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Exclusive Details: What's Replacing Dinoland USA at Animal Kingdom
🕑 Added 2024-05-06 20:48:58 +0000 UTCWhen Disney announced changes for Dinoland USA were on the way, many guests and pundits thought it would surely take a long time considering the slow pace of Disney construction in the past. Who can forget the many years of Tron to the point the ride had mold and mildew on its canopy before opening? And one would be forgiven for such pessimism giving that Epcot has undergone six years of transformation only to be -- perhaps -- a worse version of itself than when the construction began (it's still not finished).
When it comes to Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort, however, the time table is being moved up considerably according to sources I have spoken with. Not only should we expect a massive rush to close Dinoland and open the town of Esparanza set in Central America, but the details are actually quite nice.
According to sources we've spoken with, work is already underway to open the refurbished land in the southeastern portion of Animal Kingdom with great haste. That's impressive given it's not even closed yet! A carousel of animals is under construction in Bali. Land is being cleared for Imagineers to take up work residence. Animated ride-throughs of a new Indiana Jones attraction have been generated. And all of this is to help repair a theme park that is losing attendance despite Pandora's amazing atmosphere. One of the goals: increase the number of attractions guests want to ride in order to keep guests at the park for much, much longer.
Short on real animals but dense on attractions, Esparanza will be home to a carousel, a very impressive trackless ride celebrating the movie Encanto, and the current Dinsoaur ride will be transformed into an all-new Indiana Jones thrill ride. While we all thought Indiana Jones would be a cloned attraction brought over from Disneyland, our sources say that is not the case at all. Instead, Indiana Jones will be taking on a brand new adventure with guests as he battles against the Mayan god of snakes, Kukulkan. The track layout will not change for Dinosaur, but state-of-the-art effects are expected to be brought in as a suite of young Harrison Ford look-a-like animatronics lead you to treasure... that surely belongs in a museum.
But perhaps the most exciting part of this new land taking over Dinoland will be the Encanto attraction, which we are told will be similar in layout to Phantom Manor from the international Disney Parks. The story here is thematically appropriate with guests going to celebrate at the Madrigal's Casita. But things go awry after visiting Antonio's room where guests are taken into a magical animal adventure they can't seem to escape. Luckily, the Madrigal family will join with with all their powers to rescue the guests and bring them back to safety. You can definitely expect sightings of Bruno as well!
And while all of this sounds good -- in fact, I think it's a huge positive -- there are negatives that go along with what Disney is doing in Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately, despite Disney's claims of turbocharging the parks, there are major budget constraints here as reported to us. Josh D'Amaro is reported to have told Imagineers that they should do just enough to make existing buildings look like they weren't just painted new colors. That's not a good sign, even if D'Amaro is constrained by financial limits just like everyone else at Disney. Work to incorporate Coco is also lackluster at best. A dark ride into the Land of the Dead has fallen through with no plans to bring it to life. It's a major missed opportunity. I'm also disappointed there's not a bigger focus on animal exhibits like at the rest of the park. Many of the animals of Central and South America are seldom seen in zoos; this could have been an excellent opportunity. And, perhaps most importantly, removing dinosaurs from the park is a negative. Little boys are always going to love dinosaurs. If Disney really wanted to spend money well, they could have built this land east of Expedition Everest and revitalized the dinosaur area. It's a shame they didn't do that.
But overall, I have to say that these changes are likely to be a benefit to Animal Kingdom. I just hate the dinosaurs had to go to make it possible.
Comments
Erika-Raf
I have mixed feelings about Dino Land. On the one hand it would have been nice for it to be renovated, but it is really hard go compete with Jurassic Park too. Universal makes Disney Dinosaur themed anything look generic. Boys do like Dinosaurs, but Universal just does it better. I am not super thrilled about Encanto and Coco though, I just don't see Disney incorporating the animals for it to work in that park. Fantasy Land was a DISASTER! I am still SUPER salty about not getting Pixie Hollow and how the Land is so underwhelming.
Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle
With the success of the recent Avatar movie they seemed to have missed an opportunity to add another ride to Pandora. Technically it has two attractions, but I think it’s really just one and a half. The boat ride is nice but doesn’t really cut it.
Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle
The Mayan god of snakes: Snakes, why did it have to be snakes? :)
