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

[Bocabear]

This is like going back in time when Pandora was still dirt and the land opened in 2017. Now Tropical America is opening 2027. Galaxy's Edge opened in 2019 so I'm thinking Villains Land is opening in 2029 since that is MK's Galaxy's Edge.

2029? That is less than 4 years away.....They have massive amounts of groundwork and demolition to do...which has not yet begun...It took like 3 years just to demo and replace the Communicore building in EPCOT....then they have to build and complete Car Parts Mountain and it's two attractions and then build Villains Land....I don't see it opening in this decade....unless the plans are fairly simple and we are all just reading into it being an amazing land...

 

[Gremlin Gus]

2029? That is less than 4 years away.....They have massive amounts of groundwork and demolition to do...which has not yet begun...It took like 3 years just to demo and replace the Communicore building in EPCOT....then they have to build and complete Car Parts Mountain and it's two attractions and then build Villains Land....I don't see it opening in this decade....unless the plans are fairly simple and we are all just reading into it being an amazing land...

I'm guessing they're going to build Villains land and the Cars mini-land simultaneously with Cars opening first, then Villains land. But even then, we don't know when TSI/RoA is closing unless they announce it at Destination D23

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm guessing they're going to build Villains land and the Cars mini-land simultaneously with Cars opening first, then Villains land. But even then, we don't know when TSI/RoA is closing unless they announce it at Destination D23

They usually don't annoy me closures (negative news) at events ... If anything they would provide more info on what is coming timeline for opening, and then a week or two after (probably on a Friday) announce when the river/TSI is closing

 

[Rteetz]

I will say after seeing the clearing in person, it's really weird to have that void of emptiness over there.

 

[Giss Neric]

2029? That is less than 4 years away.....They have massive amounts of groundwork and demolition to do...which has not yet begun...It took like 3 years just to demo and replace the Communicore building in EPCOT....then they have to build and complete Car Parts Mountain and it's two attractions and then build Villains Land....I don't see it opening in this decade....unless the plans are fairly simple and we are all just reading into it being an amazing land...

Well that was because the pandemic happened. I know people will say the pandemic didn't hinder progress in the other parks but it is what it is. The ones I mentioned was pre-pandemic progress. It seems they are back now with added pressure so I think 2-3 years is the average time for these new lands to open if we are factoring in how long Pandora, Toy Story Land and Galaxy's Edge got built.

 

[Gremlin Gus]

Minor update, but it looks like there are holes being made in the former Dinorama area that may be for utility and/or to fill the hole where Triceratops Spin was.

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

I want the Indiana jones ride, I wan my the Indiana jones gift shop, I want the Indiana jones meet and greet, I want Indiana jones food, I want it all man

 

[mysto]

Minor update, but it looks like there are holes being made in the former Dinorama area that may be for utility and/or to fill the hole where Triceratops Spin was.

Hey as long as the holes are themed appropriately I'm excited.

 

[DCBaker]

Here’s a peek at the area from today:

 

[KDM31091]

So sad to see it all gone. I am really hoping the Encanto ride is amazing and well themed, and not just a cheap IP insertion with no effort. It better be awesome for what we lost to get it. Still don't see the relevance to Encanto with animals as they really play only a minor role in the plot, but it is what it is. I have to accept that today's Disney does not care about thematic cohesion and all of the parks are becoming essentially interchangeable.

It's a shame the billboards were presumably just destroyed, as they were quite attractive.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Hey as long as the holes are themed appropriately I'm excited.

Know a lot about appropriately themed holes, do you?

 

[Disney Analyst]

So sad to see it all gone. I am really hoping the Encanto ride is amazing and well themed, and not just a cheap IP insertion with no effort. It better be awesome for what we lost to get it. Still don't see the relevance to Encanto with animals as they really play only a minor role in the plot, but it is what it is. I have to accept that today's Disney does not care about thematic cohesion and all of the parks are becoming essentially interchangeable.

It's a shame the billboards were presumably just destroyed, as they were quite attractive.

I accept your opinion, but this post seems so odd to me… that old area was such trash. A lush garden with no rides would be an improvement

 

[James Alucobond]

I accept your opinion, but this post seems so odd to me… that old area was such trash. A lush garden with no rides would be an improvement

I assume they mean dinosaurs thematically. Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin don't have too many defenders as far as I've seen.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I assume they mean dinosaurs thematically. Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin don't have too many defenders as far as I've seen.

The American Society of Chiropracters sent a stern letter to Iger to keep Dinoland as it is.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I assume they mean dinosaurs thematically. Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin don't have too many defenders as far as I've seen.

Fair enough.

I prefer the idea of theming it to a specific region, better fits into the park.

They could include some fossils if they’d like, it would still work for that region

 

[KDM31091]

Yes, I mean more that dinosaurs are a popular theme and the area could have been improved instead of just scrapped.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Yes, I mean more that dinosaurs are a popular theme and the area could have been improved instead of just scrapped.

Understood!! I do agree for sure, but I look forward to seeing a properly themed new region in AK.

 

[Gremlin Gus]

Yes, I mean more that dinosaurs are a popular theme and the area could have been improved instead of just scrapped.

In my opinion, I think Dinoland should have always been about extinct animals in general regardless of the time period (including dinosaurs), that way, I feel like Imagineering could've done a lot more with that whole idea of extinct animals and how conservation is important and all.

So sad to see it all gone. I am really hoping the Encanto ride is amazing and well themed, and not just a cheap IP insertion with no effort. It better be awesome for what we lost to get it. Still don't see the relevance to Encanto with animals as they really play only a minor role in the plot, but it is what it is. I have to accept that today's Disney does not care about thematic cohesion and all of the parks are becoming essentially interchangeable.

It's a shame the billboards were presumably just destroyed, as they were quite attractive.

In complete fairness, the bar isn't that high for the Encanto attraction to be good as the ride could be very "meh" and it still would be better than what was previously (Though I really am hoping that the attraction is good). The only loss we really are getting is Dinosaur but even then imo, it's not the worst loss that we've had, there's far more "worse" losses like The Great Movie Ride, Splash Mountain, or RoA.

Regarding the relevance Encanto has to animals, yeah even as a fan of Encanto I do agree that the film doesn't have that much to do with animals besides butterflies and Antonio's gift to talking to animals. But at the same time, I guess it does make sense to put an Encanto attraction there as the idea for an Encanto attraction does sound like a good idea as it's a popular IP that can draw in crowds and it's not a hard attraction to create as you could do a "book report" telling of the story of the film or what Disney is doing with the attraction in TA with it being set during the film with us experiencing an event/scene we didn't see in the movie. The only problem is however is there really isn't a land they could put an Encanto in without making it a mini-land or a part of a preexisting land as I doubt Disney wants to build a Columbia pavilion in EPCOT for just Encanto and there really isn't any place in MK to put it there as well as Beyond BTMR seems to be either shelfed or merged with the villains land, and seeing as Tropical Americas is based off of the tropical regions of Central and South America and Encanto is set in the rainforest of Columbia, yeah I suppose it does make sense to put it there despite the movie not really being about animals.

 

[Timothy_Q]

With the news that the DLP Lion King ride will have 3 drops, the tallest being as tall as Splash, and it will have great capacity with 3 seater logs, I'm now hoping even more that they decide to build it at Africa too

 

[Fox&Hound]

With the news that the DLP Lion King ride will have 3 drops, the tallest being as tall as Splash, and it will have great capacity with 3 seater logs, I'm now hoping even more that they decide to build it at Africa too

Yes we desperately need this ride in AK, even if it is similar to Splash.