Nearly 5 Years Later, Disney World Has Finally Axed One of Its Last COVID-19 Features

Animal Kingdom is going through a lot of changes right now, including the removal of one last remnant of pandemic-era Disney World.

Like the majority of attractions worldwide, Walt Disney World Resort shuttered for several months in 2020 due to the threat of COVID-19. While the parks reopened in July 2020 (much sooner than Disneyland Resort, which remained shut until April 2021), several elements remained out of action for months.

The biggest was, of course, the introduction of park reservations and tighter capacity restrictions. While capacity restrictions have eased in the years since and guests with dated tickets no longer need to make a reservation, Annual Passholders still need to utilize the system when visiting before 2 p.m. if it’s not a “good-to-go” day.

This included Extra Magic Hours, fireworks, and hugs with characters, the latter of which were prohibited until April 2022. Disney World got creative to fill the void left behind by character meet-and-greets, with distanced interactions with the likes of Mickey Mouse at the Walt Disney World Railroad Station in Magic Kingdom Park and Winnie the Pooh and Joy at EPCOT and the introduction of character flotillas at Animal Kingdom.

Of course, most of Walt Disney World Resort has since returned to normal. However, a few traces of the pandemic have persisted, including character flotillas. This saw characters such as Pocahontas, Goofy, and Pluto make their way around Discovery Island, waving to and interacting with the guests on land.

In May 2024, Disney World axed the last of its character flotillas and reallocated their meet-and-greets throughout the park. This left just one flotilla performance in action: the Discovery Island Drummers. Prior to COVID-19, these drummers could be found in Pandora—The World of Avatar under the name Swotu Waya.

As of this week, however, the Discovery Island Drummers are no more. Disney World has updated its entertainment offerings on the My Disney Experience app, scrapping the Discovery Island Drummers from their flotilla and replacing them with a new drumming act known as the Eco-Rhythmics Drummers.

The Eco-Rhythmics Drummers can be found near the Cementosaurus on the outskirts of DinoLand U.S.A. after the latter closed the majority of its attractions for good earlier this week. While their performances are subject to change, they’re currently listed for hourly performances from 9.20 a.m. to 3.20 p.m.

This isn’t the only change happening at the theme park. With the closure of DinoLand U.S.A., Disney is starting work on its new Tropical Americas land, which will take inspiration from Encanto (2021) and the Indiana Jones franchise. This has proved fairly controversial within the Disney community, with some claiming it’s about time the park bids adieu to the land, while others argue that dinosaurs deserve their space at Animal Kingdom.

Elsewhere, the park is also set to debut a new Zootopia (2016) 3D movie – Zootopia: Better Zoogether! – inside the Tree of Life later this year. This will replace the endlessly petrifying It’s Tough to be a Bug!

Do you miss the Animal Kingdom character flotillas?