Ever since Animal Kingdom‘s opening in 1998, the Tree of Life has been one of the most stunning and breathtaking parts of the whole park.
Tree of Life in Disney’s Animal Kingdom
It’s the park’s icon for a reason! The Tree of Life is a faux baobab tree built around an oil rig that has over 300 animals hand-carved into it (everything from an ant to a chimpanzee, and so many more), and it’s over 145 feet high. It’s incredible in so many ways, and while we love walking around its pathways as much as the next person and exploring what it has to offer, since It’s Tough to Be A Bug closed, this area has been pretty barren. We’re thrilled that there are MORE additions coming to this area of the park later this year, but you’ll want to know EVERYTHING on its way to really appreciate it!
Back on August 21st, Disney announced that the official opening date of the new Tree of Life show, Zootopia: Better Zoogether! would be November 7th, 2025. We’re impressed — with how late in the year It’s Tough to Be A Bug closed in the park, we were half expecting the opening date of this new attraction to be pushed back to 2026. But we’ll get to experience it this year!
“Zootopia: Better Zoogether!” ©Disney
Disney says that Zootopia: Better Zoogether! will be “a celebration of unity amongst the diverse biomes across the city, and will be recognized with special performances such as ice-skating spectaculars from the heart of Tundratown! Synchronized swimming direct from Marsh Market! Tiny mouse drone shows soaring over Little Rodentia! And of course, a musical finale by superstar Gazelle – all of which we’ll see from the livestream watch party.”
©Disney
When you arrive at the theater, you’ll find that you’re just in time see see the Zoogether Day festivities on the mainstage. The show is hosted by familiar furry faces as well as new friends, like Heidi Howler – a slick-talking wolf who hosts the Zoogether Day LIVE! broadcast.
Zoogether Day ©Disney
We’re excited we’ll be able to hear some of the most iconic voices from the film franchise, including Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps) and Jason Bateman (Nick Wilde), as well as supervision from the creatives behind the scenes, including Jared Bush (assisted with writing the script) and Byron Howard (who directed the animation of the film). The new show will also be opening just in time for Zootopia 2, which will premiere in theaters on November 26th. If you want to be one of the first to experience this new attraction, you’ll want to keep an eye out for more information later this fall about special previews for cast members, Annual Passholders and DVC Members.
©Disney
But that isn’t the ONLY new addition coming to Animal Kingdom for fans of Zootopia! Disney has revealed that Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde will also be greeting guests at Discovery Island near the Tree of Life at the Zoogether Day Gathering Spot. At this time, we don’t know exactly where this new spot will be, but it sounds like it’ll be pretty set in stone, so these characters won’t likely be moving around. We can’t wait to be able to meet these new characters in the park, but we have a feeling it’ll be REALLY popular, so you’ll want to be patient!
©Disney
It’s important to note too that like It’s Tough to Be A Bug, this new show will also be in 4D, so while Disney has confirmed that nothing will be poking us in the back or butt during this new show (thank GOODNESS), but you will still need to wear 3D glasses to get the fill effect of the show — it’ll be called Carrot Vision!
©Disney
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Disney Just Dropped 7 BIG Announcements, Including a NEW Opening Date
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Ok but what “2 new additions” are being added to the tree of life??? I didn’t think there was any room left to carve any more animals? Or maybe the title of this article got mixed up with the wrong content? I don’t care at all about Zootopia but love the tree!