First Look at Tropical Americas Model Featuring Encanto and Indiana Jones Attractions at Disney's Animal Kingdom

WorldExplorer42 minutes ago

I love Dinosaur because it gives me, someone who is terrified of rollercoasters, a chance to have a really big thrill. I've descensitized myself to it by now, but when I was still new to it it was a HUGE rush. Not because the car rocks a lot, which, yes, it will also do in Indiana Jones. That's important, but it combines with the ride's setting and animatronics to make it really scary. I don't think it gets enough credit for that; this is a ride that, by all rights, is relatively tame on the actual physical thrill element (no drops or loops or anything), and yet it has a reputation for being one of the scariest things in the parks. It's because of its show elements. Nothing else in the park is like that. We're never getting a ride with this tone again. I think that's sad. Yes, I understand they used to be better, and I really wish I could've experienced them when they were (the whole implied carnotaurus chasing you sounds amazing), but until I saw someone on here mention that it I had no idea and was very sufficiently scared by what it is now.

rle4lunch1 hour ago

I will say that Indy has a frustratingly large amount of downtime, and for about 5 years (and directly after covid sanctions were lifted), the ride had about 50% of the effects turned off for about a year or so after the parks fully opened. We've been about 10 times (San Diego to Anaheim is 99 miles) in the last 3 years, and while many of the effects are back up and running, the ride is starting to feel it's age. I will die on the hill though in the opinion that it carries so much more energy than DINOSAUR ever did. DINO is so cheesy. Hell, even Mission Space got more love in a shorter amount of time that DINO ever has/did. The writing has been on the wall for it for a long long time.

Marc Davis Fan1 hour ago

This is really interesting. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences in such detail. I think one of the issues is that Dinosaur and Indy should be judged on their own merits, as completely different experiences, just like different omnimovers (e.g., Haunted Mansion "vs" Spaceship Earth). I grew up loving Dinosaur and it's still (even it its lessened form) among my favorite WDW attractions. At the same time, when I first went to DL and rode Indy without the knowledge of its relationship to Dinosaur, and without knowledge of the comparisons/hype, I was absolutely blown away. However, I took my father to DL a few years back, and we went on Indy after I'd told him that it's the same ride system as Dinosaur (which he also loves)... and he was disappointed just as you were! (This comparison game has also been unfair to Dinosaur, because the fan community knows it as derivative of Indy - which undersells it by preventing it from being viewed on its own merits.) This creates a problem: unlike most Indy riders in DL who usually judge it on its own merits, many/most will be like you and my father - having gone on Dinosaur and knowing this is the same ride system and layout. The good news is our insiders (e.g.,. @Moth) have suggested this will be an improved variation on the existing Indy rides. I hope it's improved enough to clearly exceed Dinosaur even for those making the comparison, but that won't necessarily be as easy as many think...

Professortango12 hours ago

I can say that I was a fan of Ellen's Energy Adventure. I really loved that ride and how it kept evolving throughout the ride time. Maelstrom...I liked the trolls a lot, but the rest of the ride was just okay. Frozen isn't a well-crafted ride, but the effects and sets look better now. Even if it lacks the fun of the previous attraction.

MLevell2 hours ago

So I first visited Animal Kingdom a few months after it opened and my favorite ride was Countdown to Extinction, on the next visit it was called Dinosaur but it was still my favorite ride. Living only a 2 and half hour drive away I made frequent visits to the parks in the 90's through the mid/late 00's and when it came to Animal Kingdom it was all about Dinosaur. As the years went on though I became aware that out in California there was an Indiana Jones ride that was similar to Dinosaur and this became a bit of a dream ride for me, a combination of one of my all time favorite rides with one of my all time favorite film series, and in 2019 I finally got to go to Disneyland and ride Indiana Jones Adventure... and I was disappointed. It's not a bad ride for sure but after around 15 years of building it up in my mind I was certainly disappointed, it lacked the energy, thrills and scares of Dinosaur and it was also a bad representation of Indiana Jones without Ford's likeness and a bad impression buried in the quiet audio mix. This disappointment with Indy was so at odds with conventional fan wisdom that in 2021 I decided to go back to Animal Kingdom to see if my memory was cheating, but no Dinosaur still blew me away and even with the new Avatar additions it was still my favorite ride in the park, and as soon as I got off I immediately got back in line to ride it again. On my 2nd visit to Disneyland in 2022 I re-rode Indy, and now with my expectations in check enjoyed it more, but my opinion on which is the better ride has not changed. I believe that Tropical Americas will be an overall improvement for the park from a lot of metrics. but I can't help but predict that my personal enjoyment of the park will be greatly reduced by the removal of Dinosaur. I hope Disney proved me wrong.

MisterPenguin2 hours ago

I can't. Bob ordered it. It's a little know fact that he suffers from ornithoscelidaphobia. Please don't tell him I'm one.

rle4lunch2 hours ago

I think the biggest disappointment I had with DINO was when I eventually got to ride Indy at DL (I had ridden DINO first, before my first visit to DL). From that point on, every time I rode DINO all I felt was how many opportunities WDO missed when developing essentially the same exact ride system/track. There's ZERO fun felt on DINO in comparison to Indy, no matter how far they crank up the soundtrack (last few times riding DINO it's been excruciatingly loud). All I feel, is, well, nothing. To date, I've road both Indy and DINO a lot, but Indy still has the kinetic fun, frantic pace and good set pieces (when it's not in B mode). On DINO, it's like, ooohhh, look, a vegetarian dino... oooh no,,,, the pterodactyl is gonna get us.... ooohh, no,,, not our dinosaur... picture time with the carnotaurus... now let's scurry before the asteroid hits.. it's all so blasé

EagleScout6103 hours ago

You're the president of Animal Kingdom! You can save Triceratops Spin for you and you alone all of us!

Sneaky3 hours ago

I agree that dinosaur has been kinda limping along. While some closures of rides recently were 100% premature and those rides couldve lasted (COUGH COUGH GMR), sometimes it’s just time for a ride to go. Even if a ride is good, like DINOSAUR, it’s been kinda decaying, and it isn’t connecting with guests as much anymore. It had a good respectable run, it will be missed, but it’s time for a change. Even if it was to stay Dino themed, a massive overhaul still would’ve been needed. I still feel like dinosaurs could’ve worked at dak, but idk. I feel like even though we dislike change a lot as parks fans, i feel this category of closures in recent years is bigger than we’d like to acknowledge. Now replacements are a whole other category. The fact that it was time for a change could mean less if the change isn’t good.

Starship8243 hours ago

BioReconstruct photos. The last DAK overhead photos he posted showed they weren't set up yet but I think that was about month ago.

MisterPenguin3 hours ago

NOOOO!!! MAH CHILDHOOD DESTROYED!!!

danlb_20003 hours ago

How would be know if the trailers are there or not?

rle4lunch4 hours ago

fixed that for you. don't put lipstick on a dead luau pig. it once was great, but the lack thereof to keep it relevant and not looking dingy has been apparent for at least a decade. the word 'rad' captures the timeframe in when that word, and the ride, were any good.

Sneaky5 hours ago

I’m not saying the people who loved maelstrom genuinely didn’t exist, just the amount of frozen people greatly outnumbered them.