'UP! A Great Bird Adventure' closing for changes

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Posted: Thursday July 4, 2019 7:38am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

UP! A Great Bird Adventure is closing briefly in September to make changes to the show.

The original Flights of Wonder show at Disney's Animal Kingdom was reworked in April 2018 to include characters from the movie UP! alongside the cast of birds, but has been poorly received by guests.

The original Flights of Wonder was a popular show

UP! A Great Bird Adventure will close from September 8 to September 14, with a reopening planned for September 15 2019.

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MisterPenguinDec 09, 2021

I just saw the birds-only version of the bird show, and I really liked it. Best version of the show, IMO.

CompedDec 09, 2021

Still would have been cuter than the birds. It was a very serious consideration when AK was being developed. WDE had a plan figured out - the found a trained panda troupe from somewhere in Asia, and were ready to begin talks to bring the act on a permanent basis to AK. Joe turned it down, and we got the bird show instead. Or so I was told by a former high-ranking exec who was involved in the creation of AK quite a bit. That's the fun of it!

Cesar R MDec 05, 2021

And they would be stupidly adorable while doing so. I still think a panda show would need a window barrier or something. Pandas tend to be pretty dumb and roll around everywhere.

JoeCamelDec 04, 2021

I doubt that was ever a serious consideration. The cost and involved care panda's need along with needing the Chinese to provide the panda would have shanghaied any thought this would be feasible. Maybe they built a park with the Government to grease the deal? No, not even in the realm of possibility. Plus they are boring to watch.

MisterPenguinDec 04, 2021

They would have been trained to perform their natural behaviors on cue: eat bamboo and fall over.

CompedDec 04, 2021

When AK was in development, Joe Rohde rejected the idea of a panda show and decided this bird show was a better idea due to more "natural behaviors". With all the times they've revised the bird show (and I've seen every one except for this one), I would have loved to see what the panda show would have done.

JustInTimeDec 04, 2021

I liked Joe’s version but honestly I feel like this version is more about the birds. It flowed so well and honestly several in my group teared up!

RSoxNo1Dec 03, 2021

The new version of the show has the keepers reciting many of Guano Joe's lines. I'm in the camp of the Guano Joe version being the best version, but I get that some people didn't like that either.

MichWolvDec 02, 2021

Definitely the best version yet. We’ve seen it four times and it hasn’t gotten old (although that dang bird always steals the mic cord). In fact, they’ve even swapped out a few segments so there was even something new to us last week. No need to bring back equity performers or IP characters.

DisneyNorthFanDec 02, 2021

No need to line-up early. We were there Thanksgiving week when the parks were packed. The theater ended up being pretty full, but I think you could arrive 5-10 minutes in advance and you'd still be fine. At least that was our experience.

arich35Dec 02, 2021

How soon did you need to line up for the show to get a seat?

JustInTimeDec 01, 2021

This new version of the show is totally fantastic. It’s a keeper!

Cesar R MNov 26, 2021

This! Adding Dug and the kid didnt help anything. It was a distraction. We left midway in the UP! format. We loved the normal version when we went back in october.