Walt Disney World has announced officially confirmed that Indiana Jones Adventure is replacing DINOSAUR in Animal Kingdom. This post shares details, concept art, and everything we know about the plan–plus comprehensive commentary about why this is happening and whether we think this is a good or bad ride reimagining for DAK.
This Indiana Jones Adventure news was announced during the “Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase” or Parks Panel presentation during the 2024 D23 Expo at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro offered a sneak peek at concept art for the future in addition and teased what was to come in a few years.
This was just one of several blockbuster announcements for Parks & Resorts at Horizons, during which D’Amaro revealed several ‘shovel to soil’ projects that will come online in the next 5 years, including over a half-dozen additions that will debut before the end of 2025. He and head Imagineer Bruce Vaughn followed through on their promise to deliver concrete details and not just tease more ‘Blue Sky’ possibilities.
One of the tentpole additions for Walt Disney World is Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom. Welcome to Pueblo Esperanza.
Construction on this new 11-acre section of the park is set to begin later this year, as permits have already been filed and work is underway on backstage facilities for makeshift Imagineering project offices.
Just like Harambe, the Tropical Americas area feels lived in, with a long, rich history. The space will be lush and sprawling, featuring a large fountain in the center where the villagers like to gather and tell stories. Additionally, a woodcarver has created a giant working carousel featuring his favorite animals from Disney stories. It’s a new take on a classic attraction that young families are going to love.
That’s not all that will be located here – the new land will include not one but two signature attractions! The first of these is the Encanto magical Madrigal Casita dark ride, which is likely to be a family-friendly Omnimover–perhaps like an Encanto-ized version of Mystic Manor.
The other attraction will reimagine and replace DINOSAUR. This will be a new Indiana Jones Adventure that will be different from the existing versions of the attraction at Disneyland in California and Tokyo DisneySea.
In this new adventure, the man with the hat has recently discovered a perfectly preserved Maya temple, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to explore it. He’s heard rumors about a mythical creature deep within the temple — and he’s got to see it for himself. So, he brings us along on the adventure… but will there be snakes? We’ll just have to wait and see.
For those keeping score at home, this is official confirmation of Indiana Jones Adventure coming to Walt Disney World. Tropical Americas was officially announced last fall at Destination D23, and at that point, Indiana Jones was “under consideration” for the region.
At the time, Bruce Vaughn indicated that Imagineering had considered several intellectual property options for the area, but that Encanto and Indiana Jones “rose to the top” because they give Imagineering “so much to play with.” Vaughn also indicated that there’s “a long way to go and a lot more to discover, but our team in Florida is all over it.”
At the time of Destination D23, we were also advised that this is what’s happening. That it was pretty much a done deal even last fall, but Disney just wasn’t ready to confirm for a variety of reasons. With that said, even some official announcements from the 2017 and 2019 D23 Expos didn’t come to fruition, so nothing is truly a “done deal” until it opens.
We once again received further unofficial confirmation earlier this year strongly signaling that these two franchises had been greenlit for the Animal Kingdom project. All of that suggested Tropical Americas featuring Encanto and Indiana Jones is the plan for Dino-Rama.
Now it’s official. And Coco is not part of the project. Of course, it still hasn’t opened–and it sounds like work won’t start until sometime in 2025 since D’Amaro indicated Tropical Americas would be done in phases to give guests time to say goodbye to DINOSAUR.
I’m not going to rehash my commentary from the original announcement at last year’s Destination D23, much of which focused on why Animal Kingdom is Disney’s top priority right now. That’s worth reading if you question the decision to move forward with expansion at Animal Kingdom as opposed to Beyond Big Thunder at Magic Kingdom or potential projects at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT.
As also mentioned there, I love the idea of reimagining DINOSAUR into Indiana Jones Adventure. For those who are unaware, Dinosaur and Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland use the exact same ride system and even a very similar track layout. Despite this, Indiana Jones Adventure is substantially superior. It’s not even close.
Indiana Jones Adventure is so far superior to its prehistoric counterpart that it’s completely understandable that guests don’t realize they’re (basically) the same underlying ride. Whereas DINOSAUR leans heavily on darkness, more darkness, empty show scenes and non-working effects, Indiana Jones Adventure is jam-packed with brilliantly-staged show scenes and an interior that’s far more engaging and satisfying. There are a number of effects, and the way these interplay with the track and everything coalesces is just incredible. It’s a definitive demonstration of why ride systems aren’t everything–or really, anything–and it’s all about how they’re utilized.
I’ve shared previously that my dream approach involved Disney going the “fast and cheap” route and merging the worlds of dinosaurs and Indiana Jones–a best of both worlds attraction that could also be accomplished with a smaller budget and quicker turnaround time. While I’d still like to see this happen, I now have reason to believe it will not occur–that the changes from DINOSAUR to Indiana Jones Adventure are actually pretty significant.
I’m perfectly fine with this, as I’ve also heard that the Animal Kingdom version will be streamlined like the Tokyo DisneySea incarnation (which basically means dropping all of the effects that broke over the years at Disneyland–hardly a surprise that they’d do this). Likewise, that the unique concept for the attraction is very good, in keeping with the spirit of Animal Kingdom (yes, it’ll feature snakes–many, many snakes) and could end up being the best of the bunch.
You might be inclined to expect that given that Indiana Jones Adventure is 30 years old. It stands to reason that a ride built decades later could and should be better. However, I’d argue that Indiana Jones Adventure truly stands the test of time, and is still one of the ‘modern’ masterpieces of Imagineering.
Indiana Jones Adventure is a masterclass in themed design, worldbuilding, and storytelling in thrill rides. It’s also Exhibit A in how Walt Disney World did dinosaurs dirty with that land at Animal Kingdom. Dinosaurs are, by every measure, the coolest creatures to ever have roamed the earth. They would eat Harrison Ford in 99 battles out of 100. (He’d get lucky and crash his plane into them 1 time.) As the newer attraction based on these beautiful beasts, DINOSAUR should be light years better than Indiana Jones Adventure. And yet, it’s not even remotely close.
Prior to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Indiana Jones Adventure was the most groundbreaking addition to Disneyland ever. Indiana Jones Adventure was a generation-defining attraction and paved the way not just for future rides, but influenced entire lands. Even three decades later, it’s still a revolutionary ride that feels fresh. Everything about Indiana Jones Adventure is excellent. The queue setting the tone, the humorous pre-show, and the daring journey aboard a transport vehicle deep into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in search of unimaginable rewards.
Even though the track layout of DINOSAUR is substantially similar, the queue and pre-show don’t have the same size or scale, nor does some of the interior space of the attraction. So it’s hardly a foregone conclusion that a newer version of the ride would be better. After all, DINOSAUR wasn’t!
If all goes well with this ride reimagining, Walt Disney World fans are in for a real treat. Even those who are upset that DINOSAUR’s countdown to extinction is now underway will almost assuredly be quickly won over by Indiana Jones Adventure. I’m pretty confident of that, even when taking nostalgia (it’s a helluva drug) into account.
Indiana Jones Adventure is just that much better–most reasonable fans, even the overly sentimental ones, will recognize that. Even as someone who has done both versions of this ride dozens of times, I can’t wait to have Indiana Jones Adventure at Walt Disney World. In part because I want all of you to experience it. But also, because I love it so much that I welcome a third edition with open arms. As Sallah would (and does) say, “it is unlike anything you have ever experienced, I assure you!”
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Your Thoughts
Excited that Imagineering is working on a third version of Indiana Jones Adventure, or would you prefer a totally original attraction for Animal Kingdom? What do you think of the Tropical Americas expansion announced for Animal Kingdom? What about the potential of Indiana Jones and Encanto in DAK? Excited or underwhelmed by the plan? Or, are you in wait and see mode with this? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
