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

[Brer Panther]

Again, just because the ride takes place on the day he got his power doesn't automatically mean Antonio and his animals will be "prominently featured".

 

[James Alucobond]

Bruce Vaughn specifically said during the D23 presentation that Antonio's room, filled with his animal friends and rainforest scenery, is the ultimate destination and finale of the ride. There is still plenty of room for missteps along the way, but I'm not sure how that doesn't qualify as "prominently featured".

 

[Brer Panther]

If it's the finale of the ride, that indicates that only one room will be set there. Chances are the rest of the ride will just be exploring various rooms of the house, none of which have anything to do with animals unless you count the donkeys in Luisa's song.

 

[James Alucobond]

Possible. It's also possible the animals will pop up in other characters' rooms to enjoy Julieta's food, Pepa's weather, Isabela's flora, or the company of Luisa's donkeys. Either way, you're demonstrably wrong about Antonio being featured, but continue shifting goalposts.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Yes. This.

And just because the Encanto ride's gonna be set on the day Antonio got his power doesn't mean the whole ride's gonna focus on Antonio and animals. I wouldn't be surprised if Antonio's room was just the finale and the rest of the ride was focused on the other characters, allowing us to go inside their rooms and hear the popular songs from the movie.

We had similar fears about Avatar being a war movie and the land fits seamlessly into the park. The story treatments they've publicly stated give me quite a bit of confidence in this land.

 

[Starship824]

Again, just because the ride takes place on the day he got his power doesn't automatically mean Antonio and his animals will be "prominently featured".

Yes but that's clearly what they're going for.

If it's the finale of the ride, that indicates that only one room will be set there. Chances are the rest of the ride will just be exploring various rooms of the house, none of which have anything to do with animals unless you count the donkeys in Luisa's song.

I don't think they're going to do that. They're clearing emphasizing that these rides will fit Animal Kingdom highlighting that Indy will be a new story focusing on a mythical creature and talking about Antonio specifically.

 

[sedati]

If it's the finale of the ride, that indicates that only one room will be set there. Chances are the rest of the ride will just be exploring various rooms of the house, none of which have anything to do with animals unless you count the donkeys in Luisa's song.

So, you have two that coincide with animals (one much more than the other) but what about nature?

Pepa controls the weather- which could really be used well in an attraction (Mystic Manor has both a great frost effect along with a wind-swept finale.

Oh, and let's see... ISABELLA CONTROLS PLANTS!

But I'll take it further. Delores has super hearing. Maybe she will allow us to hear distant animals, birdsong, or insect chips.

Bruno is clairvoyant. Maybe he will give us a warning about an animal we'll encounter later in the ride or even take things back to old-school Animal Kingdom and warn us about the risk of extinction for modern animals due to human behavior.

Finally, Julieta... there's no way we don't get her tied into a restaurant or cart with her healing foods. The weakest tie to a nature park, and yet, a key for any well-rounded theme park experience.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Encanto, the carousel and the village look nice. The film isn’t about animals but Moana isn’t about the cycle of water either. If I had to pick one modern day IP to add to DAK and I think Encanto would be it.

Indiana Jones is a pretty big stretch…”what if… instead of looking for the Ark of the Covenant…. He was looking for…. An animal!” - but again I’ll take it over Guardians or Simpsons or Deadpool.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

Hoping the Indians Jones temple is visible from the fountain plaza as I’ve always felt Dinosaur was hurt by visibility or lack thereof. The red temple should draw the eye more at least.

This did indeed seem to be a huge issue for Dinosaur. A big percentage of park visitors just wander around randomly walking up to things that look interesting—and thus a surprising percentage don’t even realize Dinosaur exists. This was greatly exacerbated by the placement of Dino-Rama.

 

[Garyjames220]

So when does everyone think the work will start

im going in December, do we expect dinosaur to be closed by then

 

[James Alucobond]

So when does everyone think the work will start

im going in December, do we expect dinosaur to be closed by then

The closing of Dinosaur is supposed to be delayed relative to the closing of Dinorama. I would personally bet on it still being open in December, though there are of course no certain bets.

 

[KDM31091]

What do you mean by 'on-theme'? How does a story about a multigenerational Colombian family who receives magical gifts from a miracle and then tries to defend their family and magic fit a theme about conservation and how animals live and behave? How does a story about an archaeologist who tries to defend historical artifacts fit a theme about conservation and how animals live and behave?

I’m sorry, but just adding a random animal to these completely different stories doesn’t make them a good fit for the park’s theme. If that’s your logic, what would be your argument against a Doctor Strange ride at Animal Kingdom where he uses the Time Stone to save endangered species? That kind of thinking is why all parks now look and feel the same—they're just Six Flags parks with no real theme...

Yes unfortunately, Disney’s new idea of thematic cohesion is a very loose link to tie things together. Encanto features a minor amount of animals so it’s perfect for AK. Cars is about “paving your own frontier” so of course it makes perfect sense in Frontierland.

I’d rather they just admit they no longer care about the themes of the area than try to justify with these ridiculous leaps of excuses.

Ironically, the carousel, the most minor new addition, is the most fitting.

As far as closing I’d say Dinosaur itself is likely save until the new year. They’re not going to close a major attraction in such a sparse park before the holidays IMO. Rest of Dinoland and Dinorama, harder to say.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Encanto features a minor amount of animals so it’s perfect for AK. Cars is about “paving your own frontier” so of course it makes perfect sense in Frontierland.

Cars in Frontierland is a way bigger stretch though you have to admit. Encanto by itself doesn’t take anything away from the theme of the park.

I’d actually say zootopia in tree of life is a worse fit than an Encanto dark ride.

 

[EagleScout610]

So when does everyone think the work will start

im going in December, do we expect dinosaur to be closed by then

I've heard October rumored for the first part of DinoRama and Boneyard, but Dinosaur could leg it out til spring.

 

[James Alucobond]

I bet when the Encanto ride opens and it does indeed focus on Antonio and animals like everyone is claiming, we're gonna have a lot of people going "Where's Bruno? Why isn't Bruno in the Encanto ride?", like how everybody's complaining about Dr. Facilier not being in Tiana's Bayou Adventure.

They already said he's in the ride. You probably just briefly transition behind the walls at some point.

 

[Quietmouse]

I wouldn’t mind if animal kingdom shifted into a more, “adventure” theme park. I think there are some fun ips that could really work well within the realm of animal kingdom but the fact it has to relate to animals makes it kind of like they have to shoe horn things in.

Just call it animal adventure kingdom and allow both animal themes and adventure themes to coexist.

Casually a giant adventure land but themed with animals in mind instead of it being the end all be all focal point.

 

[Starship824]

I wouldn’t mind if animal kingdom shifted into a more, “adventure” theme park. I think there are some fun ips that could really work well within the realm of animal kingdom but the fact it has to relate to animals makes it kind of like they have to shoe horn things in.

Just call it animal adventure kingdom and allow both animal themes and adventure themes to coexist.

Casually a giant adventure land but themed with animals in mind instead of it being the end all be all focal point.

Please no. Just no.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨︎ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

I wouldn’t mind if animal kingdom shifted into a more, “adventure” theme park. I think there are some fun ips that could really work well within the realm of animal kingdom but the fact it has to relate to animals makes it kind of like they have to shoe horn things in.

Just call it animal adventure kingdom and allow both animal themes and adventure themes to coexist.

Casually a giant adventure land but themed with animals in mind instead of it being the end all be all focal point.

Disney has diluted all meaning of the word at this point. Means nothing. I vote No.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Encanto fits in a Latin America land
And a Latin America land fits DAK

I choose to see it this way and be happy about it

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I wouldn’t mind if animal kingdom shifted into a more, “adventure” theme park.

Then it’s just a giant Adventureland.

That’s the complaint of the Iger era…. The parks are losing all unique personalities and becoming “Igers IP land” - and then people shout “Walt had IP in the parks!” - yeah of course he did and so did Eisner. But he didn’t add 20,000 leagues into Frontierland cause the water was there and the riverboat was old fashioned. Haha.