Anything Lion King at Disneyland Resort

[RositaFound!]

Hi everyone! We're Disneyland locals who used to go alllll the time, but post-pandemic, we probably go 3-5 times a year. So I'm fairly familiar with the parks but not as much as I used to be! My girls are 2 and 5 and are currently obsessed with everything Lion King. Mufasa hitting Disney+ kicked this off, and now they can't get enough of anything Lion King related - live action, original cartoon, or spin-offs. We're headed to the parks again in a few weeks and I'd love to show them anything Lion King related, but I don't think there's much? I can't believe the show is gone! All I can think of is the scene in the Animation Building and maybe a scene in Fantasmic, am I missing anything?

A work conflict made us postpone a planned trip to Disney World (their first) that would have been last month (moved up from a planned trip in November 2025, now we're pushing into 2026), and I'm SO bummed. They would lose their minds over the Art of Animation Lion King suites and the Festival of the Lion King/meeting Rafiki. Wish we had something like any of that here!

 

[LAS2AMS]

Well, we did have Festival of the Lion King - sort of. When Disney killed the budget of the AK, they improvised by reusing much of the parade from DL’s Lion king Celebration - but in show format.

 

[danceintherain]

It looks like the "Tale of the Lion King" show at Fantasyland theatre was replaced for the 70th birthday celebration.

I was actually thinking this morning that there's almost nothing Lion King related at DLR, so I'll be leaving my "hakuna matata" shirt at home.

 

[JerrodDragon89]

Fantasmic has a Lion King scene and here and there the characters pop up in WOC but are not a focus

Small World has Lion King Characters in the Jungle section

Lion King has a scene in Mickey's Philharemagic in DCA

Thats about all I can think of

 

[LAS2AMS]

DLR is overwhelmingly classic Disney + Pixar. If you think Lion King is underrepresented, what about Frozen?

 

[LKing]

We are big LK fans (hence my user name). There is LK merchandise in Adventureland Bazaar and in Elias & Co, but not really any LK characters or entertainment other than what JerrodDragon89 mentioned.

Tale of the Lion King in Fantasyland Theater wasn't replaced by 70th entertainment. It ended in almost 17 mos ago.

One of the Celebrate Happy decorations in DTD (in front of Sephora) has LK characters.

The Fathers Day pin this year has Simba and Mufasa.

 

[RositaFound!]

Thank you for the ideas! I totally forgot about the characters on It's Small World (the girls' fave ride, so I'll be sure to point them out on one of our many ride throughs lol) and I just realized we've never taken them into Mickey's Philharmagic! They will LOVE that.

Yes, wishing we still had Tale of the Lion King. I do understand there not being more Lion King in the parks - the original movie came out when I was a kid, haha! At least we can find some things for this, the girls also went through a Lady and the Tramp phase and we were totally out of luck with that!

It's not what Disney World has, but in our intense Frozen era, the girls were totally over the moon getting to "visit Arendalle" and meet Anna and Elsa in the Animation Building and spot Arendalle/the North Mountain on Casey Junior/Storybook Land.

Right now I'm trying to make Princess and the Frog happen in our house (then we can enjoy a related ride, restaurant, AND shops!) but it's not happening, they won't watch, they're terrified of Dr. Facilier. Oh well!

 

[ShoeCello]

We are big LK fans (hence my user name). There is LK merchandise in Adventureland Bazaar and in Elias & Co, but not really any LK characters or entertainment other than what JerrodDragon89 mentioned.

Tale of the Lion King in Fantasyland Theater wasn't replaced by 70th entertainment. It ended in almost 17 mos ago.

One of the Celebrate Happy decorations in DTD (in front of Sephora) has LK characters.

The Fathers Day pin this year has Simba and Mufasa.

View attachment 967222

I'm preaching to the choir here, but still so sad that Hyperion is sitting dark and empty and Fantasyland Theater is not used anywhere close to its full potential, especially during the 70th celebration. I know there's the Pixar Playtime at Fantasyland Theater, but this is nowhere close to the theatrical productions that would draw large crowds multiple times a day like Lion King or Mickey's Magical Map.

 

[LKing]

I'm preaching to the choir here, but still so sad that Hyperion is sitting dark and empty and Fantasyland Theater is not used anywhere close to its full potential, especially during the 70th celebration. I know there's the Pixar Playtime at Fantasyland Theater, but this is nowhere close to the theatrical productions that would draw large crowds multiple times a day like Lion King or Mickey's Magical Map.

I don't know if it is open now, but Fantasyland Theater wasn't open for anything last weekend.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Hi everyone! We're Disneyland locals who used to go alllll the time, but post-pandemic, we probably go 3-5 times a year. So I'm fairly familiar with the parks but not as much as I used to be! My girls are 2 and 5 and are currently obsessed with everything Lion King. Mufasa hitting Disney+ kicked this off, and now they can't get enough of anything Lion King related - live action, original cartoon, or spin-offs. We're headed to the parks again in a few weeks and I'd love to show them anything Lion King related, but I don't think there's much? I can't believe the show is gone! All I can think of is the scene in the Animation Building and maybe a scene in Fantasmic, am I missing anything?

A work conflict made us postpone a planned trip to Disney World (their first) that would have been last month (moved up from a planned trip in November 2025, now we're pushing into 2026), and I'm SO bummed. They would lose their minds over the Art of Animation Lion King suites and the Festival of the Lion King/meeting Rafiki. Wish we had something like any of that here!

Hello RositaFound,
If you go to Amazon they have The Lion King plushies on sale if your daughters are interested and they have the Disney Store/Parks Nala plush for $25,99 on sale. I also found another plushie of The Lion King that's a Scar plush that is an Amazon exclusive that your daughters will also enjoy
Glad to be of help to you and hope you stop by Amazon when you have the chance
Let me know if you buy any of The Lion King plushies I mentioned
Have a good weekend Rosita
Dodger

 

[Tinkaboo]

The best Lion King aspect of Disneyland is....@LKing! Sorry...I couldn't resist
But there's no denying it's true! This board is so much better because of all the good info you provide...so THANKS!

 

[LKing]

Thank you Tinkaboo. I'm a visual person so I'm always looking for maps and photos. I'm also a planner so seeing a schedule of events, or calendar of when things are happening, helps me a lot.

Regarding stuffed animals/plushies, Disneyland has quite a bit of LK merchandise including stuffed animals and clothing for both adults and children. They recently released a LK Loungefly. I didn't pay attention to whether it was in the parks last weekend (too distracted with 70th stuff), but will look for it at my next visit.

 

[Pluto468]

Right now I'm trying to make Princess and the Frog happen in our house (then we can enjoy a related ride, restaurant, AND shops!) but it's not happening, they won't watch, they're terrified of Dr. Facilier. Oh well!

I've always found Dr. Facilier so creepy and know my kids would have been really scared of him when they were little. I saw him at the parks one time and he was SO intimidating. I didn't even want to make eye contact lol.

As far as Tiana...maybe you could show them clips of her songs? I bet you could find those somewhere. Even if they haven't seen the movie I bet they'll like the Tiana themed places. When my daughter was little we did the Princess breakfast at Ariel's Grotto and Tiana was amazing. She was so in character and was really engaging with my daughter. She's been her favorite ever since!

I'm glad you asked about the Lion King because my teens have just discovered how much they like that movie. They'll like seeing references to it at the park.