New Aerial Photos Reveal Site Preparation for Tropical Americas Land at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Oct 14, 2024 in "Tropical Americas"

Gallery / 1 Photo
Tropical Americas Concept Art

Posted: Monday October 14, 2024 10:52am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

New aerial photos from @bioreconstruct reveal significant site preparation underway for the Walt Disney Imagineering trailer compound to support the construction of Disney's Animal Kingdom's upcoming Tropical Americas land.

The photos show extensive land clearing and utility work behind Kali River Rapids, marking the first visible steps in the much-anticipated transformation of the park.

Imagineering Trailer Compound

Walt Disney Imagineering recently filed several Notices of Commencement related to the Tropical Americas expansion. The most recent filing, assigned to Modular Building Systems International, details the installation of trailers at the back of the park. These types of facilities are standard for large-scale construction projects at Disney parks. Similar temporary compounds were used during the Fantasyland redevelopment at Magic Kingdom and the creation of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The trailer compound will serve as a hub for the teams working on the redevelopment of DinoLand U.S.A.

Disney's Animal Kingdom WDI Trailer Compound Permit

Encanto and Indiana Jones Transform DinoLand U.S.A.

During the D23 Fan Event in 2023, Disney revealed that the new experiences in this area would draw from Encanto, the Academy Award-winning animated film, and the beloved Indiana Jones franchise. The land will replace the entire DinoLand U.S.A. area, with Indiana Jones taking over the existing DINOSAUR ride, and Encanto set to reimagine the Dino-Rama section.

Tropical Americas Concept Model

Bruce Vaughn, head of Imagineering, shared insights into the vision for this new land:

"Imagine a land filled with authentic experiences from this part of the world. With all of the placemaking and storytelling you'd expect. 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."

Tropical Americas Concept Art

Discuss on the Forums

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Sorcerer Mickey50 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?

TheMaxRebo6 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 -

JackCH8 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.