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

EagleScout610

Leader of the Mondo Fan Club
Premium Member
My cousin is asking me if he'll be able to ride Dinosaur when he goes to WDW in January. Could the 'Fall 2024' start date mean a close for Dinosaur or just land work? Sorry if this has been answered, been working and will catch up on the thread later
 

JKick95

Active Member
My cousin is asking me if he'll be able to ride Dinosaur when he goes to WDW in January. Could the 'Fall 2024' start date mean a close for Dinosaur or just land work? Sorry if this has been answered, been working and will catch up on the thread later
I think Dinosaur will be the last thing to close. They said construction will start in phases. It makes me think we will see walls go up in Dinoland with a pathway leading to Dinosaur.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
The concept art for Indy is for sure the same vehicle as Dinosaur. I know we already know all this, but how ridiculous that they cannot come up with something new, and are just doing a reskin. What's the point? Is that really going to draw that many more people than Dinosaur?

Hopefully, it is executed very well. But I'm scared of a bare minimum reskin.
The Indy ride at DL is one of the most popular rides in the park still and that’s a park with a whole lot more attractions than AK. This ride won’t be a clone of that one but the IP is still very popular.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
I know this isn’t a big deal to everyone, but this really bums me out. This is a favorite of all my kids, and it wasn’t unusual for us to spend a couple hours there each visit.

And I’m still salty they removed the HISTK playground. 😒

Anyway, it always seemed busy…I can’t imagine it had low guest satisfaction scores. Guess you can’t monetize a playground though….
I still don’t understand why it couldn’t be kept. Perhaps just switching to an archaeology vs paleontology theme to go with Indy more. It was the best playground of the sort that Disney had.
 

Rteetz

Well-Known Member
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So it looks like the Encanto show building will extend into this back stage area?

I am also curious in the model it shows a path behind the current Dinosaur shop and restrooms that is currently backstage. This path we usually run out during the Marathon to leave Animal Kingdom. It does show people walking back there tho.




GUtolxHbcAAEnra.jpeg
 

radiorae

Well-Known Member
I know people are hating on the carousel, but I think it’ll be really nice. From a practical perspective, the area will need something for the kids who can’t ride Indy and are waiting for the rest of the family to finish riding before everyone hits Encanto. On the artsy side, it’s really hard to find a wooden carousel these days; most are fiberglass. And the woodcarver “theme” fits the aesthetic. Add in a fun light package and some light music and it’ll be a nice compliment to the land.

704AE4F9-C816-446B-8F66-DC641BB41C19.jpeg

(Drew’s photo, not mine)
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
I can’t see how this isn’t viewed as a nice upgrade to what was there. Dinosaur was a good ride but a lot of long stretches of dark. Indy has the potential to be an upgrade. Even if the Encanto ride is just average (it has the potential to be much better than that) it will be light years better than Primeval Whirl a spinner and some carnival games. Huge upgrade. Trading the playground for a carousel should be a wash for all but really young kids. All-in the look and feel of the land will fit a lot better when compared to the rest of the park. The only downside I see is that it’s not a large upgrade in capacity for a park that needs more rides. I assume in an average day more people will ride these 2 rides plus carousel than the 3 rides lost, but not a large gain in capacity. This would have been less of an issue if the Lion King ride happened too.
 

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
I know this isn’t a big deal to everyone, but this really bums me out. This is a favorite of all my kids, and it wasn’t unusual for us to spend a couple hours there each visit.

And I’m still salty they removed the HISTK playground. 😒

Anyway, it always seemed busy…I can’t imagine it had low guest satisfaction scores. Guess you can’t monetize a playground though….
Yep it's a great playground, will be a shame to see it go. Monsters Inc. at Studios appears to have some type of playground in the concept art.
 

cdunlap

Well-Known Member
Perhaps poachers are hunting a rare species of Tropical American animal(s) and Indy stops them? I dunno, Indiana Jones doesn’t fit Animal Kingdom.
Well, now that we have a theme of Maya mythology, it kind of does, considering that a lot of Maya myths have anthropomorphic animals as characters. The Popol Vuh, the Maya creation story, alone has twin monkey gods, a macaw with jewels for eyes and teeth, and Camazotz, a bat god. There’s also Kukulkan, the feathered serpent.
 

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