As we entered the Lion King show, I noticed that the place was circular, with seats all around, similar to a coliseum styled seating arrangement. After having found seats where our vision would not be blocked while we watched (thanks in part to the seating arrangement wherein rows in the back were raised as compared to the ones in front), the lights dimmed and we started seeing the actors play their roles.
Once again there were parts of the show where conversations were made in Chinese - specifically the shows two main narrators (I think they were supposed to be monkeys - but I'm not sure what their costume was trying to depict). But that was okay, since most of the show was still in English, and I could follow the story as it was being depicted. Besides, anyone who's watched the Lion King movie would easily understand the show - it being a retelling (albeit, in a very truncated manner) of the movie.
The show itself boasted of a very intricate stage, with various portions of the circular center stage being able to rise (it started out as an all flat floor), and I can only guess that a great number of the show concentrated on making this technical marvel work for them - aside from that, there were at least four other floats (at least I can best describe them as float-like) representing Timmon and Pumba, Simba and others. But aside from the limited animatics movements, these floats did not contribute much to the added effects of the show - or at least, after their initial effects. I noticed nothing added from them.
Other than that, it was purely a narrative plus re-enactment of the movie. Now... between this show and the Golden Mickey, I'd say that I enjoyed the Golden Mickey more, simply because it covered more characters, a plethora of songs form different movies and a more original script... at least, from a fan's viewpoint. Don't get me wrong... the Lion King was a good show - not to mention, it was airconditioned, and I was glad to get out from under the hot sun... but it came in second to the Golden Mickey, possibly because of its lack of additional material aside from the movie, and lesser variety. Understandably so, since it focused on the Lion King. I left the show feeling tired, not so impressed and looking at our itinerary for what was next.
Again, since it was a show... no flash photography was allowed, and I complied - but in this case, I'd say nothing much; aside from how the floats looked like, was missed by anyone not seeing pictures.
As we left the Lion King, we were wondering how to get to the boat ferry ride around Tarzan's tree house, situated on an island complete with waterfalls and gadgets as seen from the movie. We did not find the boat, but instead went to the tree house. But since it was not that interactive, we decided not to go up and in, and just got out of the island to catch the next item in our itinerary.
Here's a picture of barbie and three kids, posing in front of the makeshift waterfall beside Tarzan's house.
Once we were back on the main parkland, we spied the line to the boat ride, assessed the possibility of riding and still seeing the next item in our list - realized, we did not have time to ride and watch the parade... so we skipped the 'river' ride.
Bottom line? Barbie liked Lion King (though she claims remembering it as having a better impact on her before - hmmm... inconsistency in show performance?... or a case of faulty memory?). The kids liked it too - as for me, I guess, I was just a more discerning - and demanding 47 year old tourist.
I remember that Menchu (the same one who reccomended I not miss the Golden Mickey) likewise reccomended Lion King to me, but I did not find it worthy of a 'must see' stamp of approval. Maybe I was just getting tired (and I was not the only one)... after all, kids' power naps aside, it was roughly close to 3 P.M., which meant that we four had been awake for around 31 hours already.
Next stop would be the Disney on parade, but we had about 30 minutes to spare, so we strolled around the park looking for lunch and other attractions. We entered Its a Small World, for lack of anything else to do. I was surprised to enjoy it - even if it was just a stage of puppets. I must say that I was surprised to see a portion dedicated to the Philippines, and equally surprised to hear the Pilipino version of It's a Small World being sung accurately. I later learned that this particular It's a Small World show had a comparatively greater Asian focus than its counterparts around the world. Logical, I guess, since most visitors in this place would be Asians.
Bernice in It's a Small World
Later came upon the Narnia location - minus Prince Caspian though, but I still got Bernice to pose by the Narnia standard.
Bernice with Narnia standard
