Everything We Know So Far About the Reimagining of DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
All photos ©Disney unless otherwise noted
DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom may be one step closer to extinction. For the past few years, The Walt Disney Company has come out with various concepts for the re-theme of DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Recently, Disney filed permits with the Southern Florida Water Management District for backstage construction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom that many are speculating will be the beginnings of the construction project re-theming DinoLand U.S.A. to a Tropical Americas land. Walt Disney Imagineering also posted a behind-the-scenes video sharing their travels to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, one of many destinations where they’ll be drawing inspiration from for the Tropical Americas update at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. They also showed a sneak peak of the 3D models being used during development of the new area on the short video and in the first episode of Walt Disney Imagineering’s new YouTube series, We Call It Imagineering.
Recently, we went out to the park to have some fun at DinoLand U.S.A. and talk rumors, opinions, and news for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. While it’s likely we won’t hear much more until D23 2024 in August, we will be sure to update here with any and all updates around these changes. Check out the video below and scroll down for more details!
Last updated April 5th, 2024
Concept Art and Themes
The early concept art for the DinoLand U.S.A. retheme was released in 2022 at D23 Expo. Presented by Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro, the original re-theme idea was focused around Zootopia and Moana, with Zootopia replacing the DINOSAUR attraction, and Moana replacing the remainder of DinoLand with the attraction primarily in the former Primeval Whirl area. However, the ideas and plans have changed from 2022 to 2023, and will potentially see more changes at D23 in 2024.
Concept Art - D23 2022
The most recent concept art available for the DinoLand U.S.A. area Disney Parks released came out in September 2023 at Destination D23. The new concept would see the area re-themed to a Tropical Americas land focused around Indiana Jones, Encanto, and Coco. The region sometimes referred to as “Tropical Americas” is an area north and south of the equator in the Western Hemisphere including the northern part of South America up into Central America. The area is very biodiverse and fits in well with the tradition of regional theming at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with the current Africa and Asia areas. We go into more detail with the concept art below - scroll down for more!
Current Concept Art - Destination D23 2023
In a recent press visit to Walt Disney Imagineering, new concept art was shared for the archway seen in the sneak peak of the 3D models and the carousel planned for the land (via Scott Gustin on Twitter/X) but has not yet been released to the public.
Disney Parks also announced a replacement show for “It’s Tough To Be a Bug” in the Tree of Life to Zootopia where guests will join Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, and more characters traveling through the different worlds of Zootopia.
No closing date or other details have been announced yet for any of the upcoming re-theming and construction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom - we will be sure to update the blog with more information as it becomes available!
Concept Art Speculation
At Destination D23, both Indiana Jones and Encanto were announced as being considered for the reimagined DinoLand, with Coco being mentioned as well in an interview with Josh D’Amaro a few months after Destination D23. From the concept art, we can theorize a bit about what the Tropical Americas land would end up looking like once built, but again, all of this could change and is just speculation.
It appears from the concept art and ride structure that DINOSAUR would be re-themed to Indiana Jones. With a similar ride system as “Indiana Jones Adventure” attraction at Disneyland, this is the most logical conclusion for this area. However, while the ride system is the same the structure of the ride is quite different than the attraction at Disneyland, so the current rumors are that the attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom would not be a clone of the Disneyland attraction but rather have a new set and story based on Indiana Jones. Additionally, from the concept art there is a visible temple similar to the Mesoamerican / Mayan temple at the Mexico Pavilion in EPCOT potentially indicating the location for the story.
The concept art also clearly has a depiction of the Casita from Disney’s Encanto in the left corner where Primeval Whirl previously was located with additional Encanto theming on the merchandise location Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama. Aside from what you can see in the concept art, there isn’t really any additional information yet, but we will likely hear much more about this area at D23 Expo in August.
Additionally, Josh D’Amaro mentioned Coco in this land in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, which may be the attraction in the lower center of the concept art. This appears to be a carousel or spinning ride, but could also be a show, meet and greet, or really anything underneath the tent cover. This seems to be replacing The Boneyard playground area and the Dig Site. It also appears that Restaurantosaurus would be re-themed as well as the surrounding area with a fountain and additional seating.
As we mentioned a few times, this is all rumors and speculation and we likely won’t have any updates or further details until D23 Expo in August. We will be sure to update here as we find out more!
Permit Filing
Walt Disney World filed a permit in early March 2024 with the South Florida Water Management District for backstage construction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The permit is for an area of land north of Kali River Rapids near a road that passes Expedition Everest and DinoLand U.S.A. Titled “PROJECT RO” on the permits, the intended construction would be for four Walt Disney Imagineering trailers and one contractor trailer, 300+ parking spots, a new road paved, and water access. These types of installations have historically been built backstage for larger construction projects.
While there is no indication in the permits what the project area is being built for, the only significant construction project Disney has announced is the DinoLand U.S.A. re-theme. It’s unlikely the “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” re-theme would merit such a large installation. Much of the speculation points to this permit being the first step in that construction project. Other rumors point to construction at Rafiki’s Planet Watch - as BlogMickey points out in their article about the permits, there is an access road to the Conservation Station area from the project area. However, all of this is just inference from the information we have thus far and is unlikely to be confirmed until D23 Expo at the earliest.
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