Disney is famous for many things: Its great movies, its great theme parks, and even its great toys and merch. But, above all else, the thing that instantly comes to mind when you hear “Disney” is excellent theming.
The Disney Parks haven’t always been the best example of immersive theming, to be honest. Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter is, in many ways, more triumphant than anything Disney created before Pandora, the World of Avatar. However, there is more to theming than simply immersion.
Take, for example, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and its exquisite park land, Harambe.
The village of Harambe does not, in fact, exist. Nor does Harambe appear fully-realized in a multi-billion dollar film series. It is, instead, a community inspired by a handful of specific cultures in Africa — designed as a broad fictional melting pot of those cultures and to serve as a believable jumping off point for an equally-fictional safari.
It is a setting Disney invented all on its own, and while it is not “immersive,” it is highly specific and engaging. In many ways, it’s one of the best themed lands Disney has ever created — including Pandora, The World of Avatar and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. While you are there, it is easy to forget that you’re in Walt Disney World at all.
Why is it so effective at cultivating such a specific sense of place? Let’s take a closer look.
1. The Architecture
One of the ways Disney does its best storytelling is through architecture. It is, in many ways, Disney’s most obvious and lasting piece of artistic legacy, with buildings like Cinderella’s Castle, Spaceship Earth, and even the Swan and Dolphin Resort hotels acting as instantly-iconic signifiers of the company itself.
In Harambe, architecture is just as important. With low, weathered buildings inspired by structures in Kenya, Zanzibar, and other portions of Eastern Africa, Disney is able to craft a village that is both instantly recognizable as African, but also as connected to nature as the Animal Kingdom’s other lands. The buildings blend into the trees growing beside them, the rivers flowing in front of them, and the fictitious nature preserve extending out beyond them.
Additionally, the architectural style leans heavily toward those traditional African styles rather than mixing in any of the colonial English tradition — a mistake many “African”-themed areas often make. Harambe doesn’t feel “primitive” nor does it have unfortunate echoes of the dark colonial past Africa has been victimized by. Instead, the result feels deeply and wholesomely African — a beautiful and peaceful place with an extraordinary connection to the natural beauty of the planet.
2. The Music
Image: rollercoasterphilosophy, Flickr (license)
It is impossible to talk about Harambe without mentioning the lush soundscape that is perpetually emanating from it. This soundscape is the greatest echo of rural Africa — a place known for complex musicality.
First, and most importantly, is the actual music played in the area. It is traditional African sounds with beautiful harmonic vocals and tonality. This music is accompanied by, at times, genuine live performers — each demonstrating a mastery of their unique instruments and repertoires. Music is so deeply intertwined with Harambe that its stores sell small musical instruments — drums, blocks, and string instruments. It is a lasting legacy of the area.
But, as is often the way in the region of the continent upon which Harambe is inspired, people themselves also offer a kind of chorus and musicality that brings the area to life. Some, like the conversations and bar sounds that hover just above the Dawa Bar, are of course piped in by Imagineers. But others, like the general cacophony of a Disney Parks crowd, act to add a city-like bustle to the streets of Harambe.
It is a space designed to feel lived in, and between background music, live performers, and the ruckus of crowds, it truly feels like a place of life.
3. The Foliage
A key component of all areas of Disney’s Animal Kingdom is, of course, the plant life on offer. More than any other Disney Park, Animal Kingdom is deeply intertwined with the land upon which it sits — and nowhere is that more acute than at the entry to the famed Harambe Wildlife Preserve.
Yes, there are buildings in Harambe, but they way in which they sink within the trees and foliage surrounding them — often with grass growing right up along side the buildings — feels both authentic and unusual, like you’ve become connected to nature in ways you haven’t seen before.
Even among the rest of the areas of Walt Disney World, which itself is not wanting for green space, it is far more likely to see buildings and plants sectioned off from one another — or, at least, with clearly defined borders. In Harambe, these lines are blurred. The pathways are less exact, the plants are less well-kept, the tree canopy is more full and intertwined.
Harambe feels like a fundamental part the natural world, and that is a key component both to our enjoyment of it as tourists, but also its place in the fictional story of wildlife conservation that Disney has cultivated.
4. The Food
If Epcot has the culinary celebration that is World Showcase, Animal Kingdom’s answer is the decadent flavors on hand in Harambe. Now, no, the food isn’t all authentic to what you’d find in Eastern Africa — and that is unfortunate. But, Disney has managed to cultivate something impressive here.
First, there is the Harambe Market — a kind of outdoor food hall with ribs, gyros, vegetables, and shaved ice. This food is absolutely delicious, and among the best you’ll find in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s not quite as adventurous as true foodies might hope for (for that, you’d probably have to check out Sanaa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge or leave Disney property entirely) but for food inside a theme park land, it’s difficult to find fault with. The flavor profile is, indeed, more in line with a generic African palate — so hey, that’s something.
Then, there’s the Dawa Bar — a quaint and charming place that offers both Disney’s traditional bar drinks but also a handful of international and African beers and inspired concoctions.
Last, but certainly not least, is Tusker House Restaurant. Mostly well-known for its hard-to-reserve character breakfast, this restaurant also has some incredible traditional African foods — from curries and hummus to tabouli and seafood. It is all, to a dish, excellent. And, as a buffet, it’s hard not to get your money’s worth.
Non-World Showcase food within Disney Parks can be hit or miss. Thankfully, it’s all a hit in Harambe.
5. The Ride
Image: Jennifer Lynn, Flickr (license)
A visit to Harambe isn’t complete unless, of course, you ride Kilimanjaro Safaris — Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s signature attraction and one of the best theme park rides on planet earth.
This article isn’t about how great Kilimanjaro Safaris is, however — rather, how fantastic it is that this ride seamlessly blends in to the theme park area surrounding it. Other rides feel, somewhat, as though they’re simply in a land by happenstance. The Safaris are unique in that the village of Harambe feels, in some ways, like the beginning of the attraction itself.
The village of Harambe is as much a character in Kilimanjaro Safaris as any animal. It is the place from which you are venturing into the savanna, and it is the place to which you are returning when your safari is complete. It is such a realistic place, that you can’t help but feel a bit thankful when the ride is over — it feels, in part, like home.
Harambe is one of Disney’s best themed lands because it convinces you that you are in a real place, inhabited by real people, and you are simply a tourist there for the day seeing the sights. It isn’t “immersive” in the way Black Spire Outpost on Batuu is. But, it also isn’t trying to be.
Disney doesn’t care if you feel immersed, they want you to feel at home. And in Harambe, they are wildly successful.
