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

[KDM31091]

Should we expect this to be completed in stages - with the Dinosaur reskin opening before Encanto, for example - or will the entire land be closed to visitors until it reopens? I sure hope it's the latter, but considering Disney's intent to do things at AK as quickly as possible...

I'm inclined to think it would be done in stages since the area is spread out and there is no real need to close it all at once since each project will take time. Plus, the park is so light on attractions, losing several at once is more painful than losing just Dinosaur or just the carnival area, for example.

It also depends on how much intricate structural work is being done throughout the land, I imagine, but again with recent track record, I'd think it will be done on a budget and existing buildings will be reused and just rethemed.

 

[britain]

Alice in Wonderland is a movie, not a TV series. And it's generally regarded as a classic Disney movie. A better comparison would be if they decided to build an attraction based on that Alice's Wonderland Bakery show on Disney Junior.

Alice was a box office failure. Walt even conceded that nobody really liked Alice. As opposed to the popular modern Mickey cartoons.

 

[Brer Panther]

Alice was a box office failure.

Right, so it wasn't exactly a flavor of the month IP. Can you imagine Iger's Disney building an attraction based on a box office failure? I'm still amazed we're getting a Princess and the Frog ride (that movie wasn't a box office failure per say, but Disney considered it one).

As opposed to the popular modern Mickey cartoons.

Yeah, the modern Mickey cartoons are popular now (or at least they were when the ride was announced)... if for no other reason than because it wasn't Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Are they still going to be popular in ten years?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Restore the illusion of going through a left, center, and right door and now you’re talking!

That post was referring to the hypothetical Animal Kingdom version, which is rumored to be a rather substantial departure from the other two IJA versions. They probably won't include the three doors at all for this version. Even Tokyo didn't adapt it in their variant (opting to use all of that space on some really pretty and detailed physical temple scenery and even water features), and it's probably going to end up being much more similar to California's than whatever they do to DAK's.

 

[britain]

Right, so it wasn't exactly a flavor of the month IP. Can you imagine Iger's Disney building an attraction based on a box office failure? I'm still amazed we're getting a Princess and the Frog ride (that movie wasn't a box office failure per say, but Disney considered it one).

Yeah, the modern Mickey cartoons are popular now (or at least they were when the ride was announced)... if for no other reason than because it wasn't Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Are they still going to be popular in ten years?

It already is 10 years after they premiered, and they are still popular.

 

[MistaDee]

I didn't say Lion King as a whole isn't a fit for the park (I thought this was clear via the context of the whole conversation); it's that a Lion King book report ride based on the movie isn't an especially great fit for the park.

We'd probably get a clone of the Lion King ride supposedly coming to Paris. That ride is unlikely to be a good fit at DAK.

I don't like Festival of the Lion King at all (seeing it once was more than enough) and would happily see the IP used in a different way in the park (actually it is at Rafiki's, but even beyond that).

"Probably clone unlikely" you're doing a lot of work to jump to the conclusion it's gonna suck. We simply don't know enough at this point to make that call so you can hold onto the pessimism until there's a reason for it.

Yeah, I doubt Mickey's Runaway Railway, for example, is gonna age well. Especially since they stopped production on those shorts.

There's a reason why they shut down American Idol Experience.

Gee, I wonder if Disney will keep that "Mickey" character relevant in the future....


As Mr. Penguin so eloquently put, some people seem determined to shake their fist at the sky no matter what. Hope you enjoyed the eclipse whilst doing so

 

[doctornick]

It already is 10 years after they premiered, and they are still popular.

Yeah and I see no reason why Mickey wouldn’t retain cultural relevance indefinitely. There’s always been different versions of the character and this style seems as enduring as any other.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

That post was referring to the hypothetical Animal Kingdom version, which is rumored to be a rather substantial departure from the other two IJA versions. They probably won't include the three doors at all for this version. Even Tokyo didn't adapt it in their variant (opting to use all of that space on some really pretty and detailed physical temple scenery and even water features), and it's probably going to end up being much more similar to California's than whatever they do to DAK's.

BTW, to visually clarify what I meant, here's what Tokyo did to replace the room with the three doors.

Quite attractive IMO. I again would not expect Disney to replicate the three door room from California again, so hopefully they can at least create something equally as nice as this for DAK.

 

[WaltWiz1901]

Alice was a box office failure. Walt even conceded that nobody really liked Alice.

Even then, it built up an audience anyway through television showings and theatrical reissues, so it's not like it wasn't able to make up for its underwhelming initial performance. Pinocchio and Fantasia gained an audience pretty much the same way.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Even then, it built up an audience anyway through television showings and theatrical reissues, so it's not like it wasn't able to make up for its underwhelming initial performance. Pinocchio and Fantasia gained an audience pretty much the same way.

It had an extremely edited television showing in 1954 and wasn’t officially rereleased until the 70s. That audience did not exist when the rides opened at Disneyland in 1955 and 1958.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

I was STRONGLY against an Indy attraction in DAK (with Dinos) but THIS! Yeah, this I can rally behind. I very much look forward to it! A proper DAK overhaul with animal iconography and a mythical creature plot will make this a solid attraction.

 

[UNCgolf]

"Probably clone unlikely" you're doing a lot of work to jump to the conclusion it's gonna suck. We simply don't know enough at this point to make that call so you can hold onto the pessimism until there's a reason for it.

This is a wild overreaction to/misinterpretation of what I said. I never said a Lion King ride was going to suck, nor did I even remotely hint that it would suck.

The point is that a ride designed for DLP probably wouldn't work at DAK because they are very different parks. That doesn't mean the DLP ride would be bad.

 

[Sam Magic]

Right, so it wasn't exactly a flavor of the month IP. Can you imagine Iger's Disney building an attraction based on a box office failure? I'm still amazed we're getting a Princess and the Frog ride (that movie wasn't a box office failure per say, but Disney considered it one).

Yeah, the modern Mickey cartoons are popular now (or at least they were when the ride was announced)... if for no other reason than because it wasn't Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Are they still going to be popular in ten years?

Are we seriously questioning whether or not Mickey Mouse will be popular and well-known in 10 years?

Kind of doesn't matter how he's drawn or pitched, it's Mickey Mouse.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

What makes the other two Indy rides so great is how open the temple is on the inside. It gives the ride a sense of scale. To accomplish this at DAK they’ll need to tear down some walls. Hopefully they’re up to it.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

What makes the other two Indy rides so great is how open the temple is on the inside. It gives the ride a sense of scale. To accomplish this at DAK they’ll need to tear down some walls. Hopefully they’re up to it.

That's what makes it so incredibly hard to believe this will be good. Think of how expensive it would have to be in order to be an upgrade!

 

[homerdance]

I don't believe Disney has capybaras.

They need to add them to the petting zoo.

 

[sedati]

View attachment 777240
Image of the temple mock-up. No forbidden eye. No crystal skull. There is something at the top though. Looks like a beast with a huge open mouth... and ears.

But in the concept art it's red. Seems odd.

View attachment 777243

Googling "Myan Red Temple" led to this:

View attachment 777241

Looks the same. It's called Rosalila Temple:

Rosalila Temple

A full-size replica of this well-preserved temple lets you take a walk through the Mayan age.

www.atlasobscura.com

The beast is apparently a Jaguar.

This seems a clear inspiration. Disney has taken it and elongated it. I'd say the beast in the Disney version looks different. More like a snake or crocodile... or dinosaur. But in case they are going with Jaguars:

Jaguars in Mesoamerican cultures - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Either way, if this is the design, I love it. It is very distinct looking.

Amending my post, I found a better article here:

Unravelling the Secrets of the Maya’s Precious Rosalila Temple

Rosalila Temple is a monument located at the Maya site of Copan (located in the western part of Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala).

www.ancient-origins.net

I misinterpreted the original article which referred to jaguar altars thinking that meant the face at the top was a jaguar, but apparently it's believed to be the face of a mythical mountain deity called a Yeti... I mean, a Witz.

"Mountains were central to Lowland Maya cosmology; the ancient Maya actually viewed their pyramidal buildings as mountains from which water and sustenance emerged. Accordingly, the builders of ancient Maya temples and carvers of ancient Maya sculptures marked architecture and places with what is known as the witz monster. These fantastic creatures are often portrayed with enlarged snouts and gaping jaws which represented overhangs and watery caves beneath mountains. On stelae, kings and queens often stand atop witz monsters, signaling their powers to mediate between the realm of mountainous nature and the human world"

A Mountain's Eyebrow: The Met's Earliest Ancient American Acquisition - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Assistant Curator James Doyle traces the history of an architectural element from Uxmal, Mexico, gifted to the Met in 1878 by then–United States consul to Mexico, Alphonse J. Lespinasse.

www.metmuseum.org

Again, Disney is clearly using the Rosalilia temple as inspiration but may veer off however their story needs.

 

[homerdance]

The IP mandate is, what, a decade old by now?

The die is cast.

For weal or woe, (almost) all new attractions will be IP based. Current attractions without a Disney IP will always be 'in danger' of being rethemed to a Disney IP.

What's surprising is that some people are still surprised by this.

Sure, it's OK to not like it. But, if you want new attractions, especially in a park that's in need of new attractions, you're going to get one of Disney's top ten IPs.

I trust attempts will be made to make it 'fit' the park/land. How successful that will be is yet to be seen. And each attraction will have its own success rate.

And until one knows the actual 'story' of a new attraction, one won't know how successful it will be. But if one wants to yell at a cloud or a black box... knock yourselves out.

What synergy looks like. Movie to attraction to stream to merch. More money.

 

[MistaDee]

This is a wild overreaction to/misinterpretation of what I said. I never said a Lion King ride was going to suck, nor did I even remotely hint that it would suck.

The point is that a ride designed for DLP probably wouldn't work at DAK because they are very different parks. That doesn't mean the DLP ride would be bad.

If anything the point I'm making is that YOU are overreacting. We don't know if it's a book report, we don't know if it will be cloned so you're getting way ahead of yourself to conclude that it won't fit the AK.

 

[Tha Realest]

What synergy looks like. Movie to attraction to stream to merch. More money.

But what happens when the studios fall flat, and feed the synergy machine gunk that fails to resonate with audiences, guests, or consumers?

And before someone says, “But Marvel!”, they’re prohibited from using the majority of their characters at WDW, which is probably a good thing based on how they have used them at DCA.