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

[Andrew25]

Would imagine Dinosaur won't be touched until October 1st once Disney "frees" up cash... which means we should get a Dinosaur closure prior to D23 to give fans a decent amount of time to enjoy it prior to closure?

 

[McMickeyWorld]

News this morning.

Approved, funded, and moving forward for AK:

- Conversion of Dinosaur to Indy. New storyline, ties will to AK.
- Encanto boat ride. Nothing firm on story, assuming the animal angle will be played up via Antonio.
- Coco-inspired carousel roughly on The Boneyard site. Should be visually stunning in Mexican folk art style, will add nice kinesis to the area.
- Small animal habitats scattered throughout gardens that bridge Encanto's facade to the town square hub.
- Re-theme and expansion of Restaurantosaurus, expecting somewhat-Americanized take on Mexican and Central American fare.
- Expecting minimal changes to the current Chester & Hesters shop, restroom facilities, and walk-up food options.
- Transition of the land will happen at the current Dinoland bridge to the west and after the Theater in the Wild to the east.
- No operational impacts to the Nemo show are expected.
- Access to the Theater in the Wild and the southern amphitheater will remain unobstructed.
- Work timeline will be staggered, but I'm still working for clarity. Earlier info suggested that work would start offstage first in the old PW site, keeping Dinosaur open for the first phase of construction.

I can't imagine what a boat ride for Encanto would be like; I feel like it would fit perfectly into the design of Mystic Manor. Now I'm more intrigued and the plot; I suspect we'll have to help Antonio search for his animals. I don't expect something very deep, to be honest. I like the idea that the Casita's gardens are enclosures.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Would imagine Dinosaur won't be touched until October 1st once Disney "frees" up cash... which means we should get a Dinosaur closure prior to D23 to give fans a decent amount of time to enjoy it prior to closure?

Disney's not waiting any more for Oct 1. If streaming is no longer in the negative - which is an assumption based on their next quarterly call being in the morning and not the afternoon - Disney's got a few billion in its pocket burning a hole right now.

Without needing to cover any net losses or buying out Hulu (or any other acquisition), the spigot can open sooner than later.

BUT... development cycle is still notoriously slow. I'm not expecting 'shovels in the ground' for a few months if this has just been greenlit.

 

[Moth]

@Moth Some updates for the Rumor Tracker!

Ooo, good thing to wake up to!

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Disney's not waiting any more for Oct 1. If streaming is no longer in the negative - which is an assumption based on their next quarterly call being in the morning and not the afternoon - Disney's got a few billion in its pocket burning a hole right now.

Without needing to cover any net losses or buying out Hulu (or any other acquisition), the spigot can open sooner than later.

BUT... development cycle is still notoriously slow. I'm not expecting 'shovels in the ground' for a few months if this has just been greenlit.

Development pace seems to have picked up... we'll see how quickly they get working on the PW site once those office trailers are dropped.

 

[osian]

Would imagine Dinosaur won't be touched until October 1st once Disney "frees" up cash... which means we should get a Dinosaur closure prior to D23 to give fans a decent amount of time to enjoy it prior to closure?

"Earlier info suggested that work would start offstage first in the old PW site, keeping Dinosaur open for the first phase of construction."

That implies to me that Dinosaur will still be open for quite a bit of time yet, until the first phase of Encanto has ben completed or at least well under way. I'm keeping fingers crossed anyway for my trip in November!

 

[ToTBellHop]

Yes on the boat ride.

It would seem WDI is pleased with Fantasy Springs and wants to build boat rides everywhere.

I was purposely vague on conveyance system since I had only ever heard “dark ride”. Water dark rides are, of course, a thing for Disney.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Encanto start before Indy since Encanto will take longer and they could use the Dino capacity as long as it’s available. But, I don’t believe the plan is to finish Encanto before beginning Indy.

 

[Andrew25]

Obviously depends on what Disney's strategy is on when these attractions debut (if together, spaced out, etc.), but if WDI is targeting a 1.5-2 year build schedule for a retheme on Dinosaur like most of their previous rethemes, I'd imagine Encanto portion of the attraction will take an extra year.

So, if they start sometime in the summer... maybe Dinosaur lasts through the busy holiday season this year?

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Yes on the boat ride.

It would seem WDI is pleased with Fantasy Springs and wants to build boat rides everywhere.

I was purposely vague on conveyance system since I had only ever heard “dark ride”. Water dark rides are, of course, a thing for Disney.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Encanto start before Indy since Encanto will take longer and they could use the Dino capacity as long as it’s available. But, I don’t believe the plan is to finish Encanto before beginning Indy.

It sounds like there are internal pressures to take Dino down at the proper point in the project to allow for a simultaneous opening of the entire new area... including a likely phase where access to Dino is only via the Discovery Island bridge, with the area north is completely walled off up to Nemo.

 

[discos]

News this morning.

Approved, funded, and moving forward for AK:
- Coco-inspired carousel roughly on The Boneyard site. Should be visually stunning in Mexican folk art style, will add nice kinesis to the area.

You mean, a carousel with mismatched Disney animal IPs isn't going into Tropical Americas? I'm shocked lol...but in all seriousness, those plans sound solid! Unfortunate that we are gonna lose Dinosaurs from the park, but Tropical Americas will compliment the other lands in the park really nicely.

 

[doctornick]

And if the LK ride is also a boat... that's a lot of boats.

Like adding a Moana boat ride next to JC and PotC.

boatsboatsboatsboatsboatsboats

There's nothing wrong with that though. As long as the experiences are distinct, the means of conveyance is of little importance.

 

[doctornick]

Yeah, even tho some would think LPS 'trackless' rides are overused, it would have been perfect for a Mystic-Manor-like set up.

But if its more like Shanghai PotC and less like NRJ, that'd be fine.

As I had said, I would imagine something more like IASW and MK POTC for this. It needs to be larger, high capacity boats for high throughput. If they do something akin to NRJ with that capacity, it is a major fail IMHO. Intimate is nice in the right situation, but not what this park needs.

I can't imagine what a boat ride for Encanto would be like; I feel like it would fit perfectly into the design of Mystic Manor. Now I'm more intrigued and the plot; I suspect we'll have to help Antonio search for his animals. I don't expect something very deep, to be honest. I like the idea that the Casita's gardens are enclosures.

Yeah, this is my gut feeling. I don't have a problem with a boat ride in principle, but Encanto feels like it would be well suited for an LPS or omnimover situation especially if the premise is that we are visiting the casita. I suppose the story treatment could be water based in some way to make a boat ride more logical so we'll see.

That being said, I do have a warm feeling that Disney seems to be returning to their "bread and butter" more and hope we will see a wave of family friendly rides in the classic Disney style that made the parks so popular to begin with.

 

[aladdin2007]

hopefully they learned a lesson after NRJ and it wont be on par with that in terms length and design.

 

[mattpeto]

I think the Encanto boat ride prob hurts the Lion King boat ride. Otherwise they have Navi, Encanto, Kali and LK.

Meanwhile Hollywood Studios still hates water.

 

[Starship824]

As I had said, I would imagine something more like IASW and MK POTC for this. It needs to be larger, high capacity boats for high throughput. If they do something akin to NRJ with that capacity, it is a major fail IMHO. Intimate is nice in the right situation, but not what this park needs.

I hope if they do go the Pirates/IASW type ride the boats are higher up and easier to get into.

 

[Moth]

I think the Encanto boat ride prob hurts the Lion King boat ride. Otherwise they have Navi, Encanto, Kali and LK.

Meanwhile Hollywood Studios still hates water.

Nah I doubt it does. We're about to see Adventureland get the Pirates, Moana and Jungle Cruise triple-whamy in one strip. These would be in separate parts of the park and likely offer different experiences. Worst comes to worst, they can make The Lion King a dry ride.

 

[discos]

hopefully they learned a lesson after NRJ and it wont be on par with that in terms length and design.

In actuality there isn't anything wrong with the length of NRJ, I feel like its more the fact that it spends 85% building up to the Shaman and then just ends. If that 85% of the ride was filled with more substance it would feel more like a complete ride.

 

[Andrew25]

In actuality there isn't anything wrong with the length of NRJ, I feel like its more the fact that it spends 85% building up to the Shaman and then just ends. If that 85% of the ride was filled with more substance it would feel more like a complete ride.

NRJ is fine, issue is that it's located in a park with so few attractions that it ends up having large waits... which builds up anticipation, only for people to be let down by an attraction that shouldn't be more than 30-min wait.

 

[McMickeyWorld]

As I had said, I would imagine something more like IASW and MK POTC for this. It needs to be larger, high capacity boats for high throughput. If they do something akin to NRJ with that capacity, it is a major fail IMHO. Intimate is nice in the right situation, but not what this park needs.



Yeah, this is my gut feeling. I don't have a problem with a boat ride in principle, but Encanto feels like it would be well suited for an LPS or omnimover situation especially if the premise is that we are visiting the casita. I suppose the story treatment could be water based in some way to make a boat ride more logical so we'll see.

That being said, I do have a warm feeling that Disney seems to be returning to their "bread and butter" more and hope we will see a wave of family friendly rides in the classic Disney style that made the parks so popular to begin with.

I hope they can continue with the dreamlike aspect similar to the scenes in the movie. I already miss those kinds of attractions.

 

[Tha Realest]

News this morning.

Approved, funded, and moving forward for AK:

- Conversion of Dinosaur to Indy. New storyline, ties will to AK.
- Encanto boat ride. Nothing firm on story, assuming the animal angle will be played up via Antonio.
- Coco-inspired carousel roughly on The Boneyard site. Should be visually stunning in Mexican folk art style, will add nice kinesis to the area.
- Small animal habitats scattered throughout gardens that bridge Encanto's facade to the town square hub.
- Re-theme and expansion of Restaurantosaurus, expecting somewhat-Americanized take on Mexican and Central American fare.
- Expecting minimal changes to the current Chester & Hesters shop, restroom facilities, and walk-up food options.
- Transition of the land will happen at the current Dinoland bridge to the west and after the Theater in the Wild to the east.
- No operational impacts to the Nemo show are expected.
- Access to the Theater in the Wild and the southern amphitheater will remain unobstructed.
- Work timeline will be staggered, but I'm still working for clarity. Earlier info suggested that work would start offstage first in the old PW site, keeping Dinosaur open for the first phase of construction.

Thank you!

Anything of this mystery additional E-ticket (Lion King water ride?)