Animal Kingdom will soon be undergoing some major changes as a new Tropical Americas land will be replacing DinoLand U.S.A, introducing new attractions, dining, and more.
Disney had previously teased both Encanto and Indiana Jones as possibilities as part of an expanded new land in Animal Kingdom before confirming this and sharing plans and concept art for the land. We have new concept art, details on what will be coming to the Tropical Americas land, new models, and more!
Keep reading for the full timeline of the tropical Americas land at Animal Kingdom including details from Disney about the DinoLand U.S.A replacement, recent concept art revealed, timing for the construction and opening of the land, and more.
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Tropical Americas Land Coming to Animal Kingdom
Disney has officially confirmed that a Tropical Americas land will be replacing DinoLand U.S.A. at Animal Kingdom. The first closures for work to begin on this new land were just announced and are included in our Disney World refurbishments article here.
The focus of the land as the region known as the “tropical Americas” fits perfectly into Animal Kingdom, as the tropical Americas contain some of the most biodiverse areas in the world where “people travel for adventure, exploration, [and] discovery.” The land will not be themed to a specific intellectual property and will instead be a generally themed land that is in keeping with the rest of Animal Kingdom.
The new land themed to the Tropical Americas will be called “Pueblo Esperanza.” Work on this new 11-acre section of Animal Kingdom is set to begin later this year. See the new concept art for the land that was released above! Disney described how, like Harambe, “the land feels lived in, with a long, rich history.” There will be a large hacienda that will be home to one of the largest quick-service restaurants at the Disney World Resort.
Disney described that the new space will be “lush and sprawling,” with a big fountain at the center where the villagers will gather to tell stories. There will also be a working carousel created by a woodcarver that features his favorite animals from Disney stories! See the concept art for this below.
The land will also be home to two signature attractions: an Indiana Jones experience and the first-ever Encanto-themed ride-through attraction.
Construction on the land is planned to begin this fall, and it is slated to open in 2027.
Adding in a new themed “land” rather than just one intellectual property is a great choice for Animal Kingdom. In general this is a nice direction that I hope the Disney Parks continue to go in rather than stretching Disney’s top properties across a whole land. Having a general land allows for flexibility and surprises. Though not exactly the same, this ladders into our biggest complaint with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Encanto Ride Details
Encanto is one of Disney Animation’s most popular films and we’ve been hoping for some time to see it come to the parks. Now, it has been confirmed that we will be getting the first ever Encanto attraction at Walt Disney World!
This first ever Encanto themed ride-through attraction will feature the Madrigal family as guests travel inside the magical house from the films called the Casita. Once guests enter the Casita, they will follow the storyline of Antonio receiving his special gift of the ability to communicate with animals.
Guests will follow Antonio as his room transforms into a rainforest and will take off to explore with him, never knowing what member of the family you might see!
Josh D’Amaro discussed about the research Imagineers have done for this new attraction and the dedication going into it. He promises the D23 attendees that this will be a true “classic” Disney attraction.
After the Disney Experiences Showcase, a Casita study model was revealed in the Imagineering: Behind the Dreams pavilion at D23. See a closer look at this below!
Indiana Jones Ride Details
A new Indiana Jones experience will be coming to Animal Kingdom that will be different from any other Indiana Jones attraction! Currently there are two other true Indiana Jones Adventure rides (not counting the lightly themed coaster in Disneyland Paris) – those two rides are in Disneyland Park and Tokyo DisneySea.
The ride will be a huge reworking of the existing DINOSAUR attraction at the park. The ride already uses the same ride system as the Indiana Jones Adventure rides, but in no way is it currently at the same quality as the other two Indiana Jones rides.
The two existing Indiana Jones Adventure rides are some of the best attractions that Disney has ever built. In fact, every time that we rode DINOSAUR at Animal Kingdom we imagined how much better the experience could be if had the swelling John Williams “Raiders March” score playing throughout. It is thrilling to know that soon we will have another new Indiana Jones ride to experience here in the United States.
So, here’s what we know about the new story for the Indiana Jones attraction coming to Animal Kingdom.
In the experience, Indiana Jones has discovered an ancient Mayan temple and goes to explore it. He has heard rumors about a mythical creature in the temple and has gone to see it, bringing guests along for the journey. See the concept art for the experience below!
Disney specifically described the experience as “A new Indy experience is set to arrive in Disney’s Animal Kingdom and will be different from any other Indiana Jones experience around the world.”
They continued “In this new venture, the man with the hat has recently discovered a perfectly preserved Maya temple, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to explore it. He’s heard rumors about a mythical creature deep within the temple — and he’s got to see it for himself. So, he brings us along on the adventure… but will there be snakes? We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Disneyland Park has done a wonderful job adding and updating special effects within this attraction. We detailed the most recent round of updates here where they added a new scene and brought even more updated special effects. That attraction still looks like it opened yesterday even though it opened nearly 30 years ago in 1995 at Disneyland Park.
I sit here today thinking about what the Imagineers can come up with for this new Indiana Jones attraction with the opportunity to start with a fresh storyline and brand new effects. It should be an adventure unlike anything we have seen in either of the other two Indy attractions.
New Models Revealed for Tropical Americas Land
After the Disney Experiences Showcase at D23, a model of the Tropical Americas land was revealed in the “Imagineering: Behind the Dreams” pavilion. This model gives us a nice look of what we can expect for the land!
In the overview of the model below, you can see how the land will be filled with lush greenery.
Here is a look at the Mayan temple that is part of the Indiana Jones section of the land.
Here is a closer look at the center of the Tropical Americas land in the model. Disney had mentioned that in the story of the land, this central fountain is “where the villagers will gather to tell stories. ”
Here is a look at the Casita in the Encanto-inspired portion of the land in the model:
The Tropical Americas land will also have one of the largest quick-service restaurants at the resort.
A new model for a creature in the carousel of the land was also revealed at the Imagineering pavilion.
Here is a closer look below. The creature appears to be inspired by Kevin from Up!
Up close, you can more clearly see some of the stunning floral details and patterns of the feathering.
Tropical Americas Opening Timeline
Disney shared that work on this section of the park will begin in the fall of 2024, and the land is set to open in 2027. Disney made sure to note that “you’ll still have plenty of time to experience Dinosaur again,” and the construction work will take place in phases.
Before the construction announcement was made, Disney had already filed permits to begin work on the new land.
Encanto and Indiana Jones are two great additions to Animal Kingdom that will be great additions to a new land at Animal Kingdom. Particularly Indiana Jones really leans into Disney’s vision as a place people to go to discover and explore.
This isn’t the only area at Animal Kingdom receiving some changes. It was revealed at Destination D23 that a new Zootopia show is coming to the Tree of Life theater featuring characters like Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, and others.
Why Is Disney World Replacing DinoLand U.S.A?
DinoLand U.S.A has been a part of Animal Kingdom since opening day in 1998. The area includes the popular DINOSAUR attraction, TriceraTop Spin, a play area for kids, a dinosaur themed walking trail, character meet and greet space and carnival style games. DinoLand was also the location of Primeval Whirl, a small kiddie style coaster, which permanently closed in 2021.
The area has felt increasingly more and more outdated in recent years especially when you compare it to other areas of Animal Kingdom which is known for its incredible theming especially in Pandora- The World of Avatar. Most of the land takes place in what feels like an open parking lot with minimal theming aside from dinosaur themed figures.
Animal Kingdom is in desperate need of a change in the area that Dinoland U.S.A. currently occupies. While the DINOSAUR attraction is beloved by many Disney fans, the atmosphere in the area does not match the quality of other areas in the park.
This area of the park does fulfill the need for a space for younger children to explore and play and usually that is the only draw for those to visit this space, aside from riding DINOSAUR.
DINOSAUR invokes a lot of nostalgia for Disney fans and there’s no denying this is a fun attraction. But when you compare it to other attractions in the park, it is one of the lesser popular options which may also be due to the location of the ride as DinoLand is not a big draw for all Disney World guests. DINOSAUR uses the same ride system as Indiana Jones Adventure, a fan favorite ride featured at Disneyland Park in California and Tokyo DisneySea.
While we may miss the nostalgia of DINOSAUR, it’s hard to deny that a change is long overdue to this area of the park and it is not surprising that Disney is moving forward with a complete redo of the land. Walt Disney World has announced that DINOSAUR will be available all through 2025 before it closes in 2026.
Previous Announcements for Tropical Americas Land
When Disney originally announced that DinoLand U.S.A. would be replaced by a Tropical Americas land, they teased that Indiana Jones and Encanto would be featured by playing snippets of their respective musical themes.
After that, we operated under the assumption that DINOSAUR would become a version of the extremely popular Indiana Jones Adventure attraction currently available at Disneyland Park and Tokyo DisneySea. The DINOSAUR attraction actually already uses the same ride vehicle technology and follows the same track as those other attractions, so it would be a fairly simple switch to make.
Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, told EW that an Indiana Jones replacement for the DINOSAUR ride fits well due to Animal Kingdom’s theme of “exploration and adventure.” Indiana Jones was also teased in a clip from Walt Disney Imagineering that talked about the research for the new land.
Josh D’Amaro previously served as the Animal Kingdom vice president. D’Amaro speaks to this experience as he reaffirms how these franchises could fit, “Animal Kingdom is about exploration and adventure. I was fortunate enough to have run that theme park, so I know how special it is, and I think there are a lot of stories that we can stay true to Animal Kingdom and express new properties in there, and that’s what you see us starting to do.”
Until the announcement giving a firm idea of the plans fo the land, there was a lot of speculation about what it would entail, and our previous speculation that Indiana Jones may be replacing the Dinosaur attraction seemed to hold the most weight for one of the future outcomes for Animal Kingdom. See the EW interview here.
In addition to the Indiana Jones attraction, it was also clear soon after the original announcement that we were getting an Encanto addition to this new land. What we could see in the concept artwork below is that the Encanto Casita is present and just off of the main square of the new land.
Imagineers undertook a trip to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula to study “art, culture, and the archeology of the Maya.” During a clip shared by Imagineers describing this research trip, we got a glimpse at one of the 3D models they created which further confirmed the hints of Encanto being present in this new Tropical Americas land.
The clip included a shot of a 3D model, shown above, that looks remarkably like the Casita house from Encanto. The clip shared that Imagineers aim to “bring the fantastical and magical to life” which aligns nicely with the storytelling of Encanto and the magic of the Madrigal family.
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Disney has added new parks around the world how about giving them new items also not many people in those countries can travel to the US to the parks here and I heard that we as us citizens may not be able travel to Shanghai disney and or take photos in the park because of that government you guys need to include those other parks as well when additions are done