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

[KDM31091]

Build the Encanto attraction, the Indiana Jones water ride that was considered a few years ago, and keep Dinosaur. The parks need more capacity and additional rides, especially Animal Kingdom. It's truly baffling how Disneyland gets so many new rides without needing to replace old ones, while WDW faces this kind of destruction...

Exactly. There is no need to get rid of dinosaur.

 

[Gusey]

I think the capacity issues will all depend on when It's Tough to be A Bug closes. If that stays open through Christmas, we know Zootopia is set to open for Winter 2025 to coincide with the new movie, so that will be one attraction back online by then.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

And what we get instead will almost surely not have as much thought or detail put into it. Hopefully I’m wrong.

I’m OK if they don’t put “so much thought” into crappy asphalt and a cheap carny area.

It’s a low bar to clear from that junk that was there.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I’m OK if they don’t put “so much thought” into crappy asphalt and a cheap carny area.

It’s a low bar to clear from that junk that was there.

Nah. Dinoland was a very witty, well-designed area with a lot of great details. I’m sad it’s going but I understand - it was probably too clever for its own good (and I really like Indy, so that cushions the blow). Still, Dinoland had the classic Disney parks humor, and that’s pretty much entirely dead now.

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

I think the capacity issues will all depend on when It's Tough to be A Bug closes. If that stays open through Christmas, we know Zootopia is set to open for Winter 2025 to coincide with the new movie, so that will be one attraction back online by then.

I had this discussion on the forum before but Winter is officially December 21 to March 20, so Zootopia coming online in "Winter 2025" is either in three-to-six months or the very last week of December.

 

[Notes from Neverland]

Nah. Dinoland was a very witty, well-designed area with a lot of great details. I’m sad it’s going but I understand - it was probably too clever for its own good (and I really like Indy, so that cushions the blow). Still, Dinoland had the classic Disney parks humor, and that’s pretty much entirely dead now.

This is exactly how we feel about Restaurantosaurus. Intricate theming that's layers deep and a ton of jokes if you look around. Will miss this place.

 

[Casper Gutman]

This is exactly how we feel about Restaurantosaurus. Intricate theming that's layers deep and a ton of jokes if you look around. Will miss this place.

Yup. Dinoland was always going to get mixed reactions from the general public, but it’s always surprised me a bit that the fans are so negative about it.

 

[KDM31091]

This is exactly how we feel about Restaurantosaurus. Intricate theming that's layers deep and a ton of jokes if you look around. Will miss this place.

Exactly. People just didn’t “get” it unfortunately

 

[KDM31091]

This is exactly how we feel about Restaurantosaurus. Intricate theming that's layers deep and a ton of jokes if you look around. Will miss this place.

Not to mention it will be replaced by a bland beige box of a food court. Again I’d love to be wrong. But almost all recent designs have been cheap and lazy.

 

[Timothy_Q]

I believe this marks the first time Disney has ever removed a spinner in the company’s entire history. It is an occasion for celebration. One down…

*Not counting replacements/“upgrades”

They also removed Star Jets from TDL's Tomorrowland when they removed the speedway

Although in reality Baymax replaced Star Jets and the carousel will replace Triceratop

 

[Gusey]

I had this discussion on the forum before but Winter is officially December 21 to March 20, so Zootopia coming online in "Winter 2025" is either in three-to-six months or the very last week of December.

Whilst true, I'm sure Disney Winter is 1st December-28/9 January, and Zootopia 2 comes out November 26.

 

[James Alucobond]

I was assuming the restaurant would be part of the tropical village area and need a total gut and redo to match the look and tone of the new land...unless it is going to be themed to the archeology camp as it is now....

A gut of the interior is different from a full rebuild. I assumed you meant you thought they were razing the original restaurant, which they are not.

Yup. Dinoland was always going to get mixed reactions from the general public, but it’s always surprised me a bit that the fans are so negative about it.

It is an unattractive land, straight up. Or, at the very least, it is visually associated with something most people are primed to have an aversion to. Whether you "get it" or not, most people want experiences that take you to places you want to go, not places you'd rather avoid. There's a cleverness there to appreciate, but that's not enough, IMO.

 

[Rob562]

Nah. Dinoland was a very witty, well-designed area with a lot of great details. I’m sad it’s going but I understand - it was probably too clever for its own good (and I really like Indy, so that cushions the blow). Still, Dinoland had the classic Disney parks humor, and that’s pretty much entirely dead now.

I'll agree with you, but only as far as the *original* Dinoland U.S.A.

Boneyard, Restaurantosaurus, CTX and Chester & Hester's (just the gift shop). It was all cleverly designed as a singular backstory that worked. Adding Dino-rama spoiled what was an amazing land. The fossil prep lab was exactly the type of "edutainment" that made EPCOT Center great. (The Dino Jubilee was a bit temporary and meh, though they had fun Streetmosphere-type "grad students")

-Rob

 

[Bocabear]

A gut of the interior is different from a full rebuild. I assumed you meant you thought they were razing the original restaurant, which they are not.

I assumed they would keep the structure, add additional architectural components and additions, and completely gut and redesign the interior.... not tear the whole building down... but now how many years did it take to build the Cake Bake Shop? I still think this will take longer than a year and a half to complete this area...

 

[James Alucobond]

I assumed they would keep the structure, add additional architectural components and additions, and completely gut and redesign the interior.... not tear the whole building down... but now how many years did it take to build the Cake Bake Shop? I still think this will take longer than a year and a half to complete this area...

Cake Bake is a third party and irrelevant to the discussion, as always. Anyway, I agree that the total time may end up being longer than their target, but it still makes sense to stagger the closure since the original Dinoland corridor will take a lot less time than the Dinorama plot, which is essentially being developed from scratch at this point. Everything else is mostly modification of existing infrastructure.

 

[doctornick]

Build the Encanto attraction, the Indiana Jones water ride that was considered a few years ago, and keep Dinosaur. The parks need more capacity and additional rides, especially Animal Kingdom. It's truly baffling how Disneyland gets so many new rides without needing to replace old ones, while WDW faces this kind of destruction...

IMHO the mistake is not building the TLK ride that is being considered as the first thing. Get that extra capacity opened first or at least ASAP

 

[Two Ears]

You would hope the new land is built much more quickly then usual because animal kingdom is really going to struggle losing another ride from capacity. Its going to become a qtr day park for a while.

 

[coffeefan]

They could keep Dinosaur ride and still be in theme since the meteor technically hit modern-day Tropical Americas.

 

[GoofGoof]

You would hope the new land is built much more quickly then usual because animal kingdom is really going to struggle losing another ride from capacity. Its going to become a qtr day park for a while.

AK is a park that definitely shouldn’t be reducing capacity, however, the Dinosaur area is simply not that popular right now. How much time do people actually spend there? Dinosaur the ride is usually a very short wait and the rest of the land is a play area and a spinner with some carnival games. I just don’t see AK going from a half day park to a quarter day park because of this closure. Did people spend half their time at AK in Dinoland? I think it will remain a half day park with 1 less ride to do and when this project is over will likely still be a half day park (maybe 3/4 a day if the waits for the 2 rides are long ).

I said hundreds of pages back that they should have greenlit the Lion King ride and built that first to make this project a “net zero“ total headliner rides situation during construction but that didn’t happen. The next few years will probably see a dip in AK attendance, especially after EU opens. In 2027 the park will likely be better than it is today. The bar is kinda low to exceed Dinoland which has been flawed since day 1.

 

[Two Ears]

AK is a park that definitely shouldn’t be reducing capacity, however, the Dinosaur area is simply not that popular right now. How much time do people actually spend there? Dinosaur the ride is usually a very short wait and the rest of the land is a play area and a spinner with some carnival games. I just don’t see AK going from a half day park to a quarter day park because of this closure. Did people spend half their time at AK in Dinoland? I think it will remain a half day park with 1 less ride to do and when this project is over will likely still be a half day park (maybe 3/4 a day if the waits for the 2 rides are long ).

I said hundreds of pages back that they should have greenlit the Lion King ride and built that first to make this project a “net zero“ total headliner rides situation during construction but that didn’t happen. The next few years will probably see a dip in AK attendance, especially after EU opens. In 2027 the park will likely be better than it is today. The bar is kinda low to exceed Dinoland which has been flawed since day 1.

I was being a bit simplistic. But get a lightning lane for flight of passage. Go to early entry and you get all the fill of rides you want by 10:00am and do breakfast as well. You dont even make it to lunch time.