It looks like Disney may be up to something 👀
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
In 2023, we saw some new changes that could possibly be coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. While we know the land will be changing, we don’t know what will take its place yet. We have gotten to see some concept art, hear what the plans would be, and have been left on our own to theorize about what could possibly be happening at the park. But based on a new permit filed, it appears things could be happening sooner than we thought or knew!
We have been waiting with bated breath for any sort of announcement about what the future looks like for Dinoland, U.S.A. — and it looks like we can finally exhale a little bit. We’ve been waiting for a timeline for a while, and we may finally have a very loose idea of when we could be seeing preparations for the closing of this land — and it could be soon.
DinoLand
Recently, Disney officially filed a permit with the South Florida Water Management District. While this doesn’t talk about any work being done on the land and no announcements have been made — this looks like it could be the very beginning of the end of Dinoland U.S.A..
Let’s go get that Dino!
The permit that was filed was for a trailer compound — generally these areas pop up around construction sights. The permit outlines that this compound will also have parking and utilities for those who will be working on-site.
©SWFMD
We know that this isn’t a timeline for the Dinoland, U.S.A. expansion, but we are hoping that this is the first step towards an announcement of what is to come. We don’t know for sure that is what this permit is for, but its proximity to Dinoland gives us hope.
©Disney Dinoland re-theme concept art
The concept art for this area was shared at a Destination D23 event in 2023. The land that they shared was called The Tropical Americas and could include experiences inspired by Indiana Jones and Encanto. We haven’t gotten much confirmation about these lands yet, but Disney executives did share that they are planning to go all in on this expansion.
DinoLand, U.S.A.
Some of the concept art we’ve seen shares beautiful images of color, life, and more. One thing we spotted was Casa Madrial! Casa Madrigal is the house where the Madrigal family lives, and it comes alive with love and magic. We also noticed what could even be a new carousel like the Prince Charming Regal Carousel in Magic Kingdom. There is truly so much that Disney could create in this new land if they use Encanto as their inspiration!
Concept art for DinoLand expansion ©Disney
We also wonder if the Indiana Jones ride from Disneyland could make its way to this new land! The ride Dinosaur uses a very similar ride design as the popular Indiana Jones ride on the West Coast, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Disney brought that ride to Disney World if they choose to go with the Indiana Jones theming.
Indiana Jones Adventure
Want more updates about this possible re-theme? Check out these posts!
- A New Invention Might Mean a Moana-themed Boat Ride Is Coming to Disney World!
- Could Dinoland U.S.A. Be Re-themed to Moana or Zootopia?
- Disney Just Dropped a MAJOR Hint about the Animal Kingdom Encanto Expansion!
- A Disney Executive Dropped a Hint About the Possible Animal Kingdom CHANGES!
We’re keeping our eyes out for all the news about this major expansion, so keep checking back in with us at DFB for the latest!
We’re Uncovering the SECRETS of Disney World’s theme park expansion plans!
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I am hoping for Indiana Jones. Not a fan of Encanto at all – don’t think it will age well.
Not even remotely interested in Encanto, hope it’s Indiana Jones
This would be a welcome change. With the exception of the Dinosaur ride, which was a pale imitation of Disneyland’s Indiana Jones Adventure despite using the same ride mechanism and track layout, Dinoland has been cringe-worthy, mostly consisting of a low-budget midway and off-the-shelf rides. This is a testament to the awful decisions made during Paul Pressler’s era of running the theme parks, and I’ll be happy to see it replaced with something truly imaginative from Disney’s Imagineers. DCA was largely rebuilt to get rid of the cheap designs Pressler insisted on over a decade ago–the question is what has taken WDW so long to clean this up?
I hope that they’ll leave the boneyard in place. My grandsons love it.
No interest in Encanto at all either. I agree they need to keep a version of the Boneyard for little ones to run off some steam!
We love Dinoland. It is a bit cheap and basic, but that’s part of the point, and it’s cute. And in being a basic playground, it offers a lot that doesn’t exist anywhere else in WDW. The kids can blow of steam and rule their own worlds for a little bit and the adults can SIT. Restaurantosaurus is really neat, and there is nothing cuter than Chip and Dale in their dino costumes. We found too many of the great things about Dinoland way too late. I just hope that what goes in has broad appeal – some of their plans definitely do not. And while change takes time, I hope they don’t shut down Dinoland just to let the area sit for years and years. So tired of seeing things shut down and replaced by nothing for way too long, especially when something relatively small is shut down (and Dinoland is a relatively small area compared to many). For example, Dinsey just had to shut down the only Stitch attraction several years ago (never mind the clearly full awareness of how much money Stitch merch brings in), they really needed that attraction to close, and nothing has happened with it. Meanwhile. there is nothing more basic, bigger, louder, or smellier than Tomrrowland Speedway, but apparently, that needs to live on forever. Disney has the resources to be able to plan better than that.