Disney Teases 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences for Animal Kingdom's big refresh

Gallery / 6 Photos
Tropical Americas Encanto land concept art at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Posted: Saturday September 9, 2023 10:37am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

New experiences inspired by "Encanto" – the Academy Award winning Walt Disney Animation Studios film – and the fan-favorite adventurer Indiana Jones are being considered for the reimagined DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

New experiences inspired by “Encanto” and the fan-favorite adventurer Indiana Jones are being considered for the reimagined land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The new land themed to the tropical Americas would replace the entire Dino-Land U.S.A. area, with Indiana Jones replacing the existing Dinosaur ride, and Encanto replacing Dino-Rama. This latest concept also suggests that Disney has abandoned the plans for Moana and Zootopia in this area of the park.

Dinosaur is replaced in this concept art with Indiana Jones

Dino-Rama is replaced with Encanto

Imagineering Boss Bruce Vaughn said, "Imagine a land filled with authentic experiences from this part of the world. With all of the placemaking and storytelling you'd expect. Look, it's a beautiful region to explore and has been the inspiration for so many magical stories over the years. We're looking forward to bringing all of that to life"

Tropical Americas Encanto land concept art at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Vaughn contninued, "Imagineering has been talking about stories from this part of the world; Encanto with Indiana Jones just rose to the top. They give us so much to play with. We have a long way to go now and a lot more to discover. But our team here in Florida is all over it."

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lazyboy97o1 hour ago

Emergency egress would make sense, especially given its width. It would be able to accommodate a large number of people leaving all at once. The chicane would allow for landscaping and small built elements that would obscure the view along the path so there isn’t a direct line of sight.

lentesta1 hour ago

My understanding is that (A) is the primary exit. If that's the case (B) is some sort of access path.

Timothy_Q2 hours ago

TSM is also essentially 3 rides in one, so it's not a great comparison in that sense The single-track TSM building is more like 25.000sqft

Gremlin Gus2 hours ago

Ah I see, but actually I have one more question (I promise): So with the site plans for TA, the Encanto ride seems to have some backstage area behind the Casita, so I want to ask if you by any chance know, will the ride exit be located at either A or B in the image that I posted? Though I do wonder, if it is A, I wonder what the area behind the Casita will be used for, I'm guessing maybe for maintenance access for the Casita since we know there will be moving parts on the Casita, or maybe it's an emergency exit for load/unload

Purduevian2 hours ago

I'm shocked... any idea how long the FOP indoor queue is?

EricsBiscuit2 hours ago

I think the only other thing that could have put this area over the top would have been the addition of a roller coaster a la Raging Spirits in Paris or Tokyo and an animal exhibit. Around the park they still need an additional attraction in Pandora, Asia, and Africa. I think they should also bring the boats around the Discovery River back. Finally, they should add a nighttime show. That would make this the most well rounded park in Orlando.

MR.Dis3 hours ago

Is the ride a walk thru? Could it be something like the doom buggies in HM?

Gremlin Gus3 hours ago

Now that you mention it, yeah it really does seem like the indoor queue for Encanto ride is decently big, I'm wonder if WDI/Disney is expecting that ride to be decently popular with guests to warrant the queue size.

Timothy_Q3 hours ago

Sounds like it's on a similar scale to TDR's BATB and Frozen rides That's very exciting (and surprising)

lentesta3 hours ago

I don't think we know yet. IIRC, Imagineering said at the May conference that they were not yet at a point where they had a ride model built. Everything they focused on was exterior and setting. It was from those that you could see how the ride story focuses on an underworld god of water.

TheMaxRebo3 hours ago

Just checking things via Google maps, and Small World show building is ~46,000sf, Haunted Mansion Show building is ~38,500sf, You Story Mania is ~61,000 sqft but that includes indoor queue So yeah, seems rather large especially for a non-coaster

lentesta3 hours ago

The indoor part of the Encanto queue is ~1/3rd of a mile long. I'm not sure how that compares to other queues. The main part of the Encanto building, minus the queues, is over 60,000 s.f. Keep in mind that some of those scenes have 40+' ceilings too. It seems big.

TheMaxRebo4 hours ago

Yes, well in at least the plans do not show any Disney hasn't officially said there won't be any but unless something changes expectation is there will not be any

Purduevian4 hours ago

The queue is massive... but I think the ride is ~23,000sqft Compared to Pooh (plus the bathrooms and queue) which is ~20,000sqft its really not that crazy.