Newly refurbished Boneyard playground reopens at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Jun 15, 2023 in "The Boneyard"

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Posted: Thursday June 15, 2023 7:46pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Boneyard playground at Disney's Animal Kingdom has reopened after a six-week closure for refurbishment.

The closure began on May 1 and was reopened to guests today, one day later than planned.

The Boneyard overview

No major changes were made, and the playground has reopened with the same experience.

View all current and upcoming Walt Disney World refurbishments.

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SpectreJordanJun 16, 2023

I imagine it would've been another mine train/cart ride. You'd be riding whatever they transport the fossils on.

FettFanJun 15, 2023

Left over from the site's days as a gravel pit was a major piece of machinery: The Excavator. This ore car circuit was to form the basis for a huge, heavily-themed, mine cart-style roller coaster that would be one of Disney's Animal Kingdom's headline thrill rides. The storyline would be that the college students had once again restarted the Excavator, using it to transport dinosaur fossils. Source: https://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20131201/15216/unbuilt-disney-excavator-disneys-animal-kingdom

Disgruntled WaltJun 15, 2023

I don't know that I've ever heard an explanation of what this would have been. Why would there be a roller coaster in a dig-site?

FettFanJun 15, 2023

One word: Excavator.

SpectreJordanJun 15, 2023

That's the best outcome. An Oceania area could be really cool for DAK, but Dinosaurs still need some presence in the park. Keep the playground, restaurant & ride; maybe remake the ride with a new Dinosaur themed ride though. I think it's great that kids have an area like this. Especially already has a couple rides that they can't really do like Everest & Flights of Passage. Dinorama needs to go one way or another. I'd prefer if it was to expand the dinosaur presence in the park, but giving island themed animals a spotlight is a good idea too.

wdwmagicJun 15, 2023

Newly refurbished Boneyard playground reopens at Disney's Animal Kingdom https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/the-boneyard/news/15jun2023-newly-refurbished-boneyard-playground-reopens-at-disneys-animal-kingdom.htm

AKL2003Apr 26, 2023

Totally agree…I think this is the best we can hope for…

cjkeatingApr 26, 2023

On a related note (which I am sure means nothing because rides have been refurbed or updated before being closed shortly afterwards) but with the exception of one animatronic that was broken (the dino eating the other dino) Dinosaur was in great show condition this week.

WorldExplorerApr 26, 2023

Boneyard closing... ...for refurbishment. (Praying I don't regret this joke.)

MrPromeyApr 25, 2023

But I feel like Boneyard occupies the space you'd need for most of the queue for an attraction like you mentioned - not a space large enough for the actual attraction. Also, it's placement would be awful for trying to hide a giant attraction building the way it overlaps the entrance to that area of the park. If Disney were to get rid of that, I don't think it would be getting replaced with anything you'd actually want so I'm going to suggest that, like the Swiss Famly Treehouse in the MK for most people, you enjoy the theme and place-making it helps offer to the area since it was designed to fit with original Dinoland and not the Chester & Hester debacle and would likely be replaced with retail or a Chster & Hester/Aladdin level of attraction.

doctornickApr 25, 2023

Exactly. I have no qualms with Dinorama finally going away and retheming that area + Nemo to Oceania (especially if it included some new live animal enclosures as has been mentioned). But keep the rest of Dinoland USA as is with the current theme. If anything, I'd love to see them add another in theme dinosaur attraction, like something "run" by the Dino Institute where you can meet injured dinosaurs they brought to the present time and helped medically.

BocabearApr 25, 2023

I guess I think of the Finding Nemo Theater and the waterfront location as a way of justifying an Oceana expansion in that location...It would be hard to convey an island setting in a completely landlocked location... Not that they are going to spend any money on anything for a long lone while, but they could always flip it completely and do a whole new Dinosaur based area on a land-locked pad and convert the existing footprint to Oceana...

999th Happy HauntApr 25, 2023

Oceania should take over a different expansion plot, no need to eat into already existing space. Personally I think a family coaster like the originally planned Excavator and maybe a few smaller attractions would be fantastic in the Dinorama spot and would flesh out the badlands and dig site theming.