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

[Sorcerer Mickey]

This is the most puzzling thing about this whole retheme. The recent movie flopped big time and wasn’t well received. Isn’t Disney all about metrics with their ride choices. What exactly makes them believe that Indy will sell more merch than dinosaurs (which will always have some appeal)? The IP is practically irrelevant with people under 30.

What other IP could they use to reskin the current ride and match the theme? They must be on a budget and couldn't bulldoze the ride entirely, or it didn't make sense to do so.

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

They didn't really need to do another reskin and retheme of the land. With all the land that surrounds Animal Kingdom they could have just made a whole new land. There's plenty of animal themed lands they could have done. A Bug's Land, Australia, Beastly Dominion, Wilderness, Lion King and Zootopia (conservation station), Dinoland expansion, Africa expansion, Asia expansion and Pandora expansion.

Absolutely, but that's just not how Disney operates in 2024. Anything new must replace something old.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney+ only just started making money last month and it’s likely that’s because Hulu is now lumped in.

Disney’s streaming business turned a profit for the first time

Disney Plus didn’t add many subscribers, though.

www.theverge.com

I didn't say 'billions in profits.'

But its revenue was in the billions. And it was spent on content made specifically for D+ and to pay studios for content that originated elsewhere, even if it were another Disney studio.

D+ deficit was DAS's gain. And if there was no D+, DAS would be selling it elsewhere.

 

[UNCgolf]

Tastes vary. I put WandaVision and Game of Thrones very high on a list of all time greats.
To me, Watchmen and Lost are something different altogether. There's not sticking a landing and then there's heading out without ever knowing where you're going and simply downing the plane.

Game of Thrones was an all-timer show for 4 seasons, then started to decline in the 5th, and really started collapsing in the 6th. There were still excellent moments scattered throughout, but the overall writing quality suffered a tremendous decline decline. I read the book series after watching the show and then it kind of made sense, as the show's decline more or less corresponded with running out of material to adapt.

Wanda/Vision was so great in the early episodes, but it kind of devolved into generic Marvel by the end. Still a good show, though.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Yes. This. Thank you.

Is Indiana Jones really that much more popular than dinosaurs are? The most recent film flopped.

So did Sleeping Beauty, but it remained popular through the years. IJ has 4 successful movies, and a 5th that suffered from delays and COVID making people nervous about going to the theaters. They also overspent the budget

 

[Rich Brownn]

So I first visited Animal Kingdom a few months after it opened and my favorite ride was Countdown to Extinction, on the next visit it was called Dinosaur but it was still my favorite ride. Living only a 2 and half hour drive away I made frequent visits to the parks in the 90's through the mid/late 00's and when it came to Animal Kingdom it was all about Dinosaur. As the years went on though I became aware that out in California there was an Indiana Jones ride that was similar to Dinosaur and this became a bit of a dream ride for me, a combination of one of my all time favorite rides with one of my all time favorite film series, and in 2019 I finally got to go to Disneyland and ride Indiana Jones Adventure... and I was disappointed. It's not a bad ride for sure but after around 15 years of building it up in my mind I was certainly disappointed, it lacked the energy, thrills and scares of Dinosaur and it was also a bad representation of Indiana Jones without Ford's likeness and a bad impression buried in the quiet audio mix.

This disappointment with Indy was so at odds with conventional fan wisdom that in 2021 I decided to go back to Animal Kingdom to see if my memory was cheating, but no Dinosaur still blew me away and even with the new Avatar additions it was still my favorite ride in the park, and as soon as I got off I immediately got back in line to ride it again. On my 2nd visit to Disneyland in 2022 I re-rode Indy, and now with my expectations in check enjoyed it more, but my opinion on which is the better ride has not changed.

I believe that Tropical Americas will be an overall improvement for the park from a lot of metrics. but I can't help but predict that my personal enjoyment of the park will be greatly reduced by the removal of Dinosaur.

I hope Disney proved me wrong.

Dinasour has nothing that compares to that big reveal of the inside with cars on bridges, others diving down, smoke and lasers. First time I rode it I think I actually gasped

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Encanto is fun and very unique. Mary Poppins is still an iconic classic. I think the real issue here is that for some folks Lin-Manuel Miranda can do no wrong. I find his work a mixed bag. But your tastes may vary.

 

[C33Mom]

I grew up in Los Angeles as a DLR kid, one of my friends’ dad worked on IJ and we were all so so so excited to ride it. I remember waiting in 2h lines and using a tiny sponsored translation card to read the symbols on the walls and learning all the stunts (?) you could pull while waiting in line and the relief of finally reaching the room with the funny safety briefing video knowing you were only another several switchbacks away from the boarding room.

I have a lot of happy, nostalgic memories of the DLR ride but I like Dinosaur even more— though I think part of its appeal is that it’s unique (plus Dinosaurs!)— it’s execution may not be on the level of IJ but it’s somehow both charming and terrifying, even in its present state. I’ve never managed to get a picture of our whole family smiling together on Dinosaur, at least one person is flinching in surprise, screaming, or covering their eyes. I’ll miss it every time I visit AK, probably the way I’m wistful about Maelstrom at Epcot and the Peoplemover at Disneyland.

Most of all, I think this is worse than Frozen because we’re replacing a unique animal-centric attraction with a clone (I guess now Frozen is a retroactive clone ), probably an inferior one, and I don’t think IJ will attract many more guests so much as it will be in a “new” popular land next to a hit movie attraction— I’ll be curious to see if it actually draws that many guests or gets higher satisfaction scores in 5-10 years.

Final note re: IJ, after we visited Tokyo DisneySea last summer, our kids wanted to start watching the older Indiana Jones movies with their dad and they’ve all enjoyed it— so for all I know, Disney sees a lot of this and hopes it will help them keep monetizing the franchise beyond the millennial generation?

 

[BrianLo]

Disney+ only just started making money last month and it’s likely that’s because Hulu is now lumped in.

Disney’s streaming business turned a profit for the first time

Disney Plus didn’t add many subscribers, though.

www.theverge.com

That’s not how that works.

The services’ profitability itself has nothing to do with it bringing in billions in revenue in subscriber fees and spending billions on content (of which Encanto is one piece of that content).

Just like how if D+ was making billions in profit as a service, Artemis Fowl wouldn’t suddenly be a profitable production for them. The content is judged on its own merit and also remunerated, on paper, appropriately.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I agree

I love Moana and even liked him in His Dark Material, but I hate Encanto and Hamilton.

You hate Hamilton?

Wow.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

You hate Hamilton?

Wow.

It’s overrated. They do neither Hamilton nor KGIII justice.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It’s overrated. They do neither Hamilton nor KGIII justice.

Mmmkay

 

[Fox&Hound]

I wish this project started yesterday. Let’s get moving!

 

[DisneyHead123]

You hate Hamilton?

Wow.

I think it’s an acquired taste. I remember first hearing some of the songs and being disappointed because I was expecting these big, classic, chorus line-y type Broadway bangers. But later I’d be surprised at how I would mentally come back to a song and it would resonate. I think LMM has said he strives for a more conversational style in his music. It’s not necessarily going to be everyone’s cup of tea.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Yep, but I'm not really into musicals that have too much talk/conversational singing. Like the beginning of the movie Frozen with "Do you want to build a Snowman?".

That’s fair. It is certainly a different style of show.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Most of all, I think this is worse than Frozen because we’re replacing a unique animal-centric attraction with a clone (I guess now Frozen is a retroactive clone ), l

This isn’t a clone really. Its an IP used on another ride with the same ride system but it’s going to be a completely unique story with a completely unique set of visuals and experience. Unless you mean the track layout which I suppose fair but it’s also been a clone this whole time in that case.

 

[Mike S]

That’s not how that works.

The services’ profitability itself has nothing to do with it bringing in billions in revenue in subscriber fees and spending billions on content (of which Encanto is one piece of that content).

Just like how if D+ was making billions in profit as a service, Artemis Fowl wouldn’t suddenly be a profitable production for them. The content is judged on its own merit and also remunerated, on paper, appropriately.

My post wasn’t against Encanto. It was an attempt to show what a waste Disney+ has been profit wise.

 

[C33Mom]

This isn’t a clone really. Its an IP used on another ride with the same ride system but it’s going to be a completely unique story with a completely unique set of visuals and experience. Unless you mean the track layout which I suppose fair but it’s also been a clone this whole time in that case.

I thought I had heard that but then more recent posts made it sound like it would be a clone. If it’s a different (ideally localized to Tropical Americas) version, I’ll be much less disappointed—and more likely to trek over to ride it once a trip.

 

[C33Mom]

I wish this project started yesterday. Let’s get moving!

I’m ok with getting most of it started immediately but want to have a second farewell trip for Dinosaur in November and ideally a 3rd one in January.

Beyond my selfish love of Dinosaur, I don’t think AK can lose another attraction before the holiday busy season.

 

[Starship824]

I thought I had heard that but then more recent posts made it sound like it would be a clone. If it’s a different (ideally localized to Tropical Americas) version, I’ll be much less disappointed—and more likely to trek over to ride it once a trip.

I think that was all speculation on what could be in the ride. The official word is that it's an Indy ride where he's searching for a mythical creature in a Mayan Temple.

Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom: Indiana Jones and Encanto

Get all the D23 Event announcement details about a new space themed around Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom Theme Park.

disneyparksblog.com