My Views on the New Nighttime Entertainment Coming Soon to Animal Kingdom

There is no questioning the fact that the recent Avatar Land News has been at the forefront of discussions amongst Disney Fans over the past few days. It's fair to say that this very exciting piece of news has very much overshadowed the other upcoming new additions to the Animal Kingdom, which were announced by Tom Staggs at the same time as the Avatar developments; in the same article even! It's therefore no wonder that this additional revelation, every bit as exciting, hasn't been talked about nearly as much as Avatar has!

Specifically, we have learnt that Disney are finally allowing the Animal Kingdom to complete its transition to a full day park, and are doing so through the addition of a variety of new entertainment offerings, most notably the park's first ever nighttime spectacular. This has been widely rumoured for a long time, and will ensure that every Walt Disney World theme park has an end of the night show. The show, which is yet to be publicly named by Disney, will take place on Discovery River, and will interestingly feature live music, alongside what Tom Staggs describes as “floating lanterns, water screens and swirling animal imagery”. Mr Staggs also promises that the new show “will delight our guests and truly cap off their day...”
In addition to this, he revealed that a new nighttime version of the ever-popular Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction will debut, as well as live performers in the evenings on Discovery Island, of which some concept art was released.

My first reaction is another 'wow'- Disney have really spoilt us over the last few days with all these exciting announcements for what many consider to be Walt Disney World's best themed park! The Animal Kingdom is an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful theme park, and I for one can't wait to experience just how incredible its atmosphere will be at night! Having never experienced the park at this time (opportunities to do so are very rare due to short opening hours), I am really looking forward to being able to walk around and soak up the park's unique ambiance at night, which I feel will be enhanced in so many ways by how Disney present the park to compliment the advantages brought by evening touring. And as for experiencing Kilimanjaro Safaris at night, three words- I'M SO EXCITED!!! Not sure I feel quite the same about Kali River Rapids though!

With regards to the nighttime spectacular- I have a feeling that this is gonna become a classic! I think that having this will not only really benefit the park, but will also help to add a whole new dimension to the experience of visiting it, and will truly make it 'the place to be' in the evenings at Walt Disney World. I like that they seem to be taking a different approach to this than with the more traditional nighttime spectaculars, and will be intrigued to see how the Imagineers use this unique, beautifully themed setting to help tell a very profound story with this show, and indeed how they use the show to help deliver the Animal Kingdom's message of conservation and loving our wonderful planet. There is so much potential here, and it looks like this is shaping up to be an experience which will be every bit as unforgettable as Wishes, Illuminations and Fantasmic.

It seems almost a certainty that this show will in some way incorporate the Glow With the Show Ear Hats, which have been available at Disneyland for some time, and cleverly light up and synchronise with their nighttime spectaculars to add a whole new dimension to the experience. Today's Disney news has been that the hats will be making their Walt Disney World debut in tonight's two performances of Fantasmic at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This is to celebrate Fantasmic's 15th anniversary at the park, with the Ears then making their Magic Kingdom debut on the 19th in Wishes and Celebrate the Magic. No word yet on when (or if) they'll be appearing in Epcot, but the article on the Disney Parks Blog at the above link reports that the hats will feature in the Christmas festivities at WDW this year. Based on this, I assume that Disney will be incorporating them into the new Animal Kingdom show! These are exciting times indeed to be a Disney Fan!

Now I want to hear what YOU think! Be your opinions about Avatar, Glow With the Show or the Animal Kingdom's new nighttime offerings (or even everything!), I'd love to hear what you think. Any feedback about the blog is also much appreciated! You can get in touch through the comments, on Facebook, Twitter, or by email. Details of all can be found on the Blog's 'Contact Us' page!

Thanks for reading! I hope you're having a magical day!