Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe

Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe: show at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Walt Disney World — showtimes, live status, and planning data on MouseHub.

The MouseHub take

The Tam Tam Drummers of Harambe play in the street in the Africa section of Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Disney lists the set at 15 minutes. There is no theater and no line. Drummers in authentic dress set up in the walkway, play what Disney calls the beat of the Congo, and work the crowd until people who stopped for a second are clapping along. Guests get waved into the middle to dance. The drums are loud enough that you hear them before you see them, which is how most people find the set at all.

Treat it as something you walk into rather than something you schedule. Harambe is the way to Kilimanjaro Safaris, so most guests meet the drummers on the way somewhere else, give them a few minutes, and move on. Kids get to burn energy somewhere that is not a queue. What sours people is the standing: no seats, no shade, and hot pavement fifteen minutes deep. Anyone trying to get through Harambe rather than stop in it finds the crowd square in the way.

At a glance

Best for
Families with restless kids, and anyone who would rather stumble into live music than plan around it
Skip if
Loud drumming wears on you, or you are crossing Harambe on a clock
Ride type
Live drum performance in the street, standing room only
Intensity
Loud drumming and a crowd close enough to touch, but no motion, no dark, and nothing that startles small kids

The good

  • Walking up is the whole plan
    The drummers set up in the walkway, so seeing them costs you a stop rather than a wait. Arriving halfway through a set costs you nothing either.
  • The drummers pull the crowd in
    Disney's own page invites guests to join in, and the performers make good on it. Kids and adults get waved into the middle to clap and dance along.
  • The rhythms come out of the Congo
    Disney describes the set as the beat of the Congo, played by drummers in authentic dress. That is a sharper thing than the generic drum circle people expect from a street act.
  • Harambe earns the drums
    Disney designers and native craftsmen built Harambe as an African jungle town around Kilimanjaro Safaris, and the name is Swahili for "come together." A set that drags strangers into the street suits the address.
  • Kids finally get to move
    The tempo does the work. A child who has spent the morning standing in lines ends up dancing in a walkway, which buys you goodwill for the next queue.
  • Missing one set is not fatal
    Disney schedules several short sets rather than one performance, so a later pass through Harambe can still catch one.

The bad

  • Harambe slows to a shuffle
    The drummers play in a through route to Kilimanjaro Safaris and the audience fills it. Getting past means edging around the back of a crowd that is facing the other way.
  • The volume reaches you either way
    The drums carry down that stretch of Harambe. Guests with noise sensitivity, and toddlers already near their limit, hear the set well before anyone chooses to stop for it.
  • You stand in the sun for it
    No seats and no shade. Fifteen minutes on hot pavement lands differently at hour six of a park day than it does at hour one.
  • Fifteen minutes goes quickly
    Disney lists the set at 15 minutes. Turn up late and you catch the end of one rather than the whole thing.

Veteran tips

  • Check today's times on this page
    The schedule moves. The live showtimes on this page and in the My Disney Experience app are the ones to plan around, not a time you read weeks ago.
  • Fold it into the walk to the safari
    Kilimanjaro Safaris sits inside Harambe, so the drummers are on the way rather than a detour. A few minutes while the party regroups is enough.
  • Skirt the crowd, do not split it
    If you are only passing through, walk the edges. Cutting between the drummers and the people dancing puts you in the middle of somebody's video.
  • Hang back if you would rather watch
    Disney's page says guests are invited to join in, and the performers look to the front row first. Two rows back is enough distance.
  • Get a cold drink first
    Tamu Tamu Refreshments is in Harambe and its snack menu runs on Dole Whip. Standing in the sun for a set goes better with one in hand.
  • You can stay in your wheelchair
    Disney lists this one as May Remain in Wheelchair/ECV, so nobody in your party has to transfer to watch.

MouseHub editorial, written from visitor reports and official Disney sources. Last reviewed .

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