Lion King Ride & Pride Lands Coming to Disneyland Paris: Concept Art & Model Photos
Disneyland Paris announced the first-ever Lion King attraction and Pride Rock land, which will debut as part of the Disney Adventure World transformation. This shares details, concept art & model photos of the log flume ride, and everything we know about the area in what’s currently the Walt Disney Studios Park. (Updated April 12, 2025.)
This news was announced during the last D23 Expo, during which Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro offered a sneak peek at concept art for the future in addition and teased what was to come in a few years. The company revealed several ‘shovel to soil’ projects that will come online in the next 5 years, including this.
Disney unveiled the upcoming creation of an all-new area at Disneyland Paris dedicated to one of the most beloved Disney franchises, around the world and particularly in Europe – The Lion King! This larger-than-life area will bring guests on a journey through the African savanna and immerse them into the unforgettable adventures of Simba, Timon, Pumbaa and many other iconic characters from the beloved Disney film.
For the attraction, Disney Imagineers will bring to life the majestic Pride Rock, which will serve as the gateway to an adventure-filled water attraction that will plunge guests beneath the rock to follow Simba on his journey from cub to king, in a retelling of the story from the classic animated feature film. When visiting this first-ever themed area, guests will be immersed in the world of The Lion King thanks to Disney character greetings, themed dining, and shopping opportunities, which promises an unforgettable experience for guests of all ages.
“We are very excited and proud to be unveiling the next new land of Disney Adventure World, our second park that has been undergoing an expansion on a never-before-seen scale. This marks another milestone in the ongoing transformation of Disneyland Paris…the creation of an immersive experience dedicated to The Lion King is a testament to our commitment to immersing our guests into breathtaking adventures inspired by their favorite films, at the heart of themed areas that are faithful to the originals.”
“This new area – which is inspired by the unforgettable story that has enchanted several generations of viewers – exists nowhere else in the world. It will make it possible for guests of all ages to make one of their wildest dreams come true: exploring the Pride Lands alongside all their favorite characters,” said Natacha Rafalski, Présidente of Disneyland Paris.
Inspired by the African savanna and iconic locations from the franchise, this new area will push the boundaries of immersion with its unparalleled level of detail and a new, unique attraction, which will seamlessly blend a spectacular water experience with state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics technology. Imagineers have dreamed up the perfect way to carry forward Disney’s unique storytelling tradition!
“From the moment the sun rose on the big screen in theaters all around the world, audiences were captivated by the story of The Lion King, and its characters, and it has not lost any momentum since. Our goal as Imagineers is to translate the emotional core of the film into this exciting project and have you relive that feeling all over again as you experience this unique attraction. I’m thrilled and excited that The Lion King will make its attraction debut here at Disneyland Paris.” said Michel Den Dulk, Portfolio Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering Paris.
Although the above concept art showcases the live action Lion King, this attraction is confirmed to be based on the OG animated Lion King. Why Disney opted to release outdated concept art is beyond us, but our guess is that this was actually for a pitched reimagining of Splash Mountain at Disneyland several years ago. Note the logs in the art show single-file seating, which thankfully is not consistent with the model.
April 12, 2025 Update: In honor of the 33rd Anniversary of Disneyland Paris, the company has released new concept art and shared several new updates on the Pride Lands expansion of Disney Adventure World. The big news is that construction on the Lion King ride is set to begin in Fall 2025. No opening year is set yet, but our expectation is 2028.
When the sun rises on the realm of the Pride Lands after the grand opening of World of Frozen, an all-new Lion King attraction blending a spectacular water experience with state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics technology will plunge guests into the heart of the Pride Lands. In this Lion King log flume ride, Simba will await guests for an unforgettable adventure complete with iconic songs from the 1994 animated masterpiece.
After making their way to the caves beneath the 37-meter-high Pride Rock, guests will embark on a wondrous, and sensational adventure through iconic scenes and sceneries from the beloved animated movie. The attraction will navigate a path with three exciting slopes, including an impressive 16-meter-high descent.
The concept art above depicts the “Hakuna Matata” show scene of the Lion King attraction, which looks fantastic.
With a seamless blend of many Audio-Animatronics figures scattered across a highly detailed environment coming to life thanks to state-of-the-art special effects and an unforgettable soundtrack, this Lion King attraction will be one of the biggest at Disneyland Paris!
“We are looking forward to launching the construction of this new immersive world inspired by the Lion King and its major attraction, which will mark another milestone for Disney Adventure World,” said Michel Den Dulk, Vice President and Portfolio Executive Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering.
“The main attraction will showcase the key features of Disney experiences: loveable characters, an unforgettable soundtrack, immersive décor and effects, and exciting thrills thoughtfully delivered throughout the adventure. All of the Imagineers who work on this project have their hearts set on paying a vibrant homage to this timeless masterpiece by creating unforgettable memories for all our guests.”
The major development from this update is, again, the construction start date. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I really wish the Lion King Pride Lands expansion were being fast-tracked a la Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom. It would’ve been nice if this announcement were that the groundbreaking already happened. Getting as much of the work done as possible while it’s still an active construction zone that does not have to deal with regular guests would be savvy.
Thankfully, that’s happening to some extent with the Fall 2025 start of construction on the Lion King area. While not what I hoped, it’s better than what I feared. Given that Disney didn’t give any dates whatsoever at D23 Expo, my worry was this was a down-the-road pipe dream in danger of being cancelled. (The scale model suggested that wasn’t the case.) It’s savvy to have work starting sooner rather than later, so guests coming for the opening summer of Disney Adventure World will see that and want to plan return trips.
The other big news is that the new Lion King attraction will actually include three slopes, including the large 52-foot descent seen in the art. Again, my strong suspicion is that this concept was originally developed as a reimagining for Splash Mountain at Disneyland. If so, it would make sense for the Lion King attraction to have a similar ride profile and layout as Splash Mountain.
That’s great to hear. One thing we’ve heard recently is that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure gets incredibly high guest satisfaction scores, which we’ve attributed in large part to the layout of the attraction and presence of Audio Animatronics. No matter what the window dressing is, it’s a popular attraction with guests because the underlying ride is fun and satisfying. Here’s hoping that also proves true with this Lion King attraction. As a child of the 1990s who grew up on the animated classic and Splash Mountain, I couldn’t be more excited for the Lion King attraction and area!
Now here’s hoping Disney has another surprise up its sleeve and announces a secondary attraction or two to round out the ride roster, similar to the New Pixar’s Up Ride Coming to Disney Adventure World. This park could still use about a half-dozen more attractions, even after the reimagining!
Speaking of both Walt Disney World and parks that could use about a half-dozen more attractions, we’d really love to see this Lion King attraction come to Animal Kingdom. Not necessarily as a log flume ride, as Animal Kingdom already has a water ride, but replicating the show scenes as a dark ride. Animal Kingdom could badly use another family-friendly attraction that’s indoors and doesn’t have a height requirement, and there’s an expansion pad over by Harambe.
Cloning some of the assets but not the attraction as a whole could reduce development costs, and give Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris their own unique twists on Lion King rides. Perhaps we’re biased as children of the 1990s who grew up on the animated classic, but a Lion King ride would be fantastic at Walt Disney World–much better than some of the other projects in development!
Prior to this, the Walt Disney Company held its 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders in March, and CEO Bob Iger highlighted a year of successes at the box office, via the streaming services, and at the theme parks–while also looking forward at the billions of dollars of planned investments in the coming years.
One of the projects in the spotlight was The Lion King ride and Pride Lands coming to Disneyland Paris. Iger’s presentation was filmed at Walt Disney Imagineering, and the video featured him taking a tour around a much larger scale model than what was previously shown (later in this post) on the show floor during the D23 Expo.
This is further corroborated by a new video from YouTuber and engineer Mark Rober, who toured Walt Disney Imagineering and got a first look at the model for the new Lion King ride and Pride Lands coming to Disneyland Paris. Take a look (video starts at relevant part):
Based on this video and a few fleeting glimpses during the shareholder meeting, it’s believed that this model also includes the ride-through portions of the attraction and is aimed at giving Imagineers an idea how guests will experience the Lion King attraction. Probably a good idea that’ll hopefully avoid a repeat of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which has large expanses of nothingness.
In any case, it’s nice to see development of the Lion King ride and Pride Lands area coming along, and we hope Imagineering breaks ground on this project sooner rather than later. This park could use all the help it can get, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge–the originally-planned land for this parcel–would already be open by now if it were built as announced. Of course, all construction projects are behind as a result of the COVID closures, but nothing has moved as glacially slow as the ones at Disneyland Paris.
Thankfully, other aspects of Disney Adventure World are starting to take shape and will debut within the next year. Let’s briefly touch upon those before turning our attention to the detailed model of the Lion King ride and Pride Lands…
Before the future opening of the themed area dedicated to The Lion King, guests will be treated to an array of new experiences at Disney Adventure World. These novelties include the Adventure Way promenade surrounded by lush landscape, the family attraction Raiponce Tangled Spin, the stylish The Regal View Restaurant & Lounge offering spectacular views over the majestic Adventure Bay and the highly anticipated land inspired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Frozen.
When the Kingdom of Arendelle opens its gates in 2026, guests will not only have the opportunity to embark on an unforgettable journey alongside Anna and Elsa inside the all-new attraction at Disneyland Paris, Frozen Ever After, but they will also be able to take part in shopping and dining experiences and meet the beloved sisters in person during a royal encounter.
In the same year, an all-new breathtaking nighttime show will also debut on the lake and above. The banks along Adventure Bay and The Regal View Restaurant & Lounge will be the perfect spot to admire the awe-inspiring combination of water screens, fountains, special effects, and never- before-seen drone choreography.
All of these new experiences will roughly double the footprint of the Walt Disney Studios Park, which is ushering in a new era marked by a fresh creative vision. To celebrate this new chapter, the second park will even be renamed Disney Adventure World when the next themed area comes to life in 2026!
Turning to commentary, I’m mildly surprised that they’d do a water ride in Paris. There were rumblings for the longest time about Splash Mountain, which never came to fruition due to financial worries. That concept wouldn’t happen now for obvious reasons, but I am curious about whether there are any trepidations about doing a water ride in a place where it snows.
To be clear, this is idle curiosity and not a claim that they shouldn’t be building a water ride in Paris. I don’t know. It also snows in Tokyo, and yet, Splash Mountain endures there and remains one of the most popular attractions in the park. Wait times are definitely lower in the winter, but it’s still no slouch.
It’s also worth noting that Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland does not get you wet when it’s cold out. So I would imagine that, so long as it’s engineered correctly, neither will the Lion King ride at Disney Adventure World.
Okay, now it’s time for the excitement. I cannot wait for the Pride Rock area of Disney Adventure World. As an elder Millennial who grew up during the Disney Animation Renaissance, I feel like my childhood dreams are finally being fulfilled. It only took three decades, but they’re giving The Lion King its own land (miniland?).
The ride is also a matter of wish fulfillment. Splash Mountain was one of my favorite rides as a kid, and I can only imagine how much more I would’ve loved that, but with Lion King characters. I even loved The Legend of The Lion King at Magic Kingdom (for fellow old-timers), and expect this to be so much better. First Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast at Tokyo Disneyland, now this.
What’s next, an Aladdin ‘Cave of Wonders’ attraction featuring the Shanghai Pirates or Fantasy Springs Peter Pan ride systems?! In looking around the Disney Adventure World model, that seems like an actual possibility. There are still a few expansion pads in this park!
The timing is also right for a Lion King ride. Even though it has flashes of brilliance, the Little Mermaid dark ride came too early. Same goes for Frozen Ever After at EPCOT. The technology wasn’t quite there to bring those to life properly, but it is now. Audio Animatronics are next-level, and shouldn’t run the risk of looking dated a decade from now.
I’m also optimistic that Imagineering will learn lessons from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. That’s an apples to oranges comparison since it was a retrofit, but I think it’s fair to be concerned about dead space in the Pride Lands similar to all of the empty grass in the bayou. Hopefully Imagineering realizes what went wrong with that, and undertakes world-building and show design and doesn’t just have clusters of marquee Audio Animatronics without much in between. I’m confident that they’ll get it right.
The Pride Lands area itself looks interesting, but it’s somewhat difficult to ascertain what’s what in the model. And as someone who has visited Animal Kingdom since opening, I’m admittedly less impressed by this since I have a hard time imagining it’ll surpass what Disney Legend Joe Rohde and his team of Imagineers accomplished there. Nevertheless, it should be a strong addition to Disney Adventure World. And speaking of the models, here are more photos of them:
That last look at the model is what excites me the most. This park is essentially going from being the size of Future World at EPCOT to adding its own World Showcase, albeit the animated world. Frozen and Lion King are superlative starts–I’m so happy it didn’t end up getting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Even after all of this, there are still a good 3-4 major expansion pads left in Disney Adventure World (it’s safe to assume Cars Road Trip is in the chopping block). This park is on the precipice of improving by leaps and bounds, and it still has a tremendous amount of untapped potential even after Lion King comes online. It really could get an Aladdin area (continuing the animated worlds trend) and maybe even Beauty and the Beast (although two France lands in the Parisian park might be excessive).
The possibilities truly are endless for Disney Adventure World or Disney’s CineMagique Adventure (whichever name they end up choosing), and I’m really excited about the decade to come…and beyond. That’s not something I ever thought I’d say about the theme park that I once described as Disney setting up shop on a Walmart parking lot. The second gate at Disneyland Paris has a bright future, and I’m really looking forward to it coming into its own!
For the basics of planning a visit to Disneyland Paris, check out our Disneyland Paris Trip Planning Guide. Find the best place to stay in Disneyland Paris Hotel Reviews. Check out 101 Disneyland Paris Tips for some (101, to be exact) of our best random tips for doing DLP like a pro. See Disney Park Tickets Tips & Tricks for ways to save on tickets. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. Finally, for advice beyond Disney, check out our Ultimate Travel Guide to Paris, France.
Your Thoughts
Are you excited for the Lion King Pride Lands, Adventure Bay, World of Frozen, or any other upcoming additions to the second gate at Disneyland Paris? Excited to finally stroll around the central lake and experience the reimagined park? What do you think of the name Disney Adventure World? Good, bad or indifferent to it? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Agree, a Lion King ride addition at Animal Kingdom would be awesome and a great fit. It seems so obvious that I would be surprised if it didn’t eventually happen.
I agree about getting rid of the suburbia mall food court entrance! I was talking to an Imagineer at D23 Expo and he said the reason they didn’t get rid of the building at the entrance was because they decided to put what money it would have cost to tear down elsewhere in the park. I asked if they’d at least put electric doors in and he just kind of laughed.
So Disney will build another Splash Mountain ride system with a Lion King overlay? Lion King is great, but I’m not sure a log ride through the African savanna makes much sense.
I am absolutely elated that WDSP is finally getting a long overdue shot in the arm after being Disney’s biggest afterthought since the day after it opened
However, “Adventure World” is so lazy. It sounds like went with the very first idea someone in the brainstorming session vocalized.
It’s exciting to consider Disney has at least 4 expansion pads for the park: between Lion King land and Arendelle, the right of Arendelle, the Cars Road Trip area which is clearly a place holder, and behind Avenger’s Campus including the stunt theatre which will surely be replaced someday.
Let the wild speculation begin! What could possibly fill those spaces (that doesn’t already exist next door at DLP)?
I suspect the future expansion pads’ use will depend on one thing – Universal Studios UK. If COMCAST give it the green light, the pads will be filled. A terrific portion of DLP guests (and staff) are from the UK and I can see this being a worry for the Disney suits. They need to be on the front foot too as there is no “lazy rhetoric” that Iger can use to explain away why they let EPIC get built without the slightest response. We are going to DLP in October. 3 of us for 3 nights is £2500 (self drive) no food. So plus fuel and food its well over £1000/day. Local support for the Universal park was overwhelmingly positive (a big surprise) so Disney will need those expansion pads full when the Universal UK park opens in 2030. According to commentators here, despite not commenting, the COMCAST accounts show they have already spent $271m on it!
As an elder millennial and huge lover of The Lion King myself, this sounds like it has the potential to be amazing! Though, I do wish we’d get a Lion King ride at Animal Kingdom (a park that needs more rides anyway). Adding Aladdin’s cave of wonders to Disney Adventure World would be awesome as well so hopefully Disney execs are reading your blog and taking in all your great ideas!
I love Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but I too am glad that Paris is getting something new/exclusive instead of a 3rd copy of that land. and the Lion King getting something more than a show after so long is great news (although the shows at AK and DLP have been spectacular). I think that even with these 3 new attractions and a nighttime show, it’s likely this park is still last in your ranking of worldwide parks, but it will certainly have narrowed the gap and maybe it can catch Epcot (I think DCA’s own additions will pull it ahead). Fleshing out the French Avenger’s Campus ala DCA and adding more around the lake would be nice as well, but there is only a limited capital budget and the castle park needs some attention too.
I’m very happy it’s seeing investment (albeit at a ridiculously slow pace). I just slightly worry it’s an in-cohesive mix of IP next to a lake (although I guess my standards are lowering- at least there’s a lake, after the Rivers of America debacle).
I guess my concern is- whilst Universal are creating inner-park portals to foster entirely separate hyper-immersive mini-worlds in Epic universe, Disney are just dumping IP wherever it’s easiest to build – and sight-lines and immersion are forgotten.
This is indeed a great step forward for this park. Based on the model, the show building appears to be pretty big… so that bodes well for a very immersive, story-driven experience with next level animatronics.
Tom – I haven’t read the rest of your articles post-D23, so maybe you’ve covered this already, but there was “talk” that a clone of this ride might be making it’s way to Animal Kingdom in the space between Pandora and the Lion King show. Do you know if this has been “canceled” or just “tabled” for now? I know many have discussed that the space reserved for construction trailers, etc. in DAK appears to be much more extensive than just for the Tropical Americas re-do, and could be around for future projects in DAK (fingers crossed).
One final question – will this be using the same technology that was recently submitted via patent for the rumored Moana water ride in MK? (that wasn’t announced), or will it be a more traditional flume ride ala Splash/Tiana’s?
It’s actually my understanding that the rumored Lion King attraction for Animal Kingdom would *not* be a water ride. If it happens, I assume it’ll use similar AAs and other technology to reduce costs. There are *a lot* of credibly rumored projects that were not announced at D23, which is what’s really crazy.
Rumors also suggested the Moana and WDSP Lion King ride system would be the same, but I have no clue whether that’s true. I’m very skeptical of the Moana attraction actually happening–especially after everything that was just announced for MK.
Great info – thanks Tom!
Paris is my home resort and very happy about that !
As someone who basically wore out my Lion King VHS as a child, I expected to be more hyped for this news. The concept art based on the “live action” version (if you can call an entirely CGI movie that) certainly didn’t help, but I think my big hangup is that this is only going to be one ride. Maybe/hopefully they haven’t told us everything and there’s a second flat ride going in here somewhere, or a show; we know Disney Parks loves a Lion King show!
Both Arendelle and Pride Rock look beautiful in the concept art/models but I worry that one attraction per area will feel like a letdown, especially when those areas are so expansive. Also, I know this sounds greedy but they really need to announce what’s going in a third pad soon! Even an untrained eye can see where the expansion pads are and it looks incomplete as a result. If they raze Cars and build something there then it would look a lot more balanced to me while still having 2 more expansion pads for future use. They can even replace it with more Cars, just something that is more built out and immersive to match the other two lands.
Final note, I think fans are really under hyped about this nighttime spectacular. Based on the concept art and DLP’s stellar recent run of entertainment, I feel like it is going to be a world class show!
Personally, I think of these more like World Showcase pavilions than fully-fledged lands. A single attraction, restaurant and retail can be fine. It beats using a larger footprint and having a bunch of dead space IMO. I also don’t think walking past the expansion pads will be that noticeable. It wasn’t/isn’t in World Showcase. They’ll hopefully will out some of that area, and you won’t be able to see the huge expansion of emptiness beyond the shoreline.
I think the problem is that WDSP has needed *so much* and they’ve really slow-rolled the expansion project. Part of that can be blamed on COVID, but not all of it. Even with delays, Frozen should’ve been done this year or early next. 2026 is bonkers.
Agree on the potential of the nighttime spectacular.
I hope you’re right about disguising the empty space. When I was there in 2022 Arendelle sure looked lonely over there on the other side of the (at the time empty) lake. I think the problem is highlighted because the lake has been situated as the wow moment/visual carrot after making your way through the entry soundstage. And design wise I think 2 minilands are the hardest to balance, especially with one dead center and then one off to the side; I want something to visually round out the skyline on the other side of Elsa’s castle.
Agreed that the timeline on Arendelle is rivaling TRON at WDW at this point, I thought the original plan was for it to be ready for this year’s Olympics. Even with Covid pushing it to 2026 is wild!
That’s a really fair point about the view from across the lake. I was thinking about as you walk around it–it should be less noticeable then due to kiosks and other little placemaking elements. Not from across it, though.
Everything was originally supposed to be done this year, not just Frozen. And that “everything” included a (smaller) Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. So instead of Lion King being announced now…it would’ve been finished.
The continued expansion of both Paris (where we visited this year) and Orlando (where we are visiting next year) continue to thrill and excite with such innovative ideas and looking to expand on many of the Disney films and characters. Although some of these will not come into reality until 2026/2027/2028 as a Disney fanatic based in the UK we can start thinking about trips further ahead into the future knowing that ‘new’ will be as exciting as ‘current’ in the parks. Having now tried to digest what is going to happen in both Paris and Orlando in the near future with development we can only wait with anticipation.
Go mouse!!!!