus an expanded Harambe. I am actually looking forward to this more than SDMT

Yes, it seems like the west side of the park is going to get a lot of construction -- which would be the area in between current Africa and CMM/future Pandora. There's even a bridge on that side from Discovery Island which is currently backstage but is expectde to become onstage and usable by guests.

My question is whether there are any plans for that area beyond FOTLK and Pandora. It seems like a very large area to have "just" a pathway between the two and there have been hints of other projects. Though it seems like if anything else gets built it would likely be either animal enclosures or stuff like food/merch and not new rides or shows.

 

[Cesar R M]

speaking of parades.. Will they rework on the Mickey Jamin' Jungle parade? or its going to be replaced? or canceled completely?

 

[SpectroMan93]

I know the main purpose of the construction is to build a new home for FOTLK, but I wish they would incorporate elements of the Hong Kong version into the show:


Our version is definitely way more fun, but the lighting, choreography, technology, and overall artistry of Hong Kong's blows way past the one at Animal Kingdom. If they could find some way to combine the two, it could be a truly spectacular show.

*EDIT: I realize now that many people have already voiced this opinion, and I apologize for the repetition. But I just watched Hong Kong's and really fell in love with it. Hoping that 6 months of construction equals at least a rotating, tiered stage.

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

speaking of parades.. Will they rework on the Mickey Jamin' Jungle parade? or its going to be replaced? or canceled completely?

So far, nothing has been rumored about any parade returning to AK. Only the night entertainment.

 

[mm52200]

So far, nothing has been rumored about any parade returning to AK. Only the night entertainment.

Well no parade needs to return because it hasn't left. MJJ is still happening.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

How many people fill the four main roles of FOTLK? I often felt like I saw the same performers over the years. Especially "Kiume" who always has such a distinctive voice.

One of the former Kiumes just made her Pioneer Hall debut last night. She's one of the understudies for Clare de Lune now.

 

[Cesar R M]

So far, nothing has been rumored about any parade returning to AK. Only the night entertainment.

so.. cancel? D:

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

Well no parade needs to return because it hasn't left. MJJ is still happening.

Must have read the FoF thread wrong. I know someone stated its days are numbered. I thought it went just after that count down to fun parade.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Hated it so much, he saw it three times just to be sure...

You hated it, but others in the group liked it, so you just decided to... GO WITH THE FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

 

[Atomicmickey]

Hope this link isn't blocked, from Orlando Theme Park News. I don't know if that's a friendly site.

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2014/01/festival-of-lion-king-theater-update.html

Take a look--they're not just building a theatre, there is a ton of surrounding area being worked on. And the theatre itself seems much larger than the old one. A lot going on. I had heard that they were in some ways adding an entire new area to Africa, and it seems to be true. Lots of placemaking--I'd guess around the theatre, more food carts, a DVC thing. A bathroom? Who knows. We haven't seen leaked plans or any renderings for this, have we? Anyone?

Plus this cryptic bit about the Dawa bar being demolished? That makes me sad because I absolutely love the decay, the overhead wires, the whole look of the thing. So incredibly authentic. I'm sure whatever they replace it with will look good, but I remember the first time I walked over the bridge and was blown away by the high level of theming with that area.