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Credit: DisneyA pre-COVID feature has returned to the Walt Disney World Resort.
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There’s no denying that Disney theme parks have changed, especially in Florida, with Walt Disney World cranking out big updates on a steady basis. Some of these prove more popular than others, with The Walt Disney Company currently at the beginning of one of its most transformational and most divisive eras yet, which will bring the parks into a new chapter, for better or for worse.
However, Disney, like many other companies, has slowly been rolling out changes post-pandemic, offering guests features and amenities that have not been seen since COVID-19 first broke out. This continues in Animal Kingdom, where printed time guides are officially back at the park gates.
Printed Time Guide Maps Return to Disney’s Animal Kingdom – More to Follow?
Related: Disney Announces New World for 2025: World of Imagination Coming Soon
Per WDWMAGIC, printed times guide brochures have returned to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This surprising development marks the first time these have been offered since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
These new time guides look different and are now branded as “Experience Guides,” providing information about showtimes and character meet-and-greet windows. Animal Kingdom is home to several shows, with the parks’ most popular live attractions being Festival of the Lion King and Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond.
Interestingly, these new guides are currently exclusive to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, though it’s expected that they will soon reappear at other places like Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Despite being five years out from the outbreak of COVID-19 and the first round of lockdowns, the world still feels like it’s picking up the pieces from the unprecedented global pandemic. While it may seem a little silly to focus on theme parks, with COVID-19 devastating many parts of the world in much more serious ways, The Walt Disney Company was forced to adapt as a result of the outbreak, sending it on a completely different path.
This resulted in mass layoffs, project delays, and the closure of multiple theme parks, including the original Disneyland Resort, which remained shuttered for over a year. Guests saw cutbacks in entertainment and changes in theme park rules as well.
Printed guide maps were hardly the only thing lost in the COVID-19 shuffle. From 2020 onward, guests saw numerous experiences close, either temporarily or permanently, inside Walt Disney World and Disneyland, ranging from buffets and special meet-and-greets to entire attractions.
Various projects and expansions were also either put on indefinite hold, changed, or canceled entirely as a result of COVID-19, with EPCOT suffering the most. 2020 was set to be a huge year for the theme park, with Disney beginning work on its ambitious EPCOT transformation just months prior. New rides and attractions based on Wreck-It Ralph and Mary Poppins were planned, as was a massive expansion of the park’s center areas.
Due to COVID-19 and the general state of the economy, things had to be scaled back or canceled outright. EPCOT still underwent a large transformation, with the park now being home to three new lands and several new experiences. However, the original vision for the park is far different from what guests see today in 2025.
Guests can look forward to big updates to Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, all of which will receive new rides and attractions in the coming years. Work has already begun to transform places like DinoLand, which will soon be home to new franchises like Indiana Jones and Encanto.
Are you planning a Disney World vacation for 2025?