Animal Kingdom: New Nighttime Show and More!

Animal Kingdom is currently under its biggest expansion yet.  While the highlight of the expansion is adding Avatar Land (yep, I’m not kidding), there are other things coming to the park, including a new nighttime show and the return of Festival of the Lion King.

A Disney Parks Blog post earlier this month announced that the new nighttime spectacular “’Rivers of Light’ promises to be an innovative show unlike anything ever seen in Disney Parks, combining live music, floating lanterns, water screens and swirling animal imagery. The show will magically come to life on the broad, natural stage of the Discovery River, between Discovery Island and Expedition Everest, delighting our guests and truly capping off a full day of adventures at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.”

While the new show sounds similar to World of Color or Fantasmic!, it does remind me of Brother Bear, based on the artist’s concept below.

Image from Disney Parks Blog.

In June, the live show Festival of the Lion King will return to Animal Kingdom, this time to a new location in the Africa section of the park.

Image from grumpymickey.com.

And finally, my agent Jennifer Hardy posted that Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade will have its last run on May 31st, after 12 years.  No replacement parade has been announced.

Image from thrillgeek.com

What are your thoughts on the Animal Kingdom expansion?

See you all real soon!

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No it’s a…!

At first rumors speculated it would be used in Animal Kingdom, for the upcoming Avatar-themed land.  But then Gary Buchanan at The Disney Parks Blog hinted at it appearing at New Fantasyland, complete with his own tumblr speculating just when it would appear.

On the night before New Fantasyland’s opening, at an all-media event, the clues matched up and it appeared.

A flying dragon.

Video from YouTube. Note the opening words!

My thoughts: Yes, it looks very real – because it is, right?  But realistic?  Disney could have worked on it better.  Dragons are one of my favorite things being a fantasy writer, so I’m picky about their portrayal in movies and other entertainment.  Add a few spikes and maybe a different color.  Then we’d get a much better looking dragon instead of what looks like a flying lizard overall.

Secondly, Disney has given the impression that this was the dragon’s one and only appearance.  Sure, there are maintenance problems, understandable, but if that was it’s only appearance, why show it at a media-only event?  Instead of the next day when all the Park guests were there?  A poorly made decision on Disney’s part.

It has been mentioned that the dragon is a wild dragon, so while no one can schedule him into appearing, he may show up every once and awhile.  There may be hope.  Maybe.

I suppose I should have referred to the dragon as “he” as Gary revealed he’s a male.  Whoops.

Interesting to note, the dragon is not linked to Disney Imagineering.

ttfn!