The “Zootopia” film has made its way to Walt Disney World with an all new experience, Zootopia: Better Zoogether, inside of the iconic Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. This show replaces the original It’s Tough to be a Bug attraction, which debuted with the park in 1998. This new version features similar special effects and a new Office Clawhauser animatronic.
Updated queue views around Tree of Life
While the path has stayed relatively the same, the queue for Zootopia: Better Zoogether does have a noticeable change, lots of new netting. These nets are placed in areas directly under the large limbs of the Tree of Life. While not a major change, it does partially block views of this park icon.
The queue also has some great new details, directly related to the Zootopia universe. Even before heading into the loading room there is some themed signage and an homage to the lead Imagineer for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Joe Rohde. These new additions didn’t destroy the incredible animal sculpts around the Tree of Life. For the original park fans, you can still walk around and get up-close views of these amazing designs.
During my visit today, during the Annual Passholder preview, there was some lingering queue construction. While not confirmed, I assume these final barriers will be taken down within the next few weeks. The construction did not affect the show or clog-up the queue during my experience.
Zootopia world-building before the show
One thing I will always love about Walt Disney Imagineering is their attention to world-building. As you enter the theater and grab your Carrot Vision Glasses (3-D glasses) you will look around at displays from the “Zootopia” world. From tiny porta-potties to mice sized theater doors and even Pawdora Jewelry (a play on Disney Parks sponsor, Pandora Jewelry).
I thoroughly enjoyed looking around and finding details in this area. And you will need to search high and low to find them all. A Cast Member allowed me to stay back and keep exploring while a show was filled, giving me extra time to enjoy the queue details. There are also some audio hits while you wait which add to the storyline of the show. For those that love details, look close and listen carefully.
Zootopia: Better Zoogether, less scares and way more motion
If you ever experienced It’s Tough to be a Bug, you may remember one of few iconic scenes: spiders dropping down to attack you, being sprayed by pesticide, Hopper the villain animatronic, the smell of stink bugs or the feeling of bugs crawling under your butt. While the show was certainly fun, it had a few scary or unexpected moments, some of which even spooked adults.
I can say that most of this was modified for the Zootopia version. Yes, there is a still the feeling of something moving under your rear during one portion, but a majority of the scary elements are gone. For kids, or those with arachnophobia, congratulations, this is a more upbeat experience. But for those prone to motion sickness, this new show may be hard on you.
Where the former show was “stuck in place” inside the theater, this new show utilizes a lot of moving cameras and quickly edited scenes. This makes the new show feel very fast paced and a bit more erratic. The 3-D effects can happen suddenly, same with in theater special effects, all of which make for a bit of a chaotic show. The chaos is part of the experience, what’s a theme park attraction without a sudden story change? But, this design choice could be a bit much for those who deal with motion sickness.
A new animatronic and a loss of real-world elements
Yay! This theater has a new animatronic with tactile features, Officer Clawhauser. There is a cute way that he is introduced as well. I think this animatronic looks fantastic and is a welcome part of the show. But, the former show, It’s Tough to be a Bug, had more than one animatronic. This is where some of the elements of the new show seem to be a bit lackluster.
It’s Tough to be a Bug really used its environment. Flik, the show’s narrator, came out from the ceiling. The show’s butterfly “curtains” began and ended the 3-D aspect. The pesticide can appeared to shoot right out of the screen. This new show, while visually impressive with its modern animation, used less real world effects and seemed a bit stuck in its usage of effects. This may seem nit-picky, but you are currently on paragraph 11 of a 3-D theme park show review, so I assume you care as well.
Kids and adults both laughed heavily during a scene where two animals are talking to each other while heavily spitting. This spit is produced in theater as water shooting down on the audience. There is a powerful smoke blast related to the arctic realm, Tundratown. These are fun, but these moments also showcased how strongly the former show made the effects jump into our world. Spiders fell from the sky as a real-world swarm of creatures, the spotlights shining on Flik were portrayed as a bug doing their job poorly and bugs “in the audience” left the theater at the end of the show.
Review: Zootopia leads the major changes to Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Zootopia: Better Zoogether is one of numerous new projects coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom over the next few years. In the future we are also expecting a re-imagined land, Tropical Americas. This park will see continual changes for the next few years. In the meantime, there will be cranes and dirt – all part of the magic making process.
I will be honest, I wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of It’s Tough to be a Bug. I did not see the show on every visit, but I did enjoy it and felt it was a unique option in the park. Zootopia: Better Zoogether is a different usage of the theater, but one that I saw was thoroughly enjoyed by fellow visitors today. This new show is less scary, uses a more modern film and has fun queue elements. Personally, I will probably watch it the same amount I watched the former show.
I do think this show is a clear example of the future of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. There are purists online who never want to see anything differ from the park’s original story. With Zootopia, and Tropical Americas on the way, I believe this story is being modified. We will be seeing more intellectual property, there will be different animal experiences and an original land is being almost entirely demolished. If you hate change, you might not like Zootopia: Better Zoogether. But, today I saw a modern Disney Parks show with an audience that laughed and clapped. Kids did not leave the theater crying, which was somewhat common with the former show. An improvement over It’s Tough to be a Bug? No, not really. This seems more like a lateral move, changing the story to fit a new targeted audience.
