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

[bwr827]

I think all these points are correct.

Dinorama is an eyesore and needs to go. Replacing that with a higher quality is a win.

Having Latin American representation in the park and a seemingly cohesive land is a win.

Losing Dinosaur (the ride) and the presence of dinosaurs (in general) in WDW and DAK is a big loss.

For the amount of money being spent, we should be seeing a large capacity increase at DAK, but we won't. Instead is just more replacement when we need additions.

I’d love 3/3 expansion but I’ll happily enjoy 1.75/3 expansion.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

It’s not like I walked up to them all rudely and said omg this sucks I hate everything. Just said I’m disappointed about the changes.

And yes, unfortunately, of late there’s a lot to complain about with recent projects. But I still love the parks, primarily the classic attractions but there’s some bright spots in the newer ones

First off, people have said that Dinoland should be rethemed for literal years and turning Dinosaur to Indy was one of the top requested ideas I've heard in general so it isn't like Disney had to "read the room". They did. Dinoland has been a joke for years in the theme parks community so its not like Disney is doing something "no one wanted". Second, yeah the cast members aren't going to be like "WOOOOOOOOO I love Tropical Americas, you're so wrong actually because it's going to be amazing" when you literally walked up to them saying "I don't like the idea of Tropical Americas replacing Dinoland USA" Like most people here said, they're just trying to be nice to you, do their job, and not start an argument about what's good or not because they don't care that much. I do the same thing everytime in my job when someone complains to me about something, I just passively agree with them because I'm not getting into it.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

I think all these points are correct.

Dinorama is an eyesore and needs to go. Replacing that with a higher quality is a win.

Having Latin American representation in the park and a seemingly cohesive land is a win.

Losing Dinosaur (the ride) and the presence of dinosaurs (in general) in WDW and DAK is a big loss.

For the amount of money being spent, we should be seeing a large capacity increase at DAK, but we won't. Instead is just more replacement when we need additions.

The amount of money being spent is designed to help better theme one of their best themed parks to a more consistent level of theming. Also you are not going to tell me that Primeval Whirl had the same capacity as this huge looking Encanto Dark Ride or the carousel. Afaik expanding at AK is hard without taking up some of the animals spaces. There are a few expansion plots but they can also kinda close other ideas off. (Pandora expansion plot which I assume they will wait until Avatar 3/4 do well before deciding how to continue) While they have space, the logistics become a lot more difficult when you're playing with backstage/roads.

 

[KDM31091]

I mean, the lady at guest relations literally got tears in her eyes talking about the tree of life and dinoland changes. I don’t think they’re just telling me what I want to hear. I think just like us fans, some are genuinely upset, others maybe support the changes. It is what it is of course , just wish we weren’t constantly giving up something to get something else.

Will some just placate you of course yes, but I’ve definitely seen some actual emotion from them. Even people running the carnival games.

Just like us regular people, some cast members are sad about the changes, others maybe not.

 

[KDM31091]

First off, people have said that Dinoland should be rethemed for literal years and turning Dinosaur to Indy was one of the top requested ideas I've heard in general so it isn't like Disney had to "read the room". They did. Dinoland has been a joke for years in the theme parks community so its not like Disney is doing something "no one wanted". Second, yeah the cast members aren't going to be like "WOOOOOOOOO I love Tropical Americas, you're so wrong actually because it's going to be amazing" when you literally walked up to them saying "I don't like the idea of Tropical Americas replacing Dinoland USA" Like most people here said, they're just trying to be nice to you, do their job, and not start an argument about what's good or not because they don't care that much. I do the same thing everytime in my job when someone complains to me about something, I just passively agree with them because I'm not getting into it.

They could have just actually invested in the area and made it better instead of just canning the idea for more IP. But here we are. Oh well.

 

[doctornick]

First off, people have said that Dinoland should be rethemed for literal years

I don't want to generalize, but I've mostly heard people complain that Dinorama needed to be changed - the roadside attraction themed area. It didn't seem to me that many people had any problem with Dinosaur the ride or the idea of dinosaurs in the park. I think if they had replaced Dinorama with an Excavator coaster that it would have pleased most everyone who had any concerns.

 

[doctornick]

The amount of money being spent is designed to help better theme one of their best themed parks to a more consistent level of theming. Also you are not going to tell me that Primeval Whirl had the same capacity as this huge looking Encanto Dark Ride or the carousel. Afaik expanding at AK is hard without taking up some of the animals spaces. There are a few expansion plots but they can also kinda close other ideas off. (Pandora expansion plot which I assume they will wait until Avatar 3/4 do well before deciding how to continue) While they have space, the logistics become a lot more difficult when you're playing with backstage/roads.

1. We are also losing the Boneyard
2. We are also seeing money spent to lose a perfectly quality ITTBAB show for a lateral move to Zootopia
3. Sure, adding Encanto is an improvement over the current Dinorama including and increase in capacity. But that would be true with almost anything they would have built there including (for example) putting something themed to dinosaurs like the Excavator coaster
4. There's tons of expansion land in DAK that can be used without touching any animal enclosures. There's a massive plot north of Asia that could fit multiple lands if desired. But even short term, they could add stuff to Pandora or Africa or even the current Dinoland or Asia without closing existing attractions. They are just choosing not to do that but instead replace. As has been typical for WDW for years. sigh

 

[peter11435]

2. We are also seeing money spent to lose a perfectly quality ITTBAB show for a lateral move to Zootopia

Bugs rarely fills shows anymore

 

[doctornick]

I’d love 3/3 expansion but I’ll happily enjoy 1.75/3 expansion.

I would agree that this will make the park better. My question would be if this is the best use of the time and money being invested versus options that actual expand the park. I just think that it is being inefficient and not guest friendly.

Given the option, I'd rather see Dinorama continue to exist and keep ITTBAB and spend the same money on adding a third Pandora ride and a TLK ride elsewhere in the park. Do that first, then you have much more capacity to be able to withstand closing Dinoland and replacing (if that really much occur). You can even add in a night time show replacing RoL once you have that additional capacity to justify longer hours.

 

[WorldExplorer]

From asking cast members around Dinoland to guest services, I’ve not run across anyone who seems even slightly excited about this change. Of course they won’t outright criticize it, but you can tell there’s no enthusiasm there. Read the room Disney, people don’t want you to get rid of Dinoland. Stop shooting yourself in the foot with controversial, poor decisions such as this, potentially getting rid of Muppets, Rivers of America, even Tiana hasn’t worked out well so far. Stop removing everything that people love. Just put money into Dinoland, make it even better, use original ideas.

I know it won’t happen but it’s kind of amazing to me that they think this is what people want.

I've been bringing up Dinoland in a neutral context where the other person has no reason to not mock the thing a lot for the past few years, before they were officially killing it, and yeah, my impression is that it doesn't really have the poison reputation a lot of people think it has. The worst I've gotten is saying they only like Dinosaur.

Whenever Disney does something stupid nowadays and people on here complain about it people chime in to tell us that we're in a minority and normal guests don't care about sightlines/thematic integrity/etc. and are just going to take whatever they're given so long as it has a thing they already like on it. I don't see why it's so unrealistic that that same "normal people don't care" logic would apply to Dinoland; it has dinosaurs on it and so people like it.

 

[James Alucobond]

Whenever Disney does something stupid nowadays and people on here complain about it people chime in to tell us that we're in a minority and normal guests don't care about sightlines/thematic integrity/etc. and are just going to take whatever they're given so long as it has a thing they already like on it. I don't see why it's so unrealistic that that same "normal people don't care" logic doesn't apply to Dinoland; it has dinosaurs on it and so people like it.

You’re combining a ton of different opinions from a wide range of people to make it sound like everyone who doesn’t share your level of negativity is an inconsistent Disney devotee with poor taste and no thematic literacy. Yes, some people defend everything, but others are more deeply concerned with aesthetics, others with consistency, others with mood, others with attraction content, etc.

 

[bwr827]

I've been bringing up Dinoland in a neutral context where the other person has no reason to not mock the thing a lot for the past few years, before they were officially killing it, and yeah, my impression is that it doesn't really have the poison reputation a lot of people think it has. The worst I've gotten is saying they only like Dinosaur.

Whenever Disney does something stupid nowadays and people on here complain about it people chime in to tell us that we're in a minority and normal guests don't care about sightlines/thematic integrity/etc. and are just going to take whatever they're given so long as it has a thing they already like on it. I don't see why it's so unrealistic that that same "normal people don't care" logic doesn't apply to Dinoland; it has dinosaurs on it and so people like it.

I agree that “normal people don’t care” applies on both ends of the spectrum, but I suspect it’s present less strongly with the viewpoints of negativity.

It’s more “normie” to say, “Oh cool!” than to say, “OMG this is a disaster.”

 

[WorldExplorer]

You’re combining a ton of different opinions from a wide range of people to make it sound like everyone who doesn’t share your level of negativity is an inconsistent Disney devotee with poor taste and no thematic literacy. Yes, some people defend everything, but others are more deeply concerned with aesthetics, others with consistency, others with mood, others with attraction content, etc.

No, I'm saying this is an arguement we see regularly for other things and that same logic applies here.

And I really love Dino-Rama, which is the thing being called a thematic disaster.

 

[James Alucobond]

And I really love Dino-Rama, which is the thing being called a thematic disaster.

It is the one area in the parks themed to something that people are culturally programmed to avoid. Yes, it’s tongue-in-cheek about it, but it’s not a mystery as to why people might be excited about a different option for the space.

 

[doctornick]

It is the one area in the parks themed to something that people are culturally programmed to avoid. Yes, it’s tongue-in-cheek about it, but it’s not a mystery as to why people might be excited about a different option for the space.

Sure. But that doesn't mean it has to take Dinosaur/Boneyard/Restaurantasaurus down with it.

People love dinosaurs. There's absolutely room for attractions involving dinosaurs at DAK. It's unfortunate to lose that simply because there is no good IP that Disney owns that features such majestic creatures.

 

[Brer Panther]

Y'know, a South America land at Animal Kingdom DOES have potential, preferably one that doesn't replace Dinoland. You could have some sort of Amazon river attraction with jaguars, sloths, river dolphins, etc., maybe something related to Up, something that really lets you explore the wildlife and culture of the continent.

But nope, instead we're getting Indiana Jones and "WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BRUNO NO NO NO".

 

[WorldExplorer]

It is the one area in the parks themed to something that people are culturally programmed to avoid. Yes, it’s tongue-in-cheek about it, but it’s not a mystery as to why people might be excited about a different option for the space.

I know there are good reasons to be excited about something else. That chunk of land was a compromise and not meant to last decades so while I enjoy it a lot and am very sad to lose it, I get it.

I would be sad to see it go but excited for something different, too, if it was continuing dinosaurs. I think they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[James Alucobond]

Sure. But that doesn't mean it has to take Dinosaur/Boneyard/Restaurantasaurus down with it.

People love dinosaurs. There's absolutely room for attractions involving dinosaurs at DAK. It's unfortunate to lose that simply because there is no good IP that Disney owns that features such majestic creatures.

Of course. But what’s happening is happening, and it’s okay (and not inherently inconsistent) for people to weigh the losses and benefits differently.

 

[Starship824]

I'm sad about losing dinosaur and dinosaurs at DAK but everything I'm seeing out of Tropical America's looks great and I'm very excited about it. Dinosaur (the ride) is good but I've been on Indy at DL. There's really no comparison. If they can make it as good or better than Indy at DL while keeping in theme with the park (which it seems they are) I'm all on board.

 

[Consumer]

From asking cast members around Dinoland to guest services, I’ve not run across anyone who seems even slightly excited about this change. Of course they won’t outright criticize it, but you can tell there’s no enthusiasm there. Read the room Disney, people don’t want you to get rid of Dinoland. Stop shooting yourself in the foot with controversial, poor decisions such as this, potentially getting rid of Muppets, Rivers of America, even Tiana hasn’t worked out well so far. Stop removing everything that people love. Just put money into Dinoland, make it even better, use original ideas.

I know it won’t happen but it’s kind of amazing to me that they think this is what people want.

Dinoland sucks. I'd be happy with this change even if it was being replaced with rubble and ash.