Zootopia Better Zoogether DVC & AP Previews, Plus Audio Animatronics News

Zootopia: Better Zoogether debuts at Animal Kingdom in less than one month! As the opening date draws nearer, Walt Disney World has announced Annual Passholder and Disney Vacation Club previews, along with a first look at the Audio Animatronics figure inside the new attraction.

In case you’re unfamiliar with it, Zootopia: Better Zoogether is an all-new 4D show inside the Tree of Life Theater, replacing It’s Tough to Be a Bug. Zootopia: Better Zoogether has guests visiting different biomes, traveling along with Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde and other characters.

Zootopia: Better Together draws some of its inspiration from Zootopia 2, which is coming this Thanksgiving (November 26, 2025 is the film’s theatrical release). Walt Disney World fans won’t have to wait that long for the brand-new show inside Tree of Life Theater, because Zootopia: Better Zoogether opens November 7, 2025 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

In Better Zoogether, the residents of Zootopia are gearing up for Zoogether Day, a citywide celebration. On this special day, all kinds of animals join together with performances from many of the diverse biomes that make up the city. The Tree of Life Theater is the epicenter of Zoogether Day with fast-talking, loud-howling wolf host Heidi Howler presenting a watch party where the audience of mammals big and small will catch all the festivities via livestream.

Thanks to the special “Carrot Vision” glasses that guests will wear as part of the watch party experience, some of your favorite characters from Zootopia and Zootopia 2 will “jump” off the screen … except for Gazelle’s number one fan and off-duty ZPD officer.

That’s right, Benjamin Clawhauser himself will be in the Tree of Life Theater with us, in the form of an all-new Audio-Animatronics figure. Here’s a first look:

When we met Clawhauser in Zootopia, he was sporting his ZPD uniform. At the Zoogether Day watch party, he’ll be decked out from head to tail with a brand-new look: glow necklaces, bracelets, and his favorite, glittery Gazelle tee shirt.

This larger-than-life fan wants nothing more than to be picked as the V.I.Z. (Very Important Zootopian – the lucky mammal who will get special access to the Zoogether Day performers). And when that doesn’t work out, he has to take matters into his own paws. Dun dun dun. 

But wait, there’s more! Walt Disney World has also announced details about sneak peeks for Cast Members, Annual Passholders, and Disney Vacation Club members…

Annual Passholder Previews

As a special thank you, Walt Disney World is inviting Annual Passholders to be among the first to experience the brand-new 4D show Zootopia: Better Zoogether! before it officially opens on November 7, 2025.

Annual Passholder previews will take place at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on November 5 and November 6, 2025.

How to Experience This Preview

• First, make a theme park reservation for Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park to have an opportunity to join the 7:00 AM virtual queue for that day.
• Next, on the day of the preview, use the My Disney Experience app to request to join the virtual queue. There will be 2 opportunities to join each day of previews.
  • The 7:00 AM virtual queue will be available to Passholders with a theme park reservation to Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park for that day.
  • The 1:00 PM virtual queue will be available to any Passholder with valid admission. A theme park reservation is not required.
  • You do not need to have entered a theme park to join the virtual queue.

Important Information

• Passholders must have a Walt Disney World Annual Pass with valid admission on the preview date and may need a theme park reservation depending on the time of visit. Applicable pass blockout dates apply. Theme park reservations are limited and subject to availability, and reservation requirements are subject to change.
• As a reminder, if a Passholder has a reservation to another theme park, they must enter the theme park where they have a reservation prior to visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. Or, Passholders may visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park without a theme park reservation after 2:00 PM.
• Each Passholder can request to join a virtual queue no more than once per day.
• Joining the virtual queue does not guarantee the ability to participate in the preview. Boarding groups for a virtual queue are limited, subject to availability and are not guaranteed. Not all boarding groups may be called to return, based on availability of the attraction.
• Offering, dates, hours and virtual queue distribution times are subject to change or cancellation without notice or liability.

DVC Member Previews

Disney Vacation Club Members will also be able to preview Zootopia: Better Zoogether, and even earlier than AP previews! As with the recent Test Track previews, this will work a little differently than the Annual Passholder previews.

DVC previews of Better Zoogether will offer early registration beginning October 23, 2025 for eligible DVC Members who booked a Walt Disney World Resort reservation using their eligible DVC membership prior to October 19, 2025. In order to qualify, DVC members must be eligible for Membership Extras.

In order to attend, you and the number of guests on your resort reservation as of a set date must have a valid theme park admission and a theme park reservation for the park on the day of the preview event (unless not required for your admission type).

Disney Vacation Club member previews of Zootopia: Better Zoogether will occur on November 1-3, 2025.

Other Important Information for DVC Previews:

• Advance preview registration is required for this event and walk-ups will not be accommodated.
• A valid Disney Vacation Club Digital Membership Card and photo ID are required at event check-in. The Member listed on the Digital Membership Card must be in attendance.
• Must have the Disney Vacation Club Digital Membership Card downloaded to a mobile device’s wallet to check in for the event.
• Offering and operating hours are subject to availability, closures and change or cancellation without notice. Entry to the preview is not guaranteed.
• Attendees younger than 18 years of age must be accompanied by a participating parent or guardian.

Last but not least, Walt Disney World is inviting Cast Members to experience the new Zootopia: Better Zoogether on select dates from October 31 through November 3, 2025. Cast Members can register for previews starting October 14, 2025 at 7 a.m. EST. Registration closes four days before each scheduled preview date.

Cast Members can bring up to three guests to their scheduled Zootopia: Better Zoogether preview. They are able to register to attend one preview of the new show with guests.

As noted above, a virtual queue is being used for Annual Passholder previews of Zootopia: Better Zoogether.

This is probably not indicative of long-term plans for the attraction. Disneyland recently used a virtual queue for Walt Disney – A Magical Life, which is also a stage show. That was used during previews and then for the first few days the new attraction was open. It was quickly retired once the initial rush quickly burned off.

However, there are a couple of things that are notable about that attraction. First, it opened on Disneyland’s actual anniversary, which is a date that’s popular with locals. Second, it’s at the front of the park and there’s limited physical queue space. Having a virtual queue was necessary for crowd control.

Honestly, I’m surprised the VQ is being used at all for Zootopia: Better Zoogether, even during previews. The Tree of Life has a ton of queue space, and even though local Annual Passholders will descend on Animal Kingdom during these previews, the park should be able to absorb the crowds reasonably well.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Zootopia: Better Zoogether continues using the virtual queue as of November 7, 2025. On the one hand, the above suggests it may not be necessary and Walt Disney World is just erring on the side of caution. On the other hand, that’s a very busy weekend and there’s not much of a runway for AP and DVC previews.

At the end of the day, our best guess is that the virtual queue for Zootopia: Better Zoogether will be relatively short-lived. If it does carry over to the official opening, it’ll probably only last a few days. We’d be surprised if it’s still around by the time Zootopia 2 hits theaters, unless it’s a matter of Walt Disney World continuing to err on the side of caution during peak holiday weeks.

Although we fully expect this show to be popular for years to come (similar to the Little Mermaid show at DHS), it shouldn’t be so popular that it necessitates a virtual queue for weeks or months to come. And from the perspective of Animal Kingdom leadership, a long line wouldn’t be the worst thing for the park, as it’d give guests something to “do” and help kill a bit more time. That early afternoon exodus will be delayed by ~45 minutes!

If you’re wondering about soft openings, we wouldn’t expect anything. Unlike Test Track, there’s not a long runway for Disney Vacation Club and Annual Passholder previews. All of these dates are packed into a single week, whereas Test Track had a lengthy window and demand had largely exhausted itself by the end.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think? Will you be making park reservations for the Annual Passholder preview dates of Zootopia: Better Zoogether at Animal Kingdom? Agree or disagree with our assessment? 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!