Disney Parks announces Lion King ride for Disneyland Paris

A brand-new Lion King attraction is coming to Disney’s resort in Paris, the leisure big has introduced.

Guests will go “on a journey by means of the African savanna” alongside iconic characters from Mufasa and Simba to Timon and Pumbaa, theme park chief Josh D’Amaro stated on Saturday.

Mock-ups of the expertise, introduced to Disney followers on the D23 conference on Saturday, confirmed a log flume plummeting down Pleasure Rock as Rafiki the monkey watches on.

The information comes simply three days after Disney reported weaker-than-expected theme park outcomes for the quarter that led to June.

A Lion King expertise has been rumoured for the Disneyland Paris resort in Marne-la-Vallée since 2022.

Disney introduced final yr that it deliberate to spend $60bn (£47bn) over the following decade to develop its theme park and cruise companies, double the quantity spent over the earlier decade, prompting pleasure from followers.

Bosses have now confirmed that the Lion King-themed land will comply with World of Frozen, a themed space based mostly on the Frozen franchise that is because of launch in 2026 in Paris.

The brand new areas are within the Walt Disney Studios Park, which shall be renamed Disney Journey World to sign its new providing.

For the Lion King attraction, Disney’s inventive division – dubbed “Imagineering” – has promised to “convey to life the majestic Pleasure Rock”.

It can function “the gateway to an adventure-filled water attraction that may plunge company beneath the rock to comply with Simba on his journey from cub to king”, the corporate stated.

In the meantime, at Walt Disney World in Florida, the flagship Magic Kingdom park will endure the most important enlargement in its 53-year historical past, with one new land dedicated to traditional Disney villains and one other space centered on Pixar’s Vehicles films.

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios park, a long-rumoured Monsters Inc rollercoaster themed across the 2001 movie’s well-known “flying door” scene was confirmed.

And at Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, extra particulars for Encanto and Indiana Jones-themed rides have been introduced.

On the US West Coast, the unique Disneyland Resort in California will add two superhero-themed rides, a water-based Avatar attraction and the corporate’s first Coco experience.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, a brand new Spiderman attraction shall be opened as a part of an immersive Marvel-themed space.

Disney additionally introduced 4 new cruise ships – on high of 4 others it had beforehand introduced – nearly trebling the scale of its present fleet by 2031.

“All the things that we’re going to share with you tonight is in energetic improvement,” Mr D’Amaro stated on Saturday.

“Because of this plans are drawn. Because of this dust is transferring. I simply wish to be clear with all of the followers on the market. This isn’t blue sky.”

The weekend’s flurry of bulletins come after a rollercoaster experience behind the scenes at Disney lately.

Chief govt Bob Iger dramatically returned to lead the company lower than a yr after retiring following a sequence of perceived missteps by his successor.

Quickly after his return Mr Iger introduced a reorganisation and 1000’s of job cuts in a bid to enhance the corporate’s income.

Earlier this yr, Disney won a boardroom battle against critics who accused the media big of “dropping its inventive spark”.

Activist buyers, together with Nelson Peltz of Trian Administration, had sought seats on the corporate’s board of administrators, which they stated was too near Disney’s management.

“All we would like is for Disney to get again to creating nice content material and delighting shoppers and for Disney to create sustainable long-term worth for shareholders,” Mr Peltz stated at a shareholder assembly.

Simply 31% of votes solid supported Mr Peltz for a seat, in keeping with a supply acquainted with the outcomes.

However the battle raised questions on struggles at Disney.

Final yr, the corporate introduced it was scrapping plans to construct a brand new workplace campus in central Florida following a year-long dispute with Governor Ron DeSantis.

Mr DeSantis attacked the corporate after it opposed a state legislation banning classroom classes on sexual orientation and gender id in early years.

Disney filed a First Modification lawsuit towards Mr DeSantis and different officers.

The corporate had deliberate to construct the campus round 20 miles (30km) from the enormous Walt Disney World theme park resort and relocate 2,000 staff from Southern California.

Mr D’Amaro stated in a memo to staff that “new management and altering enterprise situations” prompted the corporate to desert these plans.

This yr, the runaway success of Disney’s Inside Out 2 has helped boost the entertainment giant’s profits.

However working revenue declined 3% to $2.2bn (£1.7bn) with the corporate blaming a “moderation of client demand” that “exceeded earlier expectations”, together with greater working prices.

The 2024 Olympic Video games in Paris have been partly blamed for the drop in its theme park takings, which make up over half Disney’s revenue.

Nonetheless, its parks – among the many most visited sights on this planet – have remained a dependable revenue engine, serving to cushion the affect of declines in conventional tv and losses in Disney’s video streaming enterprise.

The experiences unit, which incorporates parks, cruise ships and client merchandise, contributed 60% of the corporate’s working revenue in the latest quarter – up from 30% only a decade in the past.

On Friday, particulars of latest movies including the title of the third instalment of Avatar, an addition to the Star Wars franchise and a sequel to Freaky Friday have been introduced at D23, held close to Disneyland in Anaheim.