Disney Shares New Details About DINOSAUR's Closing Date at Animal Kingdom

Dec 03, 2024 in "Dinosaur"

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Dinosaur overview

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Posted: Tuesday December 3, 2024 10:30am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In an update shared today, Disney provided new insight into the future of DINOSAUR at Animal Kingdom, suggesting the ride will remain operational through 2025 before closing permanently to make way for the Tropical Americas expansion.

Dinosaur overview

The update encourages guests to experience the ride while they still can, stating:

"While you're visiting, make sure you 'go get that dino' at DINOSAUR. We've previously shared this attraction will be closing to make way for the new Tropical Americas land – 2025 is your year to visit before it goes extinct!"

In an infographic, Disney says "THROUGH 2025 Go get that dino ... before extinction"

This announcement marks the clearest indication yet that DINOSAUR will remain a part of Animal Kingdom's lineup throughout next year, giving fans more time to experience the thrill ride before its eventual transformation, with a closing date sometime in 2026.

Tropical Americas Concept Art

DINOSAUR has been a cornerstone of Animal Kingdom since the park's opening in 1998, immersing guests in a time-travel adventure to save an Iguanodon from extinction. As part of the broader reimagining of Dinoland U.S.A. into the Tropical Americas, the ride will eventually be replaced by a new Indiana Jones attraction, which Disney says will feature a journey through a newly discovered Maya temple.

Indiana Jones Attraction Concept Art

While demolition and construction are set to begin in parts of Dinoland U.S.A. as early as January 2025, this new update confirms that DINOSAUR will remain open for the time being, allowing fans one last opportunity to experience the prehistoric adventure.

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Sorcerer Mickey32 minutes ago

Good, because Encanto is the one that will actually happen.

meggo8192 hours ago

Except for “and” instead of “an” (an easy typo or autocorrect), it was fine. I followed 🤷‍♀️

Agent H5 hours ago

Thank you for clarifying I think there may have been a bit of a word jumble in your original post no offense of course I wasn’t trying to say Indiana Jones will be bad merely that I’m looking forward to the encanto ride more

TheCoasterNerd5 hours ago

I will give Indy credit in that it's a new story. Sure, it's based on the exsting DLR ride, but it's an original story not seen in any other rides/movies/tv shows/games

TheMaxRebo5 hours ago

I can try :) The ride system for Dinosaur will be reused for Indy and is the same as the Indy ride at Disneyland - which I found superior to Dinosaur and I am optimistic the Indy ride version at AK will be at least as good as the Disneyland version - meaning this will be an upgrade and a very good attraction ... but something that has been done before and similar to another existing ride Encanto will/should/could be something very unique and cool and of a very large scale and really stand out ... plus just the "unknown" of what it will actually be brings some more excitement to it. Guess the unknown is more exciting to me than a known quantity but both will be positive additions to the park

Agent H5 hours ago

I’m a little confused about what you’re saying mind clarifying?

TheMaxRebo5 hours ago

I am too - though I do think the existing Indy is a better version that what Dinosaur was so do view that as (potentially) and upgrade as well. But the Encanto ride could be really unique and "special" vs just a very good attraction

EagleScout6106 hours ago

New photos. More of the queue for Triceratop Spin has been demolished -

JackCH7 hours ago

I am too mainly because we really already know what the basic experience of Indy will be, Encanto will be completely new and therefore has a lot more "potential."

Agent H11 hours ago

I’m more excited for the encanto ride than the Indiana jones one

Stripes11 hours ago

Based on the plans, I estimated that the Encanto show building will be about 74,000 square feet. For context, the Haunted Mansion show building, another omnimover ride, is about 45,000 square feet. I’m sure Encanto will have a larger indoor queue than Haunted Mansion, but even with that in mind, this will be a fantastic addition to DAK.