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

[Mickeytb357]

It is going to be an omnimover.

Thanks it’s hard to tell from concept arts released but as we all know things change with Disney lol

 

[Ayla]

I will unironically miss Restaurantosaurus the most of all Dinoland losses. It is low key the best QS on property.

1) Huge capacity so feels uncrowded
2) Large bathrooms right inside the restaurant
3) Drink refill station for customers to use directly
4) Best chicken sandwich on property
5) Reliable choices for kids/picky eaters

You don’t know what you got till it’s gone. Hopefully whatever they give us in Tropical Americas honors the life and death of Restaurantosaurus in someway.

Remember when it used to be a McD's? Those were the days...

 

[EagleScout610]

Nothing official but @wdwmagic (I think) indicated here that it will be an omnimover

 

[MrPromey]

Totally agree. I think Rise and Mystic Manor really use that system well… while rides like Rat and Hot Pursuit sort of feel… generic? Then obviously a lot of rides fall somewhere in between.

I think each trackless needs to have a distinct vision as to why that system is being used. You don’t want to fall into “we have a trackless template we can just plop different IP on.”

The approach should always be "This is the experience we want to create. What is the best ride system for that?"

It could be omnimover, or trackless or boat or... hanging from a ceiling or anything else but deciding on the tech first and then trying to figure out what ride to build around it is 100% the wrong approach.

That's what they do with IP referb/overlays and it always kind of sucks because it's obvious that the ride system wasn't built for the experience you're getting. Nobody should wish that to be how they build from scratch.

Of course, there are other considerations like hourly capacity and such, too but from a pure ride experience, you usually can't even see the track on an omnimover because of the continues chain of vehicles which has the ability to ascend and descend with relative ease (just look at Spaceship Earth for the best example) where as trackless seems to require an almost perfectly flat floor and lift systems for it to do much more than that. To me, the flat path, everywhere it goes is the immersion breaker that doesn't fit in a lot of themes. It might as well be a track, especially when you've ridden a few times and come to realize that trackless doesn't mean it's going to do something different each time.

Sure, your omnimover may be following a train of other vehicles up a staircase in the casa (just like it follows them down from the attic in Haunted mansion) but at least it can effectively appear to be going up and down the stars.

Now imagine if they were to combine an omnimover system with a basic tilt base for the vehicle so it could simulate different terrains, speed changes (a tilt slightly forward to simulate an increase or slightly back to simulate a slowdown, all while never actually changing speed since they're interlinked) and other effects. There would be logistics to work out like how this responds to things like ride stops for special needs access but I could also see them developing a modern system with certain cars being modular that could set up to not even require a stop or slowdown for load/unload with those folks.

 

[MrPromey]

Walt Disney Imagineering has shared on LinkedIn the Tropical Americas project team kicked off the official start of construction with a groundbreaking at Disney’s Animal Kingdom this morning:

Where have I seen a photo shockingly similar to this pile of dirt before supposedly indicating the start of construction?


I know, I know. This time it's different. Every time is different, though the results seem shockingly similar each time. I'll be a lot less skeptical after vertical construction starts.

 

[Bleed0range]

I’ve been playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Troy Baker did such an amazing job voicing Indy I really hope they get him to do the voicing on the new Indiana Jones ride. And give Indy more lines since he sounds so close to Harrison.

I’m not even kidding that game is amazing.

 

[djlaosc]

I will unironically miss Restaurantosaurus the most of all Dinoland losses. It is low key the best QS on property.

1) Huge capacity so feels uncrowded
2) Large bathrooms right inside the restaurant
3) Drink refill station for customers to use directly
4) Best chicken sandwich on property
5) Reliable choices for kids/picky eaters

You don’t know what you got till it’s gone. Hopefully whatever they give us in Tropical Americas honors the life and death of Restaurantosaurus in someway.

People may joke about things like this, but, unless they move, the only place that people would be able to get Chicken Tenders in Animal Kingdom now will be the kids menus in Harambe Market and Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes.

The only place to get a quick service burger in Animal Kingdom will be Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes - the "American Kobe Burger".

Having Dinoland as a location for "American" foods, suitable for picky eaters, with other lands providing things for more adventurous eaters, was a useful thing for many people/families.

Hopefully they will move some of the Restaurantosaurus menu items to Flame Tree Barbecue or Pizzafari, so picky eaters will still be able to find things to eat in the park, and this would allow them to be in a "neutral" land, rather than worrying people that other lands' menus are being replaced and homogenised.

 

[SpectreJordan]

They were badly burned with Rivers of Light, I'm not sure there is any great desire to do anything there currently. Hopefully yet at will change. We thought Pandora would be enough to turn DAK into a night park, but it wasn't. Will Tropical Americas tip it over the edge?

I'd say they'd need another ride in Africa first; the rumored Lion King ride would be perfect. The Africa land is essentially dead at night since they have to close the Safari, trails & show early. It'd be really difficult to justify this park being open later if there's a big land in the middle that closes early.

 

[IMDREW]

Question, why do park shows never run at nighttime? Whats stopping Nemo and Lion King from a performance at like 8?

 

[MrPromey]

I'd say they'd need another ride in Africa first; the rumored Lion King ride would be perfect. The Africa land is essentially dead at night since they have to close the Safari, trails & show early. It'd be really difficult to justify this park being open later if there's a big land in the middle that closes early.

I never heard. Was there a logistic or animal safety reason why night safaris couldn't continue other than the park no-longer being open past dark?

Having been on one, I didn't think it was a bad experience. Certainly not the same as the day one and it felt like fewer animals but being in relative darkness also changed the feel of it, too making it seem in some ways like a different ride - something worth trying even if you'd already done the day one, for instance.

 

[MrPromey]

Question, why do park shows never run at nighttime? Whats stopping Nemo and Lion King from a performance at like 8?

Only thing I can think of is cast pay/scheduling which feels like a solvable "problem".

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Only thing I can think of is cast pay/scheduling which feels like a solvable "problem".

The theater show performers are unionized and there are restrictions on how many shows they can perform a day and rest times and such. They already have two casts for this reason, another thing is that these closing shows would probably not bring in enough guests to justify adding the cost.

 

[gerarar]

Question, why do park shows never run at nighttime? Whats stopping Nemo and Lion King from a performance at like 8?

They sometimes add a late FOTLK showing right at park closing. Can't remember the exact reason why but it was done very recently.

Edit:
It was extended evening hours. Say park closed normally at 6pm, there were FOTLK showtimes at 6pm and 7pm.
It's rare, but they often do late showings.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

They sometimes add a late FOTLK showing right at park closing. Can't remember the exact reason why but it was done very recently.

Like the park closed at 7pm and there was a show at 6:30pm for example. But this is a rare thing to see.

I guess it can stop people from getting in lines for "one last ride" on FOP. Since they won't make it to the queue before the park close. Much easier to clear people out with one last show than keep open what rides they would go on for a last ride on for longer.

 

[EagleScout610]

Animal Kingdom construction update: Dinos make way for the Madrigals in Pueblo Esperanza

Construction begins at Disney's Animal Kingdom, making way for the first-ever Encanto ride as part of the Tropical Americas land.

attractionsmagazine.com

 

[mysto]

Question, why do park shows never run at nighttime? Whats stopping Nemo and Lion King from a performance at like 8?

I'm pretty sure it makes life difficult for the resident animals who cannot choose to escape the loud noise and lights like people can. It's the same reason the park closes so early.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

I never heard. Was there a logistic or animal safety reason why night safaris couldn't continue other than the park no-longer being open past dark?

Having been on one, I didn't think it was a bad experience. Certainly not the same as the day one and it felt like fewer animals but being in relative darkness also changed the feel of it, too making it seem in some ways like a different ride - something worth trying even if you'd already done the day one, for instance.

They stop the safaris earlier than park close because it can be a rather complicated process to take the animals in for the evening. They don't just leave them there on the savannah overnight, they are taken to backstage facilities to be cared for and put to bed.

It's the same reason that not many zoos stay open past dark. It's a pretty difficult thing to get the animals in where they need to be at night, especially since many of them are nocturnal and thus more active and less prone to following along what needs to be done. Beyond that too, these animals are used to a routine and it can be very distressing to them if this routine is broken. They're used to being put in their backstage places at a certain time, and it could very well be troubling to them to be left out and met with the trucks and park guests past the time they're used to winding down.

Yes, a night safari would be cool but logistically there's just not really any way for them to do that that also allows the zoological cast members to do what they need to do to the best of their ability. They already are working on it past park close as is, it'd be a real nightmare and time consuming process for them if they were only starting it at park close.

 

[FerretAfros]

They stop the safaris earlier than park close because it can be a rather complicated process to take the animals in for the evening. They don't just leave them there on the savannah overnight, they are taken to backstage facilities to be cared for and put to bed.

It's the same reason that not many zoos stay open past dark. It's a pretty difficult thing to get the animals in where they need to be at night, especially since many of them are nocturnal and thus more active and less prone to following along what needs to be done. Beyond that too, these animals are used to a routine and it can be very distressing to them if this routine is broken. They're used to being put in their backstage places at a certain time, and it could very well be troubling to them to be left out and met with the trucks and park guests past the time they're used to winding down.

Yes, a night safari would be cool but logistically there's just not really any way for them to do that that also allows the zoological cast members to do what they need to do to the best of their ability. They already are working on it past park close as is, it'd be a real nightmare and time consuming process for them if they were only starting it at park close.

Nonsense. The park regularly operated a nighttime version of the safari from 2016 (coinciding with the Pandora opening, the nighttime lagoon shows, and push toward greater nighttime activities in the park overall) through early 2020 until the Covid shutdowns. They did so in full compliance with animal welfare regulations and best practices.

Yes, there were challenges with certain species. No, not all species were present in the evening. Yes, visibility was limited with the low light levels. But they were able to operate the nighttime attraction for years, while complying with animal safety and comfort needs, without even needing to pause operations in the evening while certain animals came indoors for the evening. While the number of animals visible was lower than during the day, they were often much more active, accounting for some of the more interesting sightings I’ve had on the attraction (including a rhino running alongside our ride vehicle and lions getting frisky after dark).

They don’t run it any more because they’re too cheap to operate the park with any meaningful nighttime activities. And curiously, when there’s barely anything to do after dark and all of the animal viewing opportunities close early, park guests also leave early, reinforcing their self-fulfilling claim that nobody wants to be in the park after dark. It has nothing to do with animal welfare, and everything to do with being cheap. How quickly we (willfully?) forget our history!