Disney Parks Boss Josh D'Amaro talks more about Disney's plans for Indiana Jones at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Nov 20, 2023 in "Disney's Animal Kingdom"

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

Posted: Monday November 20, 2023 3:20pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In a new interview with EW, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro discusses Disney's early plans to bring Indiana Jones to Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

D'Amaro first revealed early plans for Indiana Jones to come to Disney's Animal Kingdom during a D23 fan event this past September.

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.

Dinosaur is replaced in this concept art with Indiana Jones

Fans were surprised by D'Amaro revealing blue-sky concepts still in the early planning stages and not green-lit. D'Amaro told EW, "We've got so many stories to tell, we have so many things we want to make even better in the theme parks. My plan is to continue to share that with the guests. I know people are like, 'My gosh, I can't believe he's saying this. Is he serious, is he not?' The answer is, we are absolutely serious."

Imagineering Boss Bruce Vaughn said at Destination D23, "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 continued, "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."

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 land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

D'Amaro's latest comments to EW today suggest that Indiana Jones remains at the forefront of Disney's plans in Florida, and the parks chairman is talking up Disney's ambitions.

"We know what this business is capable of, we know what our fans expect of us, and we're going all in. You're going to see more and more of that. As we make our way through some of these ideas, some of them will become real, and we'll say that's specifically what we're going to do, but I want our guests to be on the journey with us."

D'Amaro also addressed how Indiana Jones may fit into Disney's Animal Kingdom thematically. Much like when Avatar was announced for the park, fans are skeptical about its suitability for a part centered around nature and conservation.

"Animal Kingdom is about exploration and adventure," he says. "I was fortunate enough to have run that theme park, so I know how special it is, and I think there are a lot of stories that we can stay true to Animal Kingdom and express new properties in there, and that's what you see us starting to do."

You can read the full interview at EW.

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cjkeating16 days ago

Scrap metal prices were high during COVID and Disney was short on cash. I actually rode the same ride at a park in Kentucky last week... And as someone else said the ride manufacturer is still in business, they are still advertising the same model on their website.

Bocabear18 days ago

Having ridden both, I would say the Shanghai ride is drastically different...in tone, experience, storytelling style... They feel like different animals... There is no happy drinking song, there is no town being overrun by antiques-selling pirates... They are different animals... and they could play like a part one and a part two as the Shanghai version lightly references the original, but then goes someplace else....

doctornick18 days ago

Sure, they are both boat rides, but that's largely where the similarities stop. I don't think they are particular comparable experiences even though they are based on the same IP. Shrunken Treasure is more movement/thrilling due to the nature of the ride tech and is largely screened based compared to the much more traditional slow moving AA/physical set based POTC. I would agree that they should have different names, but I don't see a problem with both experiences being at the same resort especially at different parks. Though I would remove the Captain Jack elements at MK in order to further differentiate the rides.

Purduevian18 days ago

I might be forgetting something... IP Magic Kingdom EPCOT DHS AK Toy Story Buzz lightyear Toystory land Little Mermaid Undersea adventure Live action M&G, Voyage opening soon Frozen Stage Show appearance FEA and M&G For the first time in forever BATB Miniland with Enchanted tales Singalong Live onstage Moana Rumored Boat ride Journey of water M&G Indy Stunt Show Rumored attraction Encanto M&G Stage show Rumored attraction Coco Rumored attraction Exhibit Rumored attraction Aladdin Magic Carpets/M&G M&G of Jasmine (is this still going?) Snow White 7D M&G Alice Mad Tea M&G Pooh Many Adventures M&G Nemo Nemo and Friends Stage show Star Wars Not different parks, but launch bay, ST, and SWGE all exist as separate areas

James Alucobond18 days ago

The issue would be that they're two similar boat-based ride experiences. Yes, one would use substantially newer technology, but other instances of same-IP-in-same-resort are generally more distinct, like with the Moana water walkthrough and the rumored Moana flume, or the IJ stunt show and the IJ rover, or the Frozen sing-along and Frozen Ever After.

CAlexander18 days ago

I mean, one is character focused, and one is the entire movie focused. As Gusey mentioned, it's confusing if they're both called Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm not really sure it makes much sense to have 2 pirate themed areas at 2 different parks in the same resort - I don't think there's much demand for that

doctornick18 days ago

Then just call the DHS ride "Jack Sparrow and the Battle for the Sunken Treasure"

Gusey18 days ago

Probably that they're both called Pirates of the Caribbean. Even when they had the Pirates exhibit at Hollywood Studios, it was called The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow They can clone the technology, but they don't need to clone every international attraction for WDW

Sneakman18 days ago

Im not against that, I think the average guest might not. Heck, I’d like that, but I don’t think theyd do that wit them wanting to reboot the series.

doctornick18 days ago

What is confusing? One is classic POTC not related to the movies (if they remove Jack elements as suggested). The other is based directly on the movies and is a different experience. I have long supported this very idea and think it would be great. The two rides are quite distinct and would compliment each other as different experiences and would be fine in the same resort.