Stories Unfold Through Shows and Entertainment At Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Costumed actors, innovative puppets, great rolling stage floats, storytellers in native dress and even live animals and birds bring a strong lineup of entertainment to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. To complement high-profile ride-through adventures such as Kilimanjaro Safaris, with free-roaming exotic animals, and DINOSAUR, with roaring prehistoric creatures brought to Audio-Animatronics® life, the park’s imaginative live shows thrill guests with stories new and familiar.

On a journey through the theme park, guests will discover: “Festival of the Lion King” at Camp Minnie-Mickey; “Flights of Wonder” at Caravan Stage on the edge of Asia; “Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends” at Grandmother Willow’s Grove in Camp Minnie-Mickey; and at Theater in the Wild outside DinoLand U.S.A., “Tarzan Rocks!”, a high-energy stage musical inspired by the theatrical release of the Disney animated film, “Tarzan.”

The lineup:

• “Festival of the Lion King” -- Animal heroes and villains of “The Lion King,” one of the world’s favorite classic Disney films, star in this all-new spectacle that combines the pageantry of a parade with the excitement of an African tribal celebration. Staged in a hexagonal timber structure with the atmosphere of an Adirondack summer theater, the show puts the 1,375-guest audience right in the middle of the excitement.

  Four giant rolling stages move in from two directions as costumed performers and colorful props sail through the air above the audience. Guests sit in triangular sections labeled elephant, giraffe, warthog and lion.

  To the right, Simba is a giant animated figure, 12 feet high, sitting atop Pride Rock. To the left is Elephant Waterfall, where a playful pachyderm spouts water from his swaying trunk. Another stage is dominated by a swaying giraffe and a fourth is the jungle stage where Pumba and Timon reside.

  Singers in African tribal robes open the show with a rousing chorus of “I Just Can’t Wait to be King.” The center stage doubles as a trampoline for costumed aerial performers portraying a troop of acrobatic monkeys flying through a happy rendition of “Hakuna Matata.” “Be Prepared” sets the theme for a mock battle of tribal warriors on stilts.

  A high-wire aerialist and her dance partner hit the high notes dressed as giant birds in a love duet that literally soars to the tune of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” The show comes full circle with a full chorus of “The Circle of Life” followed by audience participation in competing groups for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The show’s 50 performers return for the rousing finale of a medley of songs from the film. The 28-minute performance is staged daily in Camp Minnie-Mickey

• “Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends” -- Is there really one animal that can save America’s forests and the animals who live there from destruction? Native American legend says there is. But which one? Grandmother Willow says, “You must ask the animals.” And Pocahontas sets out to help her.

  This is the intriguing storyline of “Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends,” where live forest animals take the stage in a nature grove to demonstrate how they can help. Based on characters from the Walt Disney film, “Pocahontas,” the stage show makes use of music from the film as background for the intimate stage show

  There’s a prickly porcupine, a possum, a raccoon, a rabbit, a wild turkey and an energetic skunk. There’s even a very large snake, another of the friends Pocahontas brings on stage to help younger audience members learn more about their animal neighbors.

  In the end, Grandmother Willow and Pocahontas and all her friends learn that the only animals who can save the forests are -- you guessed it -- humans. The 12-minute show is presented up to 10 times daily in the tree-shaded 400-seat Grandmother Willow’s Grove.

• “Tarzan Rocks!” -- Swinging and singing his way into Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Tarzan turns rock 'n' roll star in “Tarzan Rocks!” a stage spectacle based on “Tarzan,” Walt Disney Pictures’ animated feature film.

  Singers, dancers, gymnasts, aerialists and in-line skaters join three of the film’s stars -- Tarzan, Jane and Terk -- on stage to take guests “on tour” with their musical road show. Highlights from the movie’s soundtrack combine with extreme stunts, spectacular costumes and audience participation to create the kinetic atmosphere

  Set in the jungle, the outdoor theater is decked with giant vines, in-line skate ramps, cloud swings, live foliage, large trees and Spanish web. The show’s costuming creates a primitive and ritualistic mood with colors drawn from the animated film’s color palette. The four-act show features five songs from the film’s soundtrack, and the 30-minute extravaganza is presented several times daily in Theater in the Wild near DinoLand U.S.A.