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

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

That may be. But Galaxies edge didn’t even formerly settle into its build locations (on both coasts) until 2016 publicly. It wasn’t announced until 2015 and that concept was equally vague and inaccurate.

This project is quite a bit ahead; so it would have to be an active choice to pause it for several years to hit 2031+. One not currently supported from exec messaging.

Iger still isn’t gone by the next mainline D23, so Josh needs to have something deliverable to show.

I also think Moana for AL will also be at D23 2026 assuming it doesn't get announced at Destination D23 2025.

 

[Ayla]

…and a nighttime drone show.

Actually, I wonder if they haven’t decided about the drones because the sounds might freak out certain species of animals (like those with exceptional hearing at certain pitches)? Either way, a well-liked nighttime show will do wonders.

I don't think some people get how truly loud drones are.

 

[doctornick]

I don't think some people get how truly loud drones are.

They would have music at any show anyway. Do you really think a show featuring drones would be louder on the ground than RoL? It’s not like they’d be flying them right above animal enclosures

 

[Brer Panther]

Please no Moana at Animal Kingdom. Two human-focused IPs that barely have anything to do with animals is enough.

Surely there's room in Adventureland for a hypothetical Moana attraction.

 

[Bocabear]

There was talk once about "Rivers Of Light" actually being a parade through the river system there ending up at the main basin lake... Something smaller than the big cartoon clip show that we ended up with... like a lantern parade. I wonder if that is something they could re-think at this point...Add the night time element but something beautiful and more intimate...and of course the big finale circle at the amphitheater would be an Instagram-worthy spectacle... Without it being a brash loud overproduced Harmonious... That is what I would like to see for an evening entertainment... Lower tech, no film clips... Something that fits the spirit of the park...

 

[FerretAfros]

I mostly agree with you on this.

Still, it seems like Indiana Jones Adventure is much more popular and liked than Dinosaur. If the new Indy ride is in the same spirit, it will be more in demand.

It doesn’t really matter if Indy is more in-demand than Dinosaur; Dinosaur already operates essentially at capacity and does not have significant growth potential. Whether the wait is 20 minutes or 2 hours, the ride can only get so many butts-in-seats per hour. Increased popularity will only lead to longer lines, not higher hourly throughput.

It’s the same situation as Maelstrom, Splash Mountain, and DCA’s TOT: they’re spending significant sums of money to increase demand for attractions that don’t have the capacity to meet that demand, which in turn only makes the park as a whole more unpleasant, as larger crowds and longer queues form for the same old operations infrastructure.

For Tropical Americas to have a positive impact on the park, it needs to be more ambitious than a 1-for-1 spinner replacement, an at-capacity re-theme, and a modest busbar dark ride. They seem to be willing to spend the money for a big improvement, but they’re ultimately spending it in a way that won’t make a significant improvement.

 

[Timothy_Q]

It doesn’t really matter if Indy is more in-demand than Dinosaur; Dinosaur already operates essentially at capacity and does not have significant growth potential. Whether the wait is 20 minutes or 2 hours, the ride can only get so many butts-in-seats per hour. Increased popularity will only lead to longer lines, not higher hourly throughput.

A ride with a 2h wait sells more LL than one with 20 minutes

It also means it's pulling more crowds from the rest of DAK and better spreading them across the park

 

[lazyboy97o]

It also means it's pulling more crowds from the rest of DAK and better spreading them across the park

Only if visitation remain stagnant or declines.

 

[dmc493]

I don't think it's a wild statement to say that Indy will have a more consistently full/longer queue than Dinosaur. Because of newness, (probable) better quality ride, and because there's going to be a new marquee attraction right nearby. So it should definitely absorb more people than Dino does currently.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Only if visitation remain stagnant or declines.

How well a park is able to spread crowds has to do with having a somewhat uniform roster of big draw attractions across all corners of the park, regardless whether the park visitation numbers are going up or down.

Right now DAK is leaning heavily on Pandora.
With Encanto and Indy, crowds will be more evenly spread across lands

 

[Brer Panther]

and a modest busbar dark ride.

Isn't it gonna be an Ominmover?

 

[MisterPenguin]

GSATs are as important as queues. If a retheme changes nothing about capacity, it should at least raise Guest Satisfaction.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I visit DAK a few times a year and have never waited more than 20 mins for DINOSAUR

 

[JackCH]

GSATs are as important as queues. If a retheme changes nothing about capacity, it should at least raise Guest Satisfaction.

Had to go to the Big List of Abbreviations for that one.

 

[UNCgolf]

How well a park is able to spread crowds has to do with having a somewhat uniform roster of big draw attractions across all corners of the park, regardless whether the park visitation numbers are going up or down.

Right now DAK is leaning heavily on Pandora.
With Encanto and Indy, crowds will be more evenly spread across lands

From a Disney perspective, yes, but from a guest perspective, it will just mean more of the park is crowded. It won't make Pandora less crowded than it already is unless, as @lazyboy97o said, park visitation is stagnant or declines.

 

[Loose Pebble]

From a Disney perspective, yes, but from a guest perspective, it will just mean more of the park is crowded. It won't make Pandora less crowded than it already is unless, as @lazyboy97o said, park visitation is stagnant or declines.

Yeah that's the sad part. If they open an awesome new land and it doesn't lead to more crowds, they may deem it a failure because it didn't lead to increase in attendance. (unless it significantly raises per guest spending, which may be tough without more crowds to push LL).

 

[BrianLo]

Yeah that's the sad part. If they open an awesome new land and it doesn't lead to more crowds, they may deem it a failure because it didn't lead to increase in attendance. (unless it significantly raises per guest spending, which may be tough without more crowds to push LL).

I foresee all the upcoming attractions being monetized quite easily. Even if they are not good, most of them feel destined for LLSP or a top LLMP priority. It is clearly influencing their investment strategy.

What isn’t is their current, somewhat surprising, entertainment spend.

 

[rd805]

It doesn’t really matter if Indy is more in-demand than Dinosaur; Dinosaur already operates essentially at capacity and does not have significant growth potential. Whether the wait is 20 minutes or 2 hours, the ride can only get so many butts-in-seats per hour. Increased popularity will only lead to longer lines, not higher hourly throughput.

It’s the same situation as Maelstrom, Splash Mountain, and DCA’s TOT: they’re spending significant sums of money to increase demand for attractions that don’t have the capacity to meet that demand, which in turn only makes the park as a whole more unpleasant, as larger crowds and longer queues form for the same old operations infrastructure.

For Tropical Americas to have a positive impact on the park, it needs to be more ambitious than a 1-for-1 spinner replacement, an at-capacity re-theme, and a modest busbar dark ride. They seem to be willing to spend the money for a big improvement, but they’re ultimately spending it in a way that won’t make a significant improvement.

Yes, but if you continue investing in all the experiences & not letting the park grow stale without expansion/updates, then all of these new experiences even out. When you just release one new epic ride, and then don't do anything for 4-6 years...that's where Disney has gotten into absurd wait times.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

Yes, but if you continue investing in all the experiences & not letting the park grow stale without expansion/updates, then all of these new experiences even out. When you just release one new epic ride, and then don't do anything for 4-6 years...that's where Disney has gotten into absurd wait times.

Precisely. DAK keeps getting great additions and then nothing else for a decade. It definitely needs a more consistent addition cycle.

 

[BrianLo]

It doesn’t really matter if Indy is more in-demand than Dinosaur; Dinosaur already operates essentially at capacity and does not have significant growth potential. Whether the wait is 20 minutes or 2 hours, the ride can only get so many butts-in-seats per hour. Increased popularity will only lead to longer lines, not higher hourly throughput.

It’s the same situation as Maelstrom, Splash Mountain, and DCA’s TOT: they’re spending significant sums of money to increase demand for attractions that don’t have the capacity to meet that demand, which in turn only makes the park as a whole more unpleasant, as larger crowds and longer queues form for the same old operations infrastructure.

For Tropical Americas to have a positive impact on the park, it needs to be more ambitious than a 1-for-1 spinner replacement, an at-capacity re-theme, and a modest busbar dark ride. They seem to be willing to spend the money for a big improvement, but they’re ultimately spending it in a way that won’t make a significant improvement.

I will say that WDW currently feels like it has some slack. The attendance softening from 2019 peaks is making the entire resort feel quite pleasant. The only reason Dino even sees 20 minute waits is that the park has a bare bones 10H operational day.

Now actually feels like an acceptable time to close/renovate some things without bursting the bubble.

But your greater point is quite valid. They need to prepare for the wave they are about to generate and that does require forward looking actual capacity expansion. Something they are achieving with Magic Kingdom and half heartedly nudging the needle at 2/4 parks.

I’m a bit surprised the DAK project became so anemic, it’s quite a bit less than what they did in 2017 park wide. But I guess the powers that be saw what happened to DAK when it didn’t do anything for going on 7 years now and wanted to get ahead at DHS.