Disney recently launched their Protect the Pride campaign in celebration of the release of the release of the live-action remake of The Lion King. The objective of this new campaign is to raise awareness of the crisis facing lions and other wildlife across Africa and support the Lion Recovery Fund and its partners to help advance conservation across Africa, including doubling the number of lions in the wild by 2050.
In order to promote this new campaign, Disney’s Animal Kingdom has introduced several new offerings and initiatives for guests to enjoy and take part in. Disney invited us out today to experience some of these new offerings.
We started the day off with a ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition to learn about one of these new conservation initiatives. For every guest who rides the Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition during opening week of The Lion King (July 19 – 25, 2019), Disney Conservation Fund will donate $2 (up to $350,000) to the Wildlife Conservation Network in support of the Lion Recovery Fund’s efforts to help double the number of lions across Africa by 2050.
We then took the train over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch to try out the new Animation Experience at Conservation Station. This new experience shares how live animals have inspired many of Walt Disney Animation’s most iconic characters and allows guests the opportunity to learn to draw some of their favorite characters from Disney’s animated classic The Lion King. We drew young Simba. I’m not much of an artist, but I think I did ok.
Next, we tried one of the new snacks offered in the park inspired by the Lion King. There are several new options including a Simba Cupcake, the Bugs ‘n Grub Waffle Cone and more. We tried the Simba Ice Cream Sandwich and it was absolutely delicious. It’s a simple snack – just vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies – but it’s delicious. It’s also a massive snack that almost has to be shared.
The next step brought us back to Discovery Island and the shadow of the Tree of Life. There, we checked out the new Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party. A live band takes the stage while dancers and some of your favorite characters – in this case Timon and Baloo – get the audience involved in the party.
For lunch, we headed over to Tiffins, where we were shown some of the desserts that will be offered during the Circle of Flavors: Harambe at Night, a new dining experience beginning July 24 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This new experience will offer a menu inspired some of the animals of Africa as well as some very tasty desserts.
While we were there, we were also shown a new VR experience that will also be offered during Circle of Flavors: Harambe at Night. This new experience will put you right into the habitat of the very lions you can see on the Kilimanjaro Safari and nose to nose with these majestic animals. It’s a very cool experience that I think a lot of guests will enjoy.
Finally, we were introduced to the new The Lion King Scavenger Hunt. We explored Harambe looking for some of our favorite characters from the film in an effort to earn a “savanna surprise.” You can learn more about this new experience here.
You can experience all of these new offerings at Disney’s Animal Kingdom now. You can also support lion conservation efforts and learn more about the Lion Recovery Fund at lionrecoveryfund.org.