Jungle Book: Alive with Magic is Walt Disney World’s newest long-form night time presentation. Here’s all the details you’ll need and my thoughts on the show.
How to find the show:
Jungle Book: Alive with Magic is found in the new Discovery Island Amphitheater in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It offers 2 viewing primary areas.
One area is located in front of Expedition Everest and is for Fastpass+ viewing only. You’ll want to cross the bridge from the Oasis toward Asia to enter this area. Fastpass+ says to enter 35 minutes early, but 60 minutes is highly recommended.
Another area is located in front of Finding Nemo: the Musical. It is used for those with Dining Plans and regular stand by guests. Stand by seating is VERY limited, so you’ll want to arrive by 7:00pm for a 9:00pm if you are not using Fastpass+ or a Dining Package.
Each section has two long barges tied up along the front of the viewing area. I highly recommend viewing right in front of one of these barges in order to see the dancing that takes place. If you sit between rows 3 and 7, you get the best view of the Indian style dancing and musicians which is the majority of the show.
Another small viewing area is located on the bridge between the seating areas.
Check out this video for a full viewing of the show:
Expedition Everest does not close during the show, but Fastpass+ is cut off at 7:30pm. Everest goes from no wait to mobbed following a show!
When are shows?
Shows are 9:00 and 10:30pm nightly through September 5, 2016. Nothing beyond that date is currently provided
What you should expect:
Jungle Book: Alive with Magic was created in about 30 days following some major issues with the production of Rivers of Light. It is not the grand spectacular that one would expect from other Disney night time offerings like Fantasmic!, Illuminations, Wishes or World of Color.
Disney had already employed over 100 people to premier Rivers of Light and wanted to offer something during the busy summer season. Here’s some pros and cons of this show:
Pros:
- Great live music and singing. It is the only Disney night time, large-scale show to offer live music and signing. It has many very talented individuals.
- Songs from the recent movie are used in the production. You’ll hear several very familiar Jungle Book songs.
- Nice, vibrant colors. Show is filled with vibrant costuming and lighting.
- Wolf pack. A feature that kids love is the “Wolf pack” where everyone howls in unison a few times during the show.
- You don’t get wet. Water screens are really far away, so you don’t need to worry with getting soaked.
Cons:
- You need to see the recent movie to fully understand it. My oldest hadn’t seen the movie, so many of the movie clips made her wonder what was going on. It doesn’t seem to tell a coherent story very well.
- Westernized Indian style dancing. Dancers are very talented, but after about 7 minutes you’re left feeling like the show could be so much more.
- Water screens are often unviewable and disconnected. A center screen is supposed to be made from two giant water cannons rarely connects, so a lot of the projected images look broken or cut off.
- Not enough action for a night spectacular. If you are accustomed to lots of action, movement, colored water cannons, fireworks and characters, you won’t see that. All the action takes place on static barges with most action on the barge right down front. 2 barges on each side have 3 dancers each and a center one with singers. I would have preferred more action than 3 flame twirlers and felt the show could be easily done in Finding Nemo’s theater with some wall projections.
- 25 minutes is too long for this show. I’d reduce this to 20 minutes or less so the same style of music and dance doesn’t get boring.
- Remove the large, ugly barges and install the dancing water lotuses!
We were supposed to get this awesome dancing water show.
We got this instead for now :(
If you plan to see the show, I’d recommend getting a Fastpass+ and another one for the after dark Kilimanjaro Safari. I’d use the other Fastpass+ for Kali River Rapids or Everest in the daytime. I’d be disappointed to spend extra for a Dining Package, but using a Dining Plan credit at Tusker House seems reasonable. Hopefully, they can fix Rivers of Light really quickly!
Feel free to ask questions and share this post and video!
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Cheryl
Friday 3rd of June 2016
I have a dining reservation at Tusker house which I would like to try to make later but does that give me entry to the show? Or just get me closer to the line? Do I need to fast pass this anyway? Sorry this is my first time so all of this is new to me. Thank you in advance.
kennythepirate
Friday 3rd of June 2016
Only gets you in if you booked the actual dining package.
Cheryl
Friday 3rd of June 2016
Also, by doing the dining package does that eliminate the characters from the Tusker house meal? Just trying to see what benefits me more. Thank you.
Nate
Wednesday 1st of June 2016
So disappointing. We are going in a few weeks and originally my daughter wanted to see RoL on her birthday. Now I think we'll find something else. We will be down there for 16 nights so we will probably try to catch it sometime but it's not on my top list like RoL was.
TeacherGrandma
Sunday 29th of May 2016
My goodness, this show does seem very repetitive and boring compared to the Rivers of Light preview show that was shown for the media event. I wish that they would actually show even just the few minutes that was working beautifully for the media event, instead of what they are showing now for the Jungle Book. I think I am going to cancel our Tusker House package (out of pocket); especially since they seem to squeeze you in with all the other thousand folks who are trying to get in standby. I am not really even sure whether I want to use a Fastpass+ for the show.
Thank you for the honest review!
Tom
Sunday 29th of May 2016
Thanks Kenny, you summed up our thoughts on the show perfectly. We are Florida AP's and won't be going back to see this show again. We tried the night time safari on Friday night; and won't being doing that again either. As our driver/guide said "Night time safari's. What could go wrong?" Duh, everything! Wondering what your experience with that ride was? We lined up at seven p.m. along with about a dozen other guests at the entrance closest to the blue ice cream truck. Many cast members came by and told us we were first in line for the FP entrance. At around 7:20 p.m., new and different CM's came and told us we were in the wrong place. We moved up to the next entrance going towards Everest and were let in promptly around 7:30 p.m.. This time, behind about seventy-five other guests. Be warned, most AK CM's have no clue where the standby or FP lines begin. We were ushered into the seats on the left side of our section. There was another section to our left that was reserved for Disney CM's. Be advised that the distance between seats where we were was less than eighteen inches. Larger sized guests took up at least half of the leg room behind them. Many guest had to sit with their legs slanted at an angle for almost two hours. Either that or give the guest in front of them a back rub with their knees. So far AK as a late night park doesn't seem that appealing to us. But on the plus side, I got many very itchy bug bites as well as a really cool light up Indian themed drink mug.
Dreama Reece Ujevich
Sunday 29th of May 2016
That does it for us, I just cancelled ours and stayed with our Tusker lunch, my daughter is allergic to bug bites and I was concerned about that, so you confirmed what I feared. Will spent the evening relaxing and bug free.
Susan P
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