News Festival of the Lion King returning to Disney's Animal Kingdom summer 2021

[havoc315]

It's not about what they want for the 50th "annierversary." It's about what's socially acceptable as a result of the pandemic, when many folks can't go to the theme parks. Especially if we're not all vaccinated by then, which is highly unlikely with the number of kids who visit WDW.

That's what I get for typing on a phone. There is some doubt as to whether we will ever seek to vaccinate children, and whether we need to.
You can likely reach herd immunity without vaccinating kids.

But putting aside epidemiology, looking at what is socially acceptable..
If the State of Florida, come September, is down to 3 deaths per week and 50 new reported Covid cases per day, statewide... will people voluntarily continue to go along with strict social distancing?
(IHME currently projects to May 1 -- They project by May 1, Florida will be down to 10-20 deaths per day. Reasonable to see it dropping much more by September)

 

[Clamman73]

Less than half.

Honestly I would love it watching the show without someone’s head in front of me, and me trying to take pictures without holding up the camera too high while interfering with the view of someone behind me.

 

[sullyinMT]

That's what I get for typing on a phone. There is some doubt as to whether we will ever seek to vaccinate children, and whether we need to.
You can likely reach herd immunity without vaccinating kids.

But putting aside epidemiology, looking at what is socially acceptable..
If the State of Florida, come September, is down to 3 deaths per week and 50 new reported Covid cases per day, statewide... will people voluntarily continue to go along with strict social distancing?
(IHME currently projects to May 1 -- They project by May 1, Florida will be down to 10-20 deaths per day. Reasonable to see it dropping much more by September)

I think some of the date is due to exactly what you’re saying. KS lines regularly reach Harambe Theater during peak times. If, by mid-late summer for show reopening, some social distancing outdoors can be relaxed, people can be in the holding pen area of the theater and not encroach on KS or even FoP queues.

It’s the tight backstage area that is probably most problematic for staging the whole show, tight choreography aside. Plus, again, rehearsing the new blocking must be done under current conditions.

 

[MichWolv]

I went to a Flights of Wonder show in the fall with the distanced seating, but I’m trying to figure it out in my head what it looked like compared to max seating....half maybe?? A little less than half?

The standard in theaters seems to be every other row, and then within those rows, three empty seats between every group of four open, and the group of four may not be fully used. So actual usage is probably around 1/3, maybe a bit higher.

 

[Notes from Neverland]

Glad to see this is coming back! It's a great show and the performers are so talented.

 

[arich35]

Makes me think nothing will be back by May, damn

 

[MichWolv]

I think some of the date is due to exactly what you’re saying. KS lines regularly reach Harambe Theater during peak times. If, by mid-late summer for show reopening, some social distancing outdoors can be relaxed, people can be in the holding pen area of the theater and not encroach on KS or even FoP queues.

It’s the tight backstage area that is probably most problematic for staging the whole show, tight choreography aside. Plus, again, rehearsing the new blocking must be done under current conditions.

Around the holidays, the queue from Flight of Passage was also back to the Harambe Theater.

 

[JohnD]

Makes me think nothing will be back to normal by May, damn

Fixed it for you.

 

[JohnD]

Around the holidays, the queue from Flight of Passage was also back to the Harambe Theater.

Yeah. But it was a socially distanced queue with fewer people spread farther apart (assuming they were following the "wait here" strips on the ground).

 

[arich35]

Fixed it for you.

Not sure what you fixed, I know nothing will e back to normal by May. Was hoping for maybe a firework show and a couple other shows coming back. Didn't expect everything to go away.

 

[JohnD]

Not sure what you fixed, I know nothing will e back to normal by May. Was hoping for maybe a firework show and a couple other shows coming back. Didn't expect everything to go away.

Well, you had "nothing will be back by May". There are plenty of things back. But nothing will be back "to normal" by May.

 

[ifan]

Yes, it's good to bring back entertainment.. BUT...

Not until SUMMER... with DISTANCING?

If it was coming back right now, it would definitely need adjustments for social distancing. But by summer, we should be significantly vaccinated even if short of herd immunity. (Almost worst case scenario, we should be looking at half of adults vaccinated).
Possibly by summer, certainly by fall, we should reach herd immunity..

So what's the point of re-doing the show with distancing if it's waiting till at least summer?!?! Either bring it back sooner with distancing, or just wait a little longer and come back full.

I think your predictions will be correct and you have science to back you up - but Disney is an EXTREMELY conservative company. As Martin says, they are probably internally planning on social distancing for the rest of the year. This may change if social behaviors start to change this summer, reservations pick up, and Disney sees a valid path to make more $$$ sooner.

Universal appears to be more aggressive, and if they start doing a lot more things this summer, that may force Disney's hand.

Hopefully Disney has a bunch of options internally to increase capacity/shows/entertainment depending on what is possible and their head isn't totally in the sand until 2022.

 

[ToTBellHop]

There are still plans for nighttime entertainment this summer...

I will be curious to see if this brings back a modified FP. Tickets for a show would be useful.

 

[cmwade77]

I think your predictions will be correct and you have science to back you up - but Disney is an EXTREMELY conservative company. As Martin says, they are probably internally planning on social distancing for the rest of the year. This may change if social behaviors start to change this summer, reservations pick up, and Disney sees a valid path to make more $$$ sooner.

Universal appears to be more aggressive, and if they start doing a lot more things this summer, that may force Disney's hand.

Hopefully Disney has a bunch of options internally to increase capacity/shows/entertainment depending on what is possible and their head isn't totally in the sand until 2022.

I don't see any park being able to get back to pre-covid max capacity ever. People are no longer going to be willing to have shoulder to shoulder people when they go places, so a lot will have to be rethought out. I think ultimately the new max capacity will be around 75% of what it was before and that will be with no social distancing.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I don't see any park being able to get back to pre-covid max capacity ever. People are no longer going to be willing to have shoulder to shoulder people when they go places, so a lot will have to be rethought out.

Ever? Somehow we got over the flu epidemic 100 years ago. But it’ll take time, of course. I’ve never liked having a stranger up my butt, so 3 feet or so between us would be fine by me. Get used to overflow queues!

 

[Magic Feather]

Around the holidays, the queue from Flight of Passage was also back to the Harambe Theater.

More recently, the FotLK area has semi consistently been used for Kilimanjaro’s overflow queue.
I honestly don’t know where that will get moved to, maybe into Tusker House?

 

[DisneyGigi]

I think we need to remember that the public are just not going to be OK with being shoulder to shoulder like they were before. Even when we have much more vaccination for both adults and kids, I think people are going to look at crowded spaces in a different way. It was COVID this time, but what about the next time? Like 9-11 did for security, I think COVID will change crowd behavior for a long time.

I agree with you indoors and in line. We were just there last week and while 99 percent of people do respect mask rules and follow the line markers for distancing- when you exit or are in walkways, it is elbow to elbow, no different than before. It is like the mentality only applies while in line.

 

[havoc315]

Ever? Somehow we got over the flu epidemic 100 years ago. But it’ll take time, of course. I’ve never liked having a stranger up my butt, so 3 feet or so between us would be fine by me. Get used to overflow queues!

Reality is people have short memories. You already can see lots of people willing to crowd together at different events.
And obviously, the profit motive is to crowd people together.

So at the Disney cast member starts to announce, "step all the way in, please fill every seat..." ... and it's a few months past Covid, are there really going to be tons of people telling their kids, "we aren't going to Disney world anymore, they want us to sit next to strangers!"

Some changes will be more lasting than others. I expect masks to be more commonplace, which isn't unusual in Asia even before Covid. You'll see more plexiglass dividers.

But simple economics will reduce social distancing quickly. Already, airlines have returned to selling the middle seat, and we're still in the middle of the pandemic.
In Christmas 2022, Disney isn't going to be operating with strict attendance limits, reduced restaurant capacity, etc.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Reality is people have short memories. You already can see lots of people willing to crowd together at different events.
And obviously, the profit motive is to crowd people together.

So at the Disney cast member starts to announce, "step all the way in, please fill every seat..." ... and it's a few months past Covid, are there really going to be tons of people telling their kids, "we aren't going to Disney world anymore, they want us to sit next to strangers!"

Some changes will be more lasting than others. I expect masks to be more commonplace, which isn't unusual in Asia even before Covid. You'll see more plexiglass dividers.

But simple economics will reduce social distancing quickly. Already, airlines have returned to selling the middle seat, and we're still in the middle of the pandemic.
In Christmas 2022, Disney isn't going to be operating with strict attendance limits, reduced restaurant capacity, etc.

I would agree with your assessment. I see smaller changes lasting. Perhaps we can stop shaking strangers’ hands, which is objectively disgusting when you observe how few wash their hands (even now!) in public restrooms.

Now, I expect as a CYA Disney will not be pushy with the “keep up with the party in front of you” announcements. But restaurants and rides will be full and every chair in theaters will be full. We can’t expect Broadway to have reduced capacity for long.

 

[MichWolv]

Yeah. But it was a socially distanced queue with fewer people spread farther apart (assuming they were following the "wait here" strips on the ground).

Yes, absolutely. I understand it still only took less than 2 hours to get through. But if the theater had been open, it would have been much more chaotic.

I'm sure Disney has plans for how to handle it. Maybe they'll run the FoP line through Club 33 instead.