The transformation is complete…for now. The Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris has officially been renamed Disney Adventure World. Along with the renaming comes an all-new expansion of the park, anchored by the World of Frozen land along the southwestern shore of the Adventure Bay body of water. While the park rename is complete, and the World of Frozen area is open, work isn’t done at Disney Adventure World. An exciting, first-ever Lion King-themed land is already under construction as the park continues its expansion. In this article, we’re going to cover everything we know about the new land, including some never-before-published photos of the scale model seen at the D23 Expo.
First-Ever Lion King Land Coming to Disney Adventure World
First announced at the 2024 D23 Expo, Disney Adventure World will soon be home to the Pride Lands, a new land dedicated to the 1994 animated classic movie The Lion King. The Pride Lands will be dedicated to the characters and stories from the film, including dining, shopping, and a chance to meet some favorite characters.
Current Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro made the announcement, then in his role as Disney Experiences Chairman. When the announcement was made, a piece of concept art flashed behind D’Amaro, showing the marquee attraction coming to the Pride Lands area.
While the concept art showed characters based on the 2019 “live-action” remake of the 1994 classic, Disney would eventually release new concept art, clarifying that the attraction will be based on the animated version of the story – not the “live-action” version of the story.
Along with a new piece of concept art for the exterior of the attraction, Disney released new concept art of the interior of the ride, too. This confirmed that the “next-gen” Audio-Animatronics planned for the ride were based on the animated classic version of The Lion King. Descriptions of the ride confirmed as much.
Construction is already underway on the first themed area dedicated to Disney Animation’s The Lion King. Set on Adventure Bay, this new land will feature a major attraction combining water-based thrills with next-generation Audio-Animatronics figures and unforgettable songs from the 1994 masterpiece, plunging guests deep into the Pride Lands to follow Simba’s adventures.
After making their way to the caves beneath the 37-meter-high Pride Rock, guests will embark on a wondrous, touching, and sensational adventure through iconic scenes and sceneries from the beloved animated movie, navigating a path with three exciting slopes, including an impressive 16-meter-high descent. Featuring a highly detailed environment coming to life through state-of-the-art special effects and an unforgettable soundtrack, along with numerous Audio-Animatronics figures, this attraction will be one of the biggest at Disneyland Paris!
When visiting this themed area, guests of all ages will be immersed in the world of The Lion King thanks to character meet and greets, themed dining, and shopping experiences. Needless to say, their adventures in the heart of the Pride Lands are bound to be unforgettable!
At the 2024 D23 Expo, Disney revealed two models for the upcoming Lion King area. Here are some never-before-published photos from our visit to the Walt Disney Imagineering exhibit.
The first set of photos is of the Pride Lands area as it fits in the entire Disney Adventure World model.
This second set of photos is of the Pride Lands scale model. This model was pretty large, and was only focused on the Pride Lands area – not any other parts of the Disney Adventure World theme park. This model is far more detailed, and we have some detailed photos of the work that went into creating this scale model.
While Disney has not announced an opening year for the Pride Lands, we expect that the construction timeline will be similar to the World of Frozen Land. It’s possible that the work will be shorter given that Disney was busy creating Adventure Bay and other areas in Adventure Way as they were building the World of Frozen.
While this expansion is wonderful for Disney Adventure World, we wonder if there could be a space for the Pride Lands at Walt Disney World sometime in the future.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!