New developments for the Lion King zone at Disneyland Paris! The Paris-based resort unveiled, during a roundtable held on March 28, 2026, a handful of fresh details about its zone under construction at Disney Adventure World, centered on Simba, Nala, and the entire Lion Realm.
What did we learn? Not much, really—except that the level of detail and immersion of the attraction should surpass that of Frozen Ever After, the attraction in the World of Frozen, as explained by Vincent Choquet, Vice President of Projects and Operations at Walt Disney Imagineering. It also outlined a rough opening window, noting that the construction time is expected to be similar.
A few months ago, the zone’s master plan was unveiled in keeping with administrative procedure. What did it reveal? Beyond the basics we already knew—that the area would include an attraction, a food kiosk, restroom facilities with seating, a meet & greet zone, and a shop—we learned some technical details about the buildings’ footprints and the ride itself. In short, as our colleagues at DLP Works explain, the attraction and the shop will be hidden behind an artificial hill and will occupy a footprint of 13,775 square meters. The shop alone will span 299 square meters.
The attraction will be on two levels, with a queue that will be partly outdoor and partly indoor, also on several levels. The height of the mountain backdrop will reach a maximum of 37m. In terms of vegetation, a total of 297 trees will be planted, and a waterstorage basin will be created for the attraction, "with rainwater collection via infiltration drains", again according to our colleagues at DLP Works. Finally,the total surface area of the project is 30,368.64 m², "with a gross floor area of 11,392 m²".
A zone that also provided news at a round table organized by the destination (and to which the editorial staff was invited) on April 11, 2025. The company with the big ears took the opportunity to provide some information on its future zone inspired by Disney Studios' masterpiece, including two pieces of concept art, but that's not all...
Regarding the works, they officially kicked off in autumn 2025 (a building permit was filed on April 14 and approved on August 14). The centerpiece of this zone will indeed be Pride Rock, known to every fan. On the attractions front, "visitors will embark on a journey that is at once poetic, moving and thrilling, into the heart of the iconic scenes and landscapes seen in the animated film, along a route featuring several surprising drops, the tallest of which will soar to 16 meters", says a press release. "It will be one of the biggest attractions at Disneyland Paris", it also notes.
During the round-table discussion, the Imagineers also discussed the reason for the switch between a Star Wars zone and a Lion King zone: "What's really great is that this is the first time we're doing a Lion King attraction, believe it or not. One of our most beloved films of the last 30 years, and Disneyland Paris will be the first to have this zone," explains the team.
He continues: "We've been developing this project for a long time, and a lot of ideas were on the table as to what we could build.As time went on, we realized that the uniqueness and popularity of The Lion King was so strong in Europe that we kind of changed and made it a priority for the time being".
Michel Den Dulk, Vice President and Portfolio Executive Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering Paris, also informed us that the attraction will be adjustable for splash level, having taken the Parisian climate into account: "You know that in Europe, there are parks everywhere, and they all offer water rides," he declared.
He continues:"Some of them close in winter, but the water attractions are very popular. As our park operates 365 days a year, we plan to run the attraction all year round. That's how we plan it, that's how we design it".
He concludes:"We're making sure that, in our design, we mitigate some of the elements associated with our water attractions, namely, of course, splash. So you can expect us to be thinking about ideas and engineering that might give us the opportunity to give... a sort of summer and winter experience. Climate is taken into account when designing this project."
As a reminder, there will be an attraction, and more specifically a boat ride, based on the Disney classic, with animatronics and all the rest. As far as the boat ride is concerned, according to the model unveiled at D23, it's possible that the boats will have a larger capacity than expected, similar to the attraction in the Snow Queen zone. But it could be that the model is only there to illustrate this zone, and that what appears on it is not what will actually be set up. Stores, a restaurant and a Meet & Greet are also planned.
We also learned that the attraction's animatronics will be state-of-the-art,"plunging visitors into the heart of the Land of Lions to follow Simba's adventures, to the rhythm of the iconic songs from the 1994 animated masterpiece", as explained in a press release. And finally, the attraction will be 37m high (the height of the building originally planned for the Star Wars attraction), for a (final?) 60m-long drop!
In short, we can't wait to find out more!
