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Moana & Zootopia Themed Teased as a Replacement for Dinoland
The Disney Park Panel at D23 Expo today took guests on a ‘what if' adventure through the mind of Imagineers and shared potential concept art to show guest what it would look like IF a Zootopia and Moana themed land replaced the Dinoland area at Animal Kingdom.
Chairman of Disney Parks Josh D'Maro began this conversation with this explanation,
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Way early in the creative process, it's what our Imagineers call “Blue Sky.” I want to be clear with everybody in here though. We're not up here daydreaming, these things we're going to talk about they are very real, they are very serious discussions that I'm having with our team about the future of our parks and experiences.
These new themed areas could potentially replace the Dinoland area in Animal Kingdom which has been partially removed with Primeval Whirl being demolished in late 2021.
According to Josh D'Maro, this just one of the initial ideas that Disney Imagineer and Animation have been discussing. They discussed about how one of the first movies that came to mind when thinking about what to add to Animal Kingdom was Zootopia and how they could also add new characters guests haven't seen. Moana was brought up as the connection to nature and adventure being a fit within Animal Kingdom. Meeting mysterious animals and creatures of the deep from the Moana film being a thrilling addition to Animal Kingdom.
There were no other details shared except a brief look at a “concept” which Imagineers often create many of to help them brainstorm.. meaning this is not an official rendering but just one possibility. But either way, a refurbishment is definitely coming to this area of Animal Kingdom… especially after the loss of Primeval Whirl last year!
Though these areas were only teased at the D23 Expo this year. I am confident in saying that we expect to see the areas come to fruition in some form. The Disney Parks team has to walk a fine line with what they announce at the D23 Expo because there is always so much changing with the company. They don't want to overpromise at these events or share things that are completely in the distant future but also don't want to have fans feel like there is no future roadmap. For both the information on this area of Animal Kingdom and the ideas around the new Coco, Encanto, and Villains areas beyond Big Thunder Mountain, I expect that we will see items in these areas come to life but they may only take form over the next decade.
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