News 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom

[GoofGoof]

Getting back to topic, I realistically don't expect a penny pinching company like Disney to seriously consider retheming DInoland soon. I have to imagine that gutting the Dinosaur building and retheming to Indy, which itself is an expensive attraction and one that is apparently a headache to maintain in Disneyland, is something that's appealing to leadership right now. Also, why move Encanto to Animal Kingdom if they were serious about expanding beyond Big Thunder Mountain?

It's really a wishy-washy mess of "what ifs?" and not real plans, or at least it appears that way. At this point they're attempting damage control and trying to keep the media divisions afloat, so I doubt that they're actually considering any significant park investment. I think it's going to be a long time before any new big plans come to fruition bigger than Country Bears or the Tree of Life show.

It seems like the plan now is the AK project will come before beyond Big Thunder Mountain. They hardly mentioned the MK expansion and gave no details this time around. TWDC doesn‘t want to drop a billion in capital improvements for this or any park project immediately but the construction will be spread out over 3-4 years and won’t start in 2023 so it’s not a huge annual investment overall. In the last fiscal year (ending 9/30/22) the company spent $2.7B on capital spending for the domestic parks and resorts segment. A chunk of that is just maintenance on existing assets but 1/3 of the cost of a project this size each year would only be around 10% of total domestic capital spend. That’s pretty doable.

The downside is it pushes a beyond Big Thunder Mountain project out to closer to 2030.

 

[IMDREW]

Reasons I think (emphasis on think) this announcement might have some more weight to it than your regular Blue Sky crap Disneys been doing lately, is they released the concept art. They never tend to do that if its still that much up in the air. They didnt with Moana/Zootopia and they didnt with the first Epcot future world overhaul blue sky. So there's that.

Secondly, in the announcement they announced the land Tropical Americas coming, with what would inhabit it being the blue sky element. Doesnt that mean the theme is set, yet the IP is still to be debated over?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Reasons I think (emphasis on think) this announcement might have some more weight to it than your regular Blue Sky crap Disneys been doing lately, is they released the concept art. They never tend to do that if its still that much up in the air. They didnt with Moana/Zootopia and they didnt with the first Epcot future world overhaul blue sky. So there's that.

Huh? The did release concept art for Evolving Epcot (during early development), Moana/Zootopia and Beyond Big Thunder.

 

[IMDREW]

Huh? The did release concept art for Evolving Epcot (during early development), Moana/Zootopia and Beyond Big Thunder.

Only on screen during D23, but not online.

 

[discos]

Huh? The did release concept art for Evolving Epcot (during early development), Moana/Zootopia and Beyond Big Thunder.

Tropical Americas was the first piece of "Blue Sky" concept art to actually be available for media/press to download.... doesn't sound like something that's blue sky. Little details might change but I think what the art shows will pretty much be what we're getting

 

[IMDREW]

Tropical Americas was the first piece of "Blue Sky" concept art to actually be available for media/press to download.... doesn't sound like something that's blue sky. Little details might change but I think what the art shows will pretty much be what we're getting

Thats what I’m saying

 

[Disnutz311]

Last year's Moana/Zootopia land was garbage. I think we are seeing Bruce Vaughn shine a little here with this new land. I am sure he came in last year and set those lost Imagineers straight. Nice to have someone back in the regime to be able to course correct and fight for some of the values of the past. That is my guess at least. The use of existing buildings, pathways, and such is a clear budget saver but more importantly, means we get this land done a little faster. But still talking Q4 2026 at very best.

You have to look at all this with a different eye. We are getting the land of South America. Encanto and Indy just happen to be visitors and residents. A South American land goes perfect with Asia, Africa, and the rest of DAK. I just hope the go more authentic with the town with all this than lean towards "this is the town of Encanto". Giving us multiple animal exhibits and displays is a must. Keep with AK tradition and make sure it is immersive and feels like you are in South America.

We all know we are only going to get 99.5% of IP driven things from this company in the future. I dislike the percentage but at least we get new things. With proper people in place at Imagineering, it will all be ok. Encanto makes sense for the land and I would bet all my Disney Dollars that this would be a Mystic Manor clone. The story fits with the land and the land fits in AK. Indy is perfect IMHO as well as he is an explores of the region and it uses the same ride system. I expect an updated story and not 100% direct clone. Mara will be something South American lore related and the current queue will be more like the temple at Tokyo's Indy for the height but just on a smaller scale.

Do I think this is perfect in every way? No. Is this the best possible outcome for this future area. For sure. This has me smiling a bit more for the future of Imagineering.

Just as an interesting follow up I did reach out to Bruce to let him know my personal thoughts. You all may feel different, but I was surprised to get a reply of any kind, but glad he was listening. Please don't go blowing him up on social and let him work as he, I believe, is one of the good guys.

 

[SpectreJordan]

Yeah this is a massive W. Unfortunately it's just AK for now (though redoing Test Track is huge too), but man am I happy.

I didn't think about that. If they made Nemo Encanto that could be really cool actually. It could be the "book report" to the Encanto ride's new experience.

I'd keep Encanto contained to the ride & Meet & Greets. That IP in DAK is already pushing it, I don't think it should have a musical show too. I'm not the biggest fan of that Nemo show but it's cute & fits the park well enough.

Joe Rhode's vision of it being themed to some cheap roadside attraction combined with Eisner and Presslers budget cuts just led to a really poor looking area of an otherwise fantastically themed park. The original e-ticket Countdown to Extinction was also never really that great and was later toned down and tied into a movie that outright bombed at the boxoffice. The Dinosaur AA on the River that was meant to promote the land never worked right and was removed within the first few months of operation.

The dinosaur area of the park could and SHOULD have been far grander especially since the park opened just a few years after Jurassic Park released. But alas neither Eisner or Rhode had the conviction to make the land successful. The "expansion" where they added the carnival rides to the land just added insult to injury. It won't be missed.

I figure that the cheap roadside theming of Dinosaur is what won the execs on that land over Beastly Kingdom back during the budget cuts. I don't believe that's what anyone wanted to do with Dinosaurs during the initial brainstorming phase.

I really wish they could've gone back & fixed the land into a more proper Dinosaur land. Maybe one day it could still happen. The dinosaurs "returning" to Animal Kingdom, in the expansion plot above Asia, like a decade after Dinoland closes would be great marketing tbh.... That's if they ever decide to use that expansion plot though. -_-

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I figure that the cheap roadside theming of Dinosaur is what won the execs on that land over Beastly Kingdom back during the budget cuts. I don't believe that's what anyone wanted to do with Dinosaurs during the initial brainstorming phase.

From what I recall reading up on the history of the park, they were over budget and had to decide on Beastly Kingdom OR Dinoland and they went with Dinoland b/c they had Dinosaur the movie coming out

Maybe it was something that could be done cheaper too and that helped, but I understood that cross promotion to be the main driver

 

[SpectreJordan]

From what I recall reading up on the history of the park, they were over budget and had to decide on Beastly Kingdom OR Dinoland and they went with Dinoland b/c they had Dinosaur the movie coming out

Maybe it was something that could be done cheaper too and that helped, but I understood that cross promotion to be the main driver

Wish they would've been a bit further with that then since that movie's environments would've been a better setting for the land.

 

[Touchdown]

I hope Encanto is not a book report ride. What I hope is that it is a sequel. Something bad is happening to the house, like a cursed object, and it’s up to you to find it. The answer lies in the house, you go searching. Boarding is outside the house, Alma’s room is the introduction, you go into Isabella’s room, but get to see Luisa’s room (gym themed,) Delores room (sound themed,) Julieta’s Room (cooking) before climaxing in Pepas Room (weather) and the finale scene in the dining room. Basic idea would be the rooms starting to go hey wire while you’re there and you barely making it out before getting trapped. The object would be in Pepas room and she could destroy it via lightning. Inbetween rooms you could interact with other cars in the hallway. We don’t talk about Bruno tango would be the main musical motif until the finale.

 

[imagineer97]

I used to lament Beastly Kingdom never being built (first thing I wrote about on this site), but now that I think about it, it probably would have been replaced with IP stuff at this point if it HAD been built.

 

[SpectreJordan]

I'm really glad they're not doing the Moana/Zootopia Dinoland replacement. I don't like the idea of removing dinosaurs from the park entirely (did Disney look at everyone complaining about Dino-Rama and come to the conclusion that people don't like dinosaurs anymore?), but I do like the idea of Animal Kingdom getting a South America land... just not at the expense of Dinoland.

I have the following conditions...

1) Have the Indiana Jones ride focus on Indy encountering dinosaurs, allowing you to retain as many of the dinosaur animatronics from Dinosaur as possible (as others have suggested, especially since the Carnotaurus apparently lived in Argentina).

2) Keep the focus of the land on animals and the natural world. I don't want Encanto and Indiana Jones Land, neither IP really fits in Animal Kingdom at all what with them not being about animals (yes, I know Antonio exists, but Disney's likely to have the Encanto attraction focus on Mirabel over him since she's the lead character). I think Up and Rio would be more fitting IPs to have here than either of them.

3) Don't make the Encanto attraction another trackless dark ride. The novelty of those has worn off. I want to go back to busbar dark rides that don't just spin around in enormous spread-out rooms or park the riders in front of a screen.

Is it too much to hope that Disney reconsiders the idea? Maybe do a Dinoland refresh that actually involves DINOSAURS and other prehistoric animals? Disney owns Ice Age now, that Buck movie on Disney Plus shows that they're still willing to milk the franchise...


Considering how long it took them to build Runaway Railway, Tron, and Guardians of the Galaxy? I don't know.

This IS the same company that assumed The Princess and the Frog underperformed because it was hand-drawn and stopped doing theatrical Muppet movies because Muppets Most Wanted flopped. Fifty-percent chance they don't learn from their mistakes and just assume that people don't care about Indiana Jones anymore.

I have a strong feeling this is what happened; Dinoland's always been a laughing stock, I feel it's gotten even worse in recent year. There's also no IPs to base more Dinosaur attractions around so they decide it all must go.

 

[SpectreJordan]

Food for thought, maybe add dinosaur exhibits/education tables around the park showcasing fossils from the respective land they’re in? Africa and Asia have pretty unique fossil histories, and Carnotaurus IS a South American discovery. Put some of the popular American dinosaur fossils like T Rex (the Sue fossil in Dinoland right now) on Discovery Island and boom, dinosaurs are still part of AK without having to shoehorn them into an Indy attraction (which I still think could actually work if done right).

This seems a lot more educational than the current land. It could help drive home the message about extinction too. It gives a clearer look at how far spread across the globe dinosaurs were & how they're just gone now, never to return. It could open up some eyes if you have that side-by-side with real life elephants, tigers & macaws.

 

[Henry Mystic]

Food for thought, maybe add dinosaur exhibits/education tables around the park showcasing fossils from the respective land they’re in? Africa and Asia have pretty unique fossil histories, and Carnotaurus IS a South American discovery. Put some of the popular American dinosaur fossils like T Rex (the Sue fossil in Dinoland right now) on Discovery Island and boom, dinosaurs are still part of AK without having to shoehorn them into an Indy attraction (which I still think could actually work if done right).

That's actually a stupidly good idea!

I have a strong feeling this is what happened; Dinoland's always been a laughing stock, I feel it's gotten even worse in recent year. There's also no IPs to base more Dinosaur attractions around so they decide it all must go.

I honestly don't understand why pretty much the only elite dinosaur movie ever was Jurassic Park which is basically a theme park/horror movie. I guess you could toss Peter Jackson's King Kong in there too since they're featured as the second-best, but it strikes me as bizarre.

You would think there would be some story about such a cool, broad concept worth telling.

 

[Henry Mystic]

Give me a themed area to a Colombian village with the attention to detail and care of the other areas of the park... toss in an Encanto attraction with a themed area to an idealized recreation of the 'rainbow river'

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Throw in a nearby temple with Indiana Jones exploring some ancient ruins... and throw in some South American animal displays and an AMAZON ANIMAL TREK... and I'll be on board 10,000 percent.

Totally agree! Oh, and they also had the river in the concept art which was also featured in Encanto, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do!

This land is going to be elite if they closely match the concept art. Can't remember who, but someone mentioned they intended to have animals, so I can't imagine this land not feeling on par with Asia or Africa which are two of the greatest lands ever made.

 

[Poseidon Quest]

I used to lament Beastly Kingdom never being built (first thing I wrote about on this site), but now that I think about it, it probably would have been replaced with IP stuff at this point if it HAD been built.

The Fantasia Gardens boat ride was an IP attraction though.

 

[Skibum1970]

That's actually a stupidly good idea!


I honestly don't understand why pretty much the only elite dinosaur movie ever was Jurassic Park which is basically a theme park/horror movie. I guess you could toss Peter Jackson's King Kong in there too since they're featured as the second-best, but it strikes me as bizarre.

You would think there would be some story about such a cool, broad concept worth telling.

There were plenty of dinosaur movies made. They just were not any good. Jurassic Park was the first really good dinosaur movie made. To me, the only problem that Disney faces is Jurassic Park existing at Islands. Anything Disney does is going to seem semi-duplicative. So, they are basically left no alternative but to dump Dinosaur rather than trying to build out fossil discovery or other activities. Just my opinion, though. For what it's worth, I would have much preferred Dinosaur stay and just get fixed up, maybe revert to original ride premise. Adding Encanto is about as good as can be hoped for in today's IP world. Although, I still don't understand why Disney doesn't lean on their Disney Nature presentations for IP tie-ins.

 

[erasure fan1]

I got one hope Encanto is not a book report ride.

I just hope it's a ride. I've seen it reported as a themed experience or a possible replacement. I'm not a huge fan of Enconto, but if they're going to use it, I would rather have a ride.

 

[imagineer97]

The Fantasia Gardens boat ride was an IP attraction though.

Sure, I meant that it would all be replaced with MODERN IP stuff by now. And I bet the Fantasia boat ride wouldn't go untouched.