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"

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.

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."

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."

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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Animaniac93-981 hour ago

3 years is historically how long it takes for Disney to build major attractions, and this land recycles much of the existing infrastructure. If construction starts January 2025, having it done by late 2027 sounds doable.

arich351 hour ago

All of it is supposed to be open in 3 years? Skeptical

brb10063 hours ago

Tropical Americas opens 2027

Timothy_Q18 hours ago

hard pass on ice age having any representation in the parks

James Alucobond19 hours ago

I don’t really see how? You’d be switching from a modern land where dinosaurs are extinct to one in the Pleistocene, which would still require a similar level of re-theming in order to work well unless you made two side-by-side time travel attractions.

Brer Panther19 hours ago

Okay, this is legitimately ridiculous... https://wdwnt.com/2024/11/ice-age-6-in-production/ Not just that they're doing a sixth (seventh if we count the Buck Wild movie) Ice Age after shutting down Blue Sky Studios, but they're still willing to milk the franchise and yet they won't add it to Dinoland? Wouldn't replacing Dino-Rama with Ice Age attractions be at least slightly cheaper than retheming the whole land?

JD801 day ago

AK is a great substitute for a mid-day break at the resort. Did it twice this last weekend. Went in grabbed lunch at Harambe while waiting to be sat at Nomad lounge for a few cocktails and churros. Sat at Nomad for over an hour or two before heading back to MK.

The Leader of the Club1 day ago

Tropical Americas not featuring Up in a greater capacity is the biggest miss here imo. I’d love to replace the Theater in the Wild with a Nemo attraction. I still think Jungle Book should go in this plot. Expand Asia.

Nickm20221 day ago

I was thinking about this too, it would be cool if they added this in the norther area of the park between river and Everest. Have Brother Bear in there, if you want try pocahontas, throw in Bambi. Personally I still can't get over how there is not an UP ride btw, especially in a Central/South American themed land. Really hope they move the birds and meet and greet over there once done.

Nickm20221 day ago

I was thinking the exact same thing lol

Jayspency2 days ago

Weirdly looks better?

Gusey2 days ago

Apart from the shop and Dino Jubilee, from January, it'll be the opening day lineup of Dinoland USA.

Marc Davis Fan2 days ago

This is already an improvement.