There have been hundreds of animatronic figures scattered across Walt Disney World over the past 54 years. Here are 10 notable ones that can be spied its theme parks in 2025.
• Country Bears Musical Jamboree, the reboot of an original Magic Kingdom attraction, added more twang and more Disney in the summer of 2024 but maintained an animatronic lineup that includes Big Al now singing “Remember Me” from “Coco.”
• Elsewhere in Frontierland, last year’s transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was assisted by figures for the title character, Mama Odie, critters as band members and Louis, the trumpet-playing alligator, which was touted as one of the largest figures Imagineers has ever concocted.
Mama Odie invites guests to have beignets inside Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
• A very expressive Hondo Ohnaka animatronic gives instructions during the preshow for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• The end of Slinky Dog Dash roller coaster at Hollywood Studios features Wheezy, an animatronic penguin performing “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
• Magic Kingdom visitors can pop into the corner of Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe for spacy songs by Sonny Eclipse, whose 30th year was marked this summer with an exclusive D23 pin.
• Spaceship Earth, a centerpiece attraction at Epcot, sports a range of animatronics that span the centuries, including Egyptians, Phoenicians, snoozing monks, a paper boy, Michelangelo and computer scientists.
• Dozens of mechanical tropical birds were early crowd pleasers at Disneyland and at the opening of Magic Kingdom, where the attraction is now known as Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.
The shaman of songs guides Disney World guests inside the Na’vi River Journey boat ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
• The blue-skinned shaman of songs figure rests near the end of Na’vi River Journey at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It became famous for its many arms and range of motion.
• Perhaps the most infamous animatronic hasn’t moved much in years. The 25-foot-tall Yeti, built into a climactic scene for Animal Kingdom’s Expedition Everest coaster, had early technical issues after its 2006 debut, and its motion is now represented through strobe lights.
• Real life gets animatronic representation at Magic Kingdom’s Hall of Presidents, featuring 45 political figures including a new-look Donald Trump installed in June.
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https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/10/18/10-disney-world-animatronics-to-see/
