Disney's Animal Kingdom opened a significant expansion to the land of Africa yesterday, with the creation of an all new 'Harambe Theatre' district.
Following the river around Discovery Island, the new area is wonderfully authentic, and appears as a seamless addition to the original Harambe.
Just like the original land, all the details are here that really transport you to somewhere else, once again showing just how good Joe Rohde and his team are at creating these environments. Those who were expecting just a small walkway to a new theatre will be impressed with how extensive this new area is.
The new Harambe Theatre, home to Festival of the Lion King is the centerpiece of this area, which is now a much more impressive venue since its move from Camp Minnie Mickey. The theater has a large standby line, with most of it covered.
The FastPass+ line is all covered, and includes some great details as you pass through the queue.
The new Harambe also includes a large restroom building, and a Lion King merchandise kiosk. Important for parents, is a very nice stroller parking area tucked off to the side of the theatre. There is some great wall art in this area - so keep a look out.
Besides the great views of the river and the new area itself, another great benefit of the expansion is that it now provides views of the rear of Tusker House, which was always so well done, but rarely seen.
Not only does the new area provide a much more fitting home for the Festival of the Lion King show, it provides much more walkway space in Africa and should go some way to removing some of the congestion in that crowded area of the park. In the future, it will also provide a link to the AVATAR land.
The new expansion to Africa is located immediately to the left when entering Africa, and is accessed along the side of the Dawa Bar.
To give you a better idea of how the area is laid out, we have a full video walkthrough of the area, along with an extensive photo gallery which you can see here.
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