Today we had something to really ROAR about: “A Celebration of Festival of the Lion King” returned at Disney’s Animal Kingdom! Earlier last month, it was announced that entertainment Cast Members were rehearsing for a mid-May reopening. We stopped by Harambe Theatre to catch the first public performance of the modified version of “Festival of the Lion King.”

Another announcement clarified that a modified version of the show would return to accommodate COVID-19 safety measures.

The patchwork lion “quilt” banner hangs proudly on the side of the building.

Cast Members prepared the queue with physical distancing and safety precautions.

Everyone is ready to get this show on the road!

A sandwich board sign alerts guests that their entire party must be present before entering the queue.

Physical distancing markers are currently set six feet apart in the queue.

We were let into the queue 30 minutes before showtime to wait to enter the theater.

Our showtime today was at 12:30.

Hand sanitizer stations were also available just outside the theatre.

Cast Members take down the rope and open the doors.

We were led into the theater and directed to our seats.

The seating arrangement is physically distanced and capacity is limited.

All the performers are physically distanced during the performance.

Glad to see stilt walkers back in action!

Pumbaa is glad to be back!

So great to see their smiling faces during the performance.

Our MANE man Simba is here!

Fire twirling is back as well.

Sadly, no one goes flying from a wire in this version of the show.

Though we missed the Tumble Monkey act, their act wasn’t adaptable to physical distancing. We hope they will return when the full show can be performed again.

It was great to see entertainment offerings begin to return to Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

A full show schedule has not been announced but they were preparing for another performance when we exited Harambe Theatre.

Watch the full show here:

Stay tuned to WDWNT for more updates on Disney’s Animal Kingdom.