Entertainment at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom

Here are my thoughts on the entertainment in the remaining two parks, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.

Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Boulevard
All of the entertainment offerings in Hollywood Boulevard were part of the seasonal Frozen Summer Fun event. My only opportunity to see them was the final day of the event, which I think resulted in everything being quite crowded.

Frozen Fireworks - This was basically a fireworks show set entirely to music from Frozen. The Frozen music makes really good fireworks music so this was an excellent show. It "snowed" during the fireworks - I thought this effect was really amazing the first time I experienced it during the Osborne Lights but now it seems like it happens in everything Frozen-related it has lost a bit of its magic. I got a good spot about 45 minutes before the official fireworks time.

Frozen Royal Welcome - This parade was held twice a day. I saw the 1:30pm parade and since I was by myself I was able to find a spot on the steps outside the Frozen Singalong show about 20 minutes before the parade - some of the people near me had been waiting for an hour though. It rained while I was waiting for the parade which caused a bit of a logistical nightmare - people who didn't want to watch the parade would told it would be a short version because of the rain, but they ended up doing the full parade and people had to wait for ages to cross the parade route. The parade itself was fun and there were plenty of opportunities to see the Frozen characters up close.

Olaf's Summer Cooldown - This was a cute show with Olaf singing and dancing. It culminated with some bursts of cold air to cool people down but I wasn't close enough to the stage to take advantage of them.

Coolest Summer Ever Dance Party - This was basically a DJ playing songs to dance to (mostly non-Disney songs). There were also characters that came out and danced among the crowd, which was a nice way to see some characters without having to line up. The dance party lasted all the way up to the start of the fireworks, which was great for entertainment while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Echo Lake

Frozen Singalong - Like at Disneyland, this show was mainly the audience singing along to clips from the singalong version of the Frozen movie. The live actors were a little bit funnier here than in Disneyland but I still would only do this if you enjoy singing along to the Frozen show. I saw this once with FastPass and once standby - the main advantage of FastPass was that the waiting area for people with FastPasses was undercover and had a pre-show playing on video screens (which was just as funny as the singalong itself) whereas the standby queue was in the sun with nothing to look at.

Frozen Fever - This short was originally played before the live action Cinderella movie. During the Frozen Summer Fun event it was shown together with a short making of video in the ABC Sound Studio. It was a cute little movie and since I didn't see Cinderella in the cinema it was nice to get to see the short here.

Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular - I didn't originally plan to see this show as I've seen it a few times before but I had some free time so I jumped in line about 5 minutes before show time (I didn't get a great seat, but I could see everything fine). The actual stunts in the show are good but there's a lot of talking in between and the show seemed to be exactly the same as previous times I've seen it.

Streets of America

Lights, Motor, Action! - I enjoyed this show the first time I saw it but it hasn't changed much (the only change I noticed was that Herbie the Love Bug was switched out for Lightning McQueen). I like watching the actual stunts but the explanations and patter in between get a bit tedious. We had a FastPass because there were no other Tier 2 attractions that needed it. The FastPass line seemed to be directed to a different seating area to the standby line, but I'm not sure that the seats were any better.

Mulch, Sweat & Shears - I hadn't planned to see this band play but a performance was about to start just as I was walking past so I decided I could fit it in. It was fun and I was able to sit on some steps in the shade to watch it. However, the group has recently stopped performing.

Sunset Boulevard

Fantasmic - This show is mostly the same as the last time I visited, although I think the dragon has had some improvements. Overall I think I preferred the Disneyland version a little more - the dragon was better and I really liked the Peter Pan sequence (the Pocahontas sequence in the Disney World version doesn't do much for me). In both cases you need to have a dining package to get the best seats. I entered the standby line about 40 minutes before the show (the first of two shows that evening) and got a reasonable seat. Unfortunately, because the seating is on long benches, people who showed up a bit later tried to squeeze into a space that was not big enough for them and I ended up being quite cramped throughout the whole show.

Beauty and the Beast - Beauty and the Beast was one of the Disney movies that I grew up on so this show is a must-do for me. It's basically a short stage musical that includes the basic plot and most of the songs from Beauty and the Beast. Unlike many shows, having a FastPass here is a huge advantage because the best seats are reserved for FastPass. However, it's a tier one FastPass, so most people are going to choose Toy Story Midway Mania or Rock 'n' Roller Coaster instead.

Animal Kingdom

Discovery Island

Winged Encounters - This small show involves lots of macaws flying. It's not marked on the Times Guide which makes it a little difficult to plan for so I never saw the whole show but I caught the end of it and it was pretty cool to watch a big group of macaws flying right over people's heads.

Africa

Festival of the Lion King - This show has moved location since I last saw it but I didn't notice any difference in the actual show. The performers in this are pretty amazing - it's like a mini Cirque du Soleil with Lion King music. My favourite part is the Tumble Monkeys. I had a FastPass here (because I didn't have anything better to use it on) but I don't think it got me a better seat and the queue was still in the su

Asia

Flights of Wonder - The patter in this bird show is a bit corny but the actual birds are pretty cool. It's easy to show up a few minutes before the show and get a decent seat, too.

DinoLand U.S.A.

Finding Nemo - The Musical - I think this is my favourite show at Disney World. I love the music, which I think was all written specifically for the show, as well as the puppets and the way the performance is done. I didn't use a FastPass here but I showed up about half an hour before showtime and got a good seat.