This summer, Disney hosted their biggest D23 event to date, filled with exciting announcements. These ranged from a Spider-Man Coaster and “Tower of Terror” for Shanghai and Hong Kong to the replacement of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney Studios that we’ve been expecting for years.
I invite you to watch my video regarding all we know about the land for a more in-depth understanding:
Back in 2018, a major expansion to the Walt Disney Studios park was announced, alongside a 2 billion euro investment in the resort for hotel and park refurbishments, the Disney Village makeover and others. To the right of the kingdom of Arendelle, a small scale Galaxy’s Edge with only one of the two rides, Rise of the Resistance, would be found but after what was a lackluster opening in the US Imagineers went back to the drawing board.
Now, in 2024, for the first time ever, the classic movie will make its way from the big screen into a theme park attraction and land, 30 years after its release. But what will the land have? Disney says: “This larger-than-life area will bring guests on a journey through the African savanna and immerse them into the unforgettable adventures of Simba, Timon, Pumbaa and many other iconic characters from the beloved Disney film, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. For the attraction, Disney Imagineers will bring to life the majestic Pride Rock, which will serve as the gateway to an adventure-filled water attraction that will plunge guests beneath the rock to follow Simba on his journey from cub to king, in a retelling of the story from the classic animated feature film. When visiting the Pride Lands, guests will be immersed in the world of The Lion King thanks to Disney character greetings, themed dining, and shopping opportunities, which promises an unforgettable experience for guests of all ages.”.
The announcement wasn’t problem free as the concept art released with the information do not represent reality. The ride will be themed around the 1994 version of The Lion King, but the major concept art shows the characters from the 2019 remake. Some sort of miscommunication must’ve happened somewhere, and we know this because Disney says it themselves. Why would the artistic rendering have the 2019 version then? It’s highly likely that the concept art is an older one, reflecting past iterations of the project, as these go through many changes before reaching the final result. We know the project has been in the works for several years as the first leak came in 2021.
The models are where we truly learn about this new land. We see that there will be two paths into and from the the land coming from Adventure Bay, connecting it to the rest of the park. The very large mountain with Pride Rock on top will lure guests inside, acting as a weenie. After entering, the tallest drop of the ride will be right in front of you, a drop that appears to be similar to the one found in Chiapas at Phantasialand, where it drops you further down before going back up a little. This would be the perfect system as the water levels are easily adjustable, making sure guests don’t get very wet during the cooler months of the year! After dropping, the boats circle round back into the the mountain, similarly to the Splash Mountains around the world.
All throughout the land, incredible views of Pride Rock and all the spectacular mountain will be found. Closer to the ground, we see a lot of greenery and large rocks that really remind me of the Pirates and Peter Pan areas of Fantasy Springs, it looks like a similar style will be found here to help bring the animated classic into the real world. Recognizable locations from the movie are also present, with Rafiki’s Home Tree. Behind the mountain and Pride Rock lies what is a truly massive showbuilding, especially compared to Frozen Ever After, whose building isn’t especially small either. This is where most of the ride will take place, similarly to other Disney attractions around the world, but with that size I think we can expect a little more to be discovered inside, perhaps a restaurant or others. In fact, we see many entrances throughout, so I don’t think we know the full story just yet.
Outside, several buildings, small structures and others are found throughout the land, as dining, shopping and meet&greet locations will be found here, however it’s impossible to say which is which. Some large caverns can be seen below pride rock in what will be the showbuilding of the attraction, once again with some similarities to Fantasy Springs. These appear to be the entrance to what promises to be an unforgettable attraction.
Unfortunately, nothing was showcased from the inside of the ride during the announcement, however, if we go back to the information shared by insiders months ago, it’s to be a very exciting one, filled with beloved scenes from the movie, music, animatronics and thrilling elements. In fact, that’s one thing the concept art gets well, the very large final drop! The ride time should be spectacular too coming in at around 15 minutes, becoming one of the longest in the Parisian resort. As we can see, the boats are larger than what we know in Splash Mountain, where they have 2 people per row in Orlando and Tokyo and just one in California, this will be a major factor on the ride’s capacity, that should be quite spectacular.
When it comes to timings, we all know Disney isn’t particularly easy, however they’ve made one very excitement announcement: the construction of the Lion King land will begin next year, 2025. The World of Frozen and Adventure Bay, however, will not open next year expected, however construction is set to end in the second quarter of 2025, meaning the teams working there can then start working on the Pride Lands. It’s also very possible that we’ll see ground works and even construction slowly start before then, which would be even better. If we assume construction will take roughly 3 years, we could be looking at an opening date of 2028, but it could easily slide to 2029. Construction should move faster than what we’re seeing with the rest of the park due to the smaller scale, however Disney hasn’t committed to any opening timeframe. What this means is that from the moment we step foot in the newly open areas of Disney Adventure World, the Lion King land will be under construction and to me that’s awfully exciting!
The Lion King is one of the most iconic Disney films ever with what possibly is the most recognizable soundtrack in one too, waiting 30 years to build an attraction around it has always been a mistake, but it looks like that will all soon change. So, what do you think about these news? This is just the beginning regarding the Lion King land and we’ll be following it all right here. And now, as always, thank you for reading and That’s a Wrap!
Credit to TravelToTheMagic
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