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

[doctornick]

This is the first I've heard that the Lion King attraction is a flume ride. Does that jive with what other insiders have heard? Because I was under the impression it was a dark ride of some sort, though I guess a flume ride certainly can be a dark ride as well.

At the time when the FOTLK theater was build, insiders were saying a LK dark ride was under consideration for the area. But that seems to have fallen by the wayside. The ride reportedly being planned/built in Paris is apparently a flume ride and the expectation is that they might just put the same ride in DAK.

 

[Timothy_Q]

I think Africa needs a 2nd ride (not counting the train) before Pandora gets a 3rd
it would balance out the park perfectly IMO:

Africa: 2 rides, 1 show, 1 trail
Asia: 2 rides, 1 show, 1 trail
Pandora: 2 rides
Tropical Americas: 3 rides, 1 show

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

At the time when the FOTLK theater was build, insiders were saying a LK dark ride was under consideration for the area. But that seems to have fallen by the wayside. The ride reportedly being planned/built in Paris is apparently a flume ride and the expectation is that they might just put the same ride in DAK.

I hadn't heard the Paris ride was a flume ride, but that makes sense since they don't have anything like that in either park. Could be very good if done well with animatronics!

 

[doctornick]

I think Africa needs a 2nd ride (not counting the train) before Pandora gets a 3rd
it would balance out the park perfectly IMO:

Africa: 2 rides, 1 show, 1 trail
Asia: 2 rides, 1 show, 1 trail
Pandora: 2 rides
Tropical Americas: 3 rides, 1 show

I think your list actually shows the issue with Pandora which needs another attraction (not necessarily a ride) to balance it out. Especially as Pandora is the most isolated of the lands so you can't really zip from there to someplace else and then back there.

A show or walk through in Pandora would be perfectly fine especially if they added another ride in Africa. I'm actually curious as to what the details of the DLR Pandora will end up being. If the big E-ticket there is a Shanghai POTC style ride that might not go into DAK, but if there is some lesser complimentary attraction there that could be cloned for DAK it might be the best of both worlds (having unique major rides on east coast for the IP)

 

[Timothy_Q]

I think your list actually shows the issue with Pandora which needs another attraction (not necessarily a ride) to balance it out. Especially as Pandora is the most isolated of the lands so you can't really zip from there to someplace else and then back there.

A show or walk through in Pandora would be perfectly fine especially if they added another ride in Africa. I'm actually curious as to what the details of the DLR Pandora will end up being. If the big E-ticket there is a Shanghai POTC style ride that might not go into DAK, but if there is some lesser complimentary attraction there that could be cloned for DAK it might be the best of both worlds (having unique major rides on east coast for the IP)

Pandora 100% needs a 3rd smaller experience, like a show or trail

But adding another big draw E ticket there before Asia or Africa would make the park really uneven IMO

 

[PREMiERdrum]

I'm actually curious as to what the details of the DLR Pandora will end up being.

Aren't we all!

 

[doctornick]

Pandora 100% needs a 3rd smaller experience, like a show or trail

But adding another big draw E ticket there before Asia or Africa would make the park really uneven IMO

Totally agree. I would argue that a small show/walk through in Pandora + an E-ticket in Africa would be the ideal things for that side of the park combined with changing Dinoland to Tropical Americas (which they seem determined to do, even if I have misgivings about losing the presence of dinosaurs in the park).

And personally all of those seems far more important to me than putting a Zootopia show in the theater to replace Bug's Life. there's nothing wrong with It's Tough to Be a Bug that couldn't be fixed with some renovations.

 

[erasure fan1]

And personally all of those seems far more important to me than putting a Zootopia show in the theater to replace Bug's Life. there's nothing wrong with It's Tough to Be a Bug that couldn't be fixed with some renovations.

Yea this one is a head scratcher in my opinion. Tough to be a bug needs some love for sure. Just like most attractions in Disney that are just left to fall apart. But on the list of things that AK needs done, changing the tree of life show is pretty far down the list.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Yea this one is a head scratcher in my opinion. Tough to be a bug needs some love for sure. Just like most attractions in Disney that are just left to fall apart. But on the list things that AK needs done, changing the tree of life show is pretty far down the list.

I honestly think it's more that there's a mandate for relevant IP to be inserted in as many places as possible. A Bug's Life is one of the less relevant Pixar IPs, so it's being replaced with Zootopia. Stupid choice, but it makes sense from the IP-obsessed perspective.

 

[DisneyDodo]

If Disney is cloning the LK attraction they have developed for DLP to DAK, it will not fit in the plot south of FOTLK, which would lend credence to the rumor that it’s going elsewhere and cutting into KS.

However, WDI had previously developed a separate LK ride, smaller than the DLP ride in size and scale, specifically designed to fit that plot. Unlike WDSP, DAK is lacking more in ride quantity than quality, so adding some smaller budget rides would make more sense IMO. Also, that project was overseen by Rohde and presumably was developed with an eye towards DAK’s themes. For those reasons, I think cloning the DLP ride to DAK would make for an odd decision.

 

[Casper Gutman]

A couple questions - sorry if they’ve been answered:

Will the Dinoland replacement contain live animal displays?

What type of ride do we expect Encanto to be? It seems mad if it’s not Florida’s Mystic Manor - the IP is custom-made for that.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

If they're not going to build an Emperor's New Groove ride, can they at least build a snack stand where you can buy Kronk's spinach puffs?

 

[PREMiERdrum]

If they're not going to build an Emperor's New Groove ride, can they at least build a snack stand where you can buy Kronk's spinach puffs?

Adventureland egg rolls but stuffed with spinach artichoke dip and I'm 100% in.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Everything else aside, I'm just excited Animal Kingdom will finally have a traditional dark ride

 

[Brer Panther]

I really think that the Jurassic ip being down the street had a lot to do with that. It's almost like they figured if they built it out, people would just think it's a wanna be Jurassic park land.

It's probably just because Disney doesn't have any popular dinosaur IPs. Maybe if Eisner were still running the company instead of Iger, they'd have attempted something by now. But Iger hates rides that aren't based on IP, so...

 

[Sectorkeeper71]

Will this land have some new animal exhibits?

I want capybaras!

I’m hoping for a reptile house type of walkthrough. I’ve seen zoos where they also will have a dark exhibit for nocturnal rainforest critters to live, which would also be a fun addition.

Plus neither of these have the kinda overhead that something with larger animals like the tiger or gorilla trail has, so probably easier for the accountants to swallow than something more elaborate

 

[MisterPenguin]

A couple questions - sorry if they’ve been answered:

Will the Dinoland replacement contain live animal displays?

What type of ride do we expect Encanto to be? It seems mad if it’s not Florida’s Mystic Manor - the IP is custom-made for that.

Nothing from Disney nor our trusted insiders has mentioned the addition of live animals.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Nothing from Disney nor our trusted insiders has mentioned the addition of live animals.

I expect animals. Whether or not they are new species (to the park) is less clear.

No big exhibits, though, as awesome as a jaguar exhibit could be.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I expect animals. Whether or not they are new species (to the park) is less clear.

No big exhibits, though, as awesome as a jaguar exhibit could be.

Dug, Kevin, and the parrots from Rio!!

 

[BrianLo]

Fair enough. I guess looking at the map, it seems you could add a LK attraction next to the theater (across from the bathrooms) and also still have room to the south to add a Pandora attraction along the same path but just north of the canteen.

So I'm cool with either. I think the argument for something new in Africa to draw people that direction makes a lot of sense and I'd be happy with that.

On the flip side, I think Pandora really needs a third attraction to buff up the land as it is a bit more isolated and both the rides there tend to get long waits. Honestly, I think a lesser attraction like a walk through in Pandora would be a good add there especially if they could preserve space for a bigger ride down the road.

Without going flagrant into armchair imagineering (but I’ll do so anyways), there seems plenty of space for both. As you said that doesn’t mean a ride. Since it’s in the former human settlement area - a tent or warehouse structure seem fine.

Whether that’s an animal walk through, sit down show, Na’vi cultural pavilion or Alpha Centauri Tours tourist center, it could be done on a fairly modest budget.