The new Zootopia attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom now has its official opening date.
Zootopia: Better Zoogether! is moving into the Tree of Life theater at the Walt Disney World theme park. The resort announced this morning that the new 4D show will open November 7.
Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman return to voice Judy and Nick in this original production, which is themed to a watch party for the "Zoogether Day LIVE!" broadcast from Zootopia. The show also introduces a new character to host the broadcast, Heidi Howler.
"Zoogether Day, a celebration of unity amongst the diverse biomes across the city, will be recognized with special performances such as ice-skating spectaculars from the heart of Tundratown! Synchronized swimming direct from Marsh Market! Tiny mouse drone shows soaring over Little Rodentia! And of course, a musical finale by superstar Gazelle – all of which we’ll see from the livestream watch party," Disney said of the show in its announcement today.
In addition to appearing in the new 4D show, Nick and Judy will be greeting fans outside the theater on Discovery Island.
Disney will offer previews in advance of the official opening for cast members, Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club owners. Details are to come on dates for that.
Waiting for the complaints about "SCREENZ!" in 3, 2, 1...
What, people only complain about screen attractions at Universal? /s
I hope that this has some sort of edutainment aspect. If it's just "Zootopia dance party" then I think I'll pass.
@Robert: does a film-based theater attraction merit the same scorn as a screen-based ride though? This question has plagued mankind for centuries*
*a decade or so
I remember when AK opened and Disney kept insisting this was NOT a Zoo....
Anyway, Bugs was fitting for it's location, anthropomorphic animals in a city is not.
Will this 4D show have a few animatronics like Bug's Life? Or is it entirely just a 4D film?
I wish they'd gone for a full Zootopia land, but given that's off the table (at least for now), this seems like a fine way to put the IP in the park. It's also a fairly low risk attraction, so if it doesn't catch on with guests it can easily be swapped out for something else in a few years.
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I have no idea where Disney is going to go with this attraction. Because all of the work on this can occur behind closed doors and away from peering eyes, there's very little expectation of what this new attraction will be when compared to its predecessor. The last time WDW did a major retheme of a theatrical attraction was when they turned Alien Encounter into Stitch Encounter. The reasons for that change were a lot different than here, but I hope WDI realizes the importance of maintaining the original tone and heart of an attraction even if it has a different IP.