Before we continue, just a quick note about the date above, before anyone tries to gotcha. The date is intentional. The rank given here to Festival of the Lion King is specifically earned because of the small improvement it got by moving locations. FoLK went from what felt like a temporary tent shoved in a meet-and-greet campground into a purpose-built location that perfectly matches is setting and presentation. It's a small bump, and it would have made the list if it was still in Camp Minnie Mickey, but it notches just a little higher after going to Africa, so that's the date we're using. The move also created an expansion to the town of Harambe, creating more richness along the river, and more places to sit, eat, and observe architecture, helping create a more fully-realized environment.
ANYWAY.
The setting of a live audience show will always struggle against a ride vehicle taking you through show scenes, but when the show is as good, and wholesome, and fun as as FoLK, it can contend against even the best rides ever created.
If you haven't done it (shame on you), FoLK at its most simple explanation is nothing to write home about: you watch a colorful show where people sing songs from The Lion King. Obviously, such an attraction has a leg up already with the gift of an already-great soundtrack, but it's the choices FoLK makes with how its show is presented that makes it special.
Instead of a screen, or even just animatronics, the lead vocals of FoLK are delivered by live performers with incredible voices. FoLK doesn't limit itself by trying to retell the story of the film, or concentrate the Broadway show into a theme park attraction, but instead as a completely original performance that seeks to celebrate the characters and the music -- along with African cultures -- in its own method.
The songs are familiar, but each arranged in just a slightly unique and interesting way that fits the show perfectly. After a brief original song to introduce our hosts, we get a goosebump-raising rendition of Circle of Life. The upbeat nature of Just Can't Wait to be King is used to get the crowd going and involved (more on that in a little bit), and is played like a swingy jazz number, complete with scat performances from the hosts. No offense to Elton John, but I believe in my heart FoLK contains the absolute best rendition of Can You Feel the Love Tonight anywhere. The best of them all, though, is the spine-chilling, haunting delivery of Be Prepared. Everything gets revisited at the end for a great finale, too!
So, good, live music. That's enough for a solid attraction. FoLK adds even more, with almost a Cirque du Soleil-light set of acts. Be Prepared has fire dancing. Can You Feel the Love Tonight has aerial ballet. Hakuna Matata is ridiculous high-speed acrobats in neon clothes with black lights. In fact, that section reminds me of that gang section in Batman Forever, except good.
All these really cool acts, included in your park admission with just a little bit of planning around show times. The acrobats are designed to be animals, and the acts are meant to represent not just feats of athletics, but the wild life of Africa. As one more cool part of that last concept, every corner of the show has a giant animatronic animal, and the crowd gets divided into sections with their own cheer representing their local animal, keeping the audience from merely being passive observers.
The one, final, and important thing that FoLK accomplishes that very few members of this list will is using its existence to represent culture. Our hosts introduce themselves to us with their Swahili names, and what they mean. They are dressed in garb inspired by African tribes, and the show is meant to evoke the idea of a tribal celebration, doing so with pride. I really will not pretend to be an expert on accuracy, and welcome any challenge to the value of what FoLK accomplishes here from anyone who knows better than I do. However, the attempt to represent something distinctly African as a part of the African theme park land is a good thing in a way that you won't get from just every attraction in a theme park. If nothing else, by necessity, the attraction requires a diverse representation of performer.
For many reading this, I don't need to champion Festival of the Lion King or justify its inclusion. Most of the readers of this blog are current or former Cast Members, or the super fans of Animal Kingdom. To those crowds, this is an ultra-popular, crowning-achievement attraction. Deservedly so.
To many outside that group, though, this sits as an oft-overlooked gem that helps add to the secretly-massive variety of unique and special experiences that make Animal Kingdom such an amazing park for a more casual, and wholly-different, theme park day.
Yesterday was our first Animal Kingdom attraction, and this now makes two in a row, and these won't be close to the last. Behind the curtain, No. 51 was an Animal Kingdom attraction with another close on its heels. All of these are completely different attractions, to boot, because Disney's Animal Kingdom is a way more awesome theme park than you think it is.
The bottom of this blog post has a video, because all of them will have a video. In this case, however, if you have never experienced Festival of the Lion King, don't click play. Watch the show in person, then go to YouTube whenever you need a nostalgia hit.
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