(epic music)
- It's a park with stories to be told.
(children giggle)
It's this beautiful, natural, adventurous place
where you can see animals
that you wouldn't see anywhere else,
see the excitement that you wouldn't see anywhere else.
See some beautiful shows that you wouldn't
be able to see anywhere else.
I'm Robbie Pigott and I'm a performer
at Finding Nemo: the Musical at Disney's
Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
(waves crash)
I grew up on the island of Maui in Hawaii.
I'd be in the water the whole day.
My parents would have to drag me
out when it was time to leave.
You would see sea turtles, sharks, and it was great.
I grew up loving the ocean and now here I am,
getting to play in the ocean on stage.
(fanciful music)
Disney has a tradition of using animals
in their storytelling.
Finding Nemo is a story with fish,
but they're really just human stories.
You know, there's stories about families,
there's stories about relationships
that all of us can relate to.
When Marlin does have that moment
where he sighs and lets Nemo go
and, you know, you'll look in the audience
and you'll see a dad look down at his son,
maybe wipe away a tear, hug him a little closer.
Oh man, if I see that, then my day is made.
My job is the best job you could ever ask for.
This whole new skill I've learned, puppetry,
I'm flying around the stage, like a crazy person,
acting with true professionals in this atmosphere of magic.
Best job ever.
I came down here to work for a year as an actor
and then get back to New York to find more work.
17 years later, I'm still here doing what I love to do.
There's real magic at Disney.
(safari-themed music)
- [Narrator] This is Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park,
where the stories of animals take many forms.
And, at over 400 acres, this park can hold them all.
Come, let's explore just a few of the adventures,
a few of the stories you'll encounter here
at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park.
Get close to the real world of animals,
meet some Disney friends, laugh with the Lion King,
and raft some rapids.
See what it's like to be a bug and get chased by a dinosaur.
Here at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park,
you'll even encounter creatures of ancient legend and lore.
And that brings us here, Expedition Everest.
No, you're not going to climb Everest,
you're going to ride it.
This is Expedition Everest, a thrilling journey
through the icy peaks of the Himalayas
and a face-to-face encounter with a fearsome Yeti.
(Yeti growls)
Then, travel from the chill of the mountains
to the sun-drenched African Savannah.
This is Kilimanjaro Safaris, as close as you'll ever get
to a real African safari without a passport.
Keep your eyes peeled.
You're going to spot incredible creatures,
all in their natural habitats.
Antelope, cheetahs, giraffe, crocs,
and many more species roam the Savannah.
Will you spot them before they spot you?
Next, it's Finding Nemo: the Musical,
a 40-minute stage show that is all at once elaborate
and intimate.
And it doesn't simply recreate the film.
It features 14 original songs.
Meet Marlin, Dory, Crush, even Bruce.
Let's hope he still thinks fish are friends, not food.
Speaking of food, this guy looks pretty hungry.
This is Dinosaur, and you've just gone back
in time 65 million years.
You're trying to rescue a mild-mannered Iguanodon
from extinction, but the Carnotauraus here has other plans.
(party music)
There is no better way to celebrate your safe arrival back
to the present than by joining Simba and friends
for the festival of the Lion King.
Sing along with the inhabitants of the Pride Lands
for a big-as-Broadway celebration of the Lion King.
What about after the show?
How about going on a river raft ride
through the heart of Asia?
This is Kali River Rapids, where you may get a little wet
or a lot wet, you never know.
(laid-back music)
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is the place
where you and your family will enjoy a day
filled with the wildest of wonders.
And, very soon, you'll even be able
to experience the park in a whole new light.
(animals chirp)
Night.
For more on the all-new nighttime offerings,
here is Disney Imagineer, Joe Rohde.
- Disney's Animal Kingdom is built around the lives
of animals, built around the rules of nature.
And those rules dictate that things are different at night,
that as you move from day to night, everything changes,
like the lives of animals, like the world of nature.
And you're gonna wanna see that.
The Tree, which is the centerpiece of the park,
comes to life.
These magic fireflies kind of open the body of the tree
and we look into the tree and we see these amazing stories
from the animals that are on the tree.
So, moving into the night, bringing this show to life,
altering the way people move through the park,
and adding all these attractions, all of this is connected.
(magical music)
It all really is summed up by the show on the lake,
by the Rivers of Light.
So, in this show, we take this combination,
light and heat, fire, and water, and combine them
and out of that comes this fantastically rich explosion
of animal life that ultimately rises up
into the sky and joins the stars.
It's pretty spectacular.
We want you to be thinking about your own family,
your own life, your loved ones,
as much as you are thinking of the animals
and the way in which we all share this experience of life.
(upbeat music)