Festival of the Lion King Line Question

[ginadv]

Hi All,

Here's a quick question, I hope (after my interminable AK plan post!).

For Festival of the Lion King, I know you should arrive 30 minutes prior to the show, but does everyone have to wait in line, like a regular attraction? It would be great if I could take the kids over to Gi-Tar Dan with a snack or to the Character Trails while DH waited.

Is this possible? And if so, at what point would we need to head over to join Dad in line to get into the theater?

Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I think that would be frowned on.

 

[neile45]

a couple weeks back, when we went, we got there 25 minutes early, and they started letting people in to sit down within 5 minutes.

 

[SueM in MN]

and, if you get there after they have started letting people in, there is no guarantee that you will be able to join your family inside.

 

[newdeal]

Be prepared to get some dirty looks if your try that. People who have been sitting in the burning sun for 20 minutes waiting to be let in arent very understanding.

 

[poison ivy]

ginadv -

they usually start letting in 15-20 mins prior so make sure you arrive no later than 20-25 mins beforehand to provide enough time to seat everyone comfortably.

Once inside they do entertain the kids and it's a nice air conditioned rest. Consider a bathroom break before lining up.

btw - I really like your touring plan for the day. Was glad to see you allow that extra hour. Sounds like a great way to enjoy the park with your girls.

 

[KathleensKid]

They recommend you get there that early b/c they have to start seating everyone early. For example, if the show is at 1, that means the audience is seated, doors to the theater closed and actors start performing at 1 - not doors open to let the line of people waiting enter at 1.
And they pack you in tightly in the theater on benches. You would all have to enter together. The CM's force people to slide all the way over to fill in all the space on the benches which makes it impossible to "save" seats.
They do have entertainment before the show. When we were there last month, there was a terrific show choir helping teach us the monkey hand motions while everyone was getting seated. It's a terrific show.
Have a great trip!

And just FYI - when we were there in May, the wait for the characters was looooong in the afternoon. Unless this is the only time your kids will get a chance to meet those characters, you might need to skip some of them. We had met them at Tusker House but dd wanted to see them again. We bribed her away with a mickey bar once we saw the lines and realized we were not willing waste park time waiting in character lines.

 

[ginadv]

Thanks for the info!

We're not looking to get over on anyone here, but as it's a theater rather than a traditional ride queue I was just wondering if we all had to wait together.

So it will be a quick potty trip and then mickey bars in line, then!

Thanks!

Poison Ivy, thanks again for your feedback on the plan and for your vote of confidence. I think it looks pretty sound. I am a little nervous about melting in the July heat, but we'll take it easy...

 

[HockeyMomNH]

It is a theater, but you sit on benches rather than seats. It would be hard for your husband to save you seats once the theater is opened. The CM's are very efficent at filling the theater and they direct guest where to sit. They also make everyone move all the way down the rows to fill in the seats. Also, once they have filled a section they will not let you cross the theater floor to go to that section.

 

[mjp12831]

As others have written, you're not outside in a line for that 30 minutes - they seat you pretty quickly after the line forms.

You're going in July - we've gone the last 2 Julys - I'm commando tour guy so I wasn't thrilled about burning 30 to 45 minutes waiting for a show, but especially later in the day, sitting in the theatre in a/c is a nice break from the heat of AK.

 

[MHSweb79]

For Lion King and also Nemo, you don't wait in an organized "line," you wait with a mob of folks filling in a space outside the theater doors. So it would be tough to find your DH even if you could push your way through the mob. Once they let you in, as others have stated, you are directed to a specific area to sit, and saving seats is virtually impossible.

Little kids always find a way to occupy themselves. At Lion King, they always seem to find some sticks and rocks that serve quite nicely as imaginary whatnot. There are also giant fans blowing and kids have fun jumping in front of them. I wouldn't worry.

Both shows are great, by the way. I highly recommend them!

 

[Dayton Flyer]

I know the traditional thinking here is "you can't save seats, no cuts in line to rejoin your family or else you will face a firing squad" etc. etc.

TLK is a bit unique. It does have 4 completely separate seating areas. When you first go in, they are directing you where to go when it is expected to be full. However, if the show is not expected to be completely full, then saving seats probably would be less of a problem than normal.

If you plan to do this, I would plan to go to an early show and then plan to join DH at least 10 minutes prior to the show. If you are able to get in at that point, you should still be able to get in and join him at your seats. I would also have DH sit high up in the bank of seats so as to minimize seat hogging to others who would like to sit lower. You still have a good view of the action, IMO. But some of the CMs in TLK are a bit more aggressive than others in "seat filling" aka "MOVE ALL THE WAY DOWN! ALL THE WAY SIR!"

I am not an advocate of one holding a place in line for an entire family (i.e., my wife always waits to go in line with me for after I am FP runner rather than me having to cut in line to try and join her), HOWEVER I think exceptions can be made for a large theater show like this if it is not likely to be a full show. If you go to the first show, I can just about guarantee you it won't be full.

Just don't be late, because after a certain point they don't allow in any stragglers and there is really no way to cut across the show to join your husband.

 

[juliebug1997]

Those in the know....
When, traditionally is the first showing?

 

[leitadisneyfan]

I believe it is at 10am.

 

[juliebug1997]

I believe it is at 10am.

Darn. We have Tusker House at 9:15 AM.

 

[KrysiaG]

Thanks for all the tips. I really enjoyed reading this thread.

Goodness, you know the 2011 Unofficial WDW guidebook I have actually recommends in numerous places for 1 family member to stand in line while others go to the restroom and get snacks to eat on (and then rejoin that family member in the line just before entering the ride/show). I wonder how many people actually do this.

 

[Victoria3]

They tell you when entering the waiting area that your whole party must be together when you enter the theater and there's no saving seats.

 

[ginadv]

I was not planning to rejoin him in the theater or have him save seats for us after entering on his own. My initial impression was that you arrived at 1pm to be admitted at 1:30 for the 1:30 show...so I figured he'd hang in the crowd while we listened to Gi-Tar Dan with some ice cream. It wasn't necessarily that I was concerned that my kids would get restless waiting, but more that they could enjoy some music RATHER than waiting if that was possible. Now it's more clear how the crowd is admitted to the theater, so it's obvious that we wouldn't have the extra time to do more than run to the bathroom between our arrival and the time they opened the theater doors. Gi-Tar Dan's schedule is such that he has a show 1/2 hour prior to each FotLK performance, so I thought that might work out nicely. Perhaps we'll catch him after FotLK lets out...

Anyhow, I'm not one for line jumping, and especially not in a traditional moving queue. But in normal, non-Disney life, DH and I divide and conquer with the kids all the time--parent A takes kids to bathroom, parent B gets a table for lunch; parent A gets the popcorn, parent B saves seats in the movie theater etc...it seems there's a bit more friction about doing these kinds of things at Disney simply because waiting in lines is built into the fabric of a Disney vacation and so there's a component of unfairness to others that doesn't really exist in normal, non-Disney life. No debate, please. Just an observation.

In any case, thanks for the Lion King tutorial!

 

[KathleensKid]

So it will be a quick potty trip and then mickey bars in line, then!

FYI: I'm fairly certain that they wouldn't let us thru to the line waiting area with any food. Hopefully someone else can verify that.