We found out A LOT of things coming to Disney World in the next few years during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event! However, one announcement has left us feeling a bit worried.
Animal Kingdom
We learned that a Cars Land AND a Villains Land will be coming to Magic Kingdom, a Monsters, Inc. Land will be coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, new lounges are coming to Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, and so much more. We also learned that Disney’s Animal Kingdom will also be seeing some big changes soon and we are feeling a bit anxious about what that might mean.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is getting a major makeover soon. At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Disney officially announced that DinoLand U.S.A. will be rethemed to Pueblo Esperanza, a Tropical Americas themed land. Along with the retheme of the area, there will also be new attractions, dining, and shopping. There will be a new Indiana Jones attraction replacing Dinosaur, as well as the first-ever Encanto ride.
Pueblo Esperanza ©Disney
While we are excited to experience the new area, we are also a bit anxious about the upcoming construction. When DinoLand U.S.A. does close, Animal Kingdom will be down two rides, a bunch of games, dining, shopping, and several meet and greets. The park already has the least amount of rides of the four Disney World parks, so that means there will be even less things to do while it is under construction.
DinoLand U.S.A
However, Disney has made it sounds like the area will be closing in phases so that may help a bit with the reduction in things to do. We don’t know how the phased closure will work yet, but we will likely get more news as construction begins on the area. There is still lots to explore in Animal Kingdom, but the closure of DinoLand U.S.A. will definitely decrease the options.
DinoRama game
Disney hasn’t announced the exact date of when the closures will begin yet. During the D23 expo, it was announced that construction for Pueblo Esperanza would being in the fall. That is coming up very quickly, but it is also a pretty vague statement. That could mean parts of DinoLand U.S.A. could close in September or we could have until December to get one last ride in to help get that dino!
Dinosaur
Without an exact timeline for the construction, we will have no idea when we will be riding Dinosaur for the last time or when we will eat at one of the restaurants for the last time. We are definitely going to savor every moment we have in DinoLand U.S.A. until it starts its retheme.
Restaurantosaurus
While Disney’s Animal Kingdom is often seen as the least popular park at Disney World, it is truly an underrated park and there is so much to do and explore. Check out our video for 25 things you should always do in Disney’s Animal Kingdom:
While we are a bit anxious about the retheme of DinoLand U.S.A., we are also excited to see what the retheme has in store for us. Stay tuned to DFB for all your Disney World tips and news!
Check out our favorite snacks in Animal Kingdom!
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Not sure why wdw seems to be leaving animals out of its Animal Kingdom park! That was the whole point when they built it. There is not a single word about live animals in their announcement! Why are they not bringing in animals from Central and South America for the new land (although there are some in The Oasis)? I also miss Camp Mickey and Minnie and Pocahontas who had a cute animal show, as well as the awful things they did go Harambe Village: destroying a beautiful and affordable restaurant in favor of an expensive buffet needing reservations with an open air bar! And if you want African souvenirs, better to go to AK Lodge or Busch Gardens Tampa! Kiddies will miss much of Dinoland and I haven’t heard of rides for them being included in this new land plus the Dinosaur ride was fun (but too dark). I’m sure the new space will be beautiful but I don’t think it really fits into Animal Kingdom. I know I’m in the minority but I didn’t like Encanto and, while I love Indy, he’s not a Disney creation…they only bought him (ditto Avatar). Seems like lately Disney is throwing the baby out with the bathwater and losing focus on Walt’s vision and the original mission statement for the park. I’m also concerned about all the construction and how it may take away from the ambience and peacefulness for visitors as well as the animals. Btw Animal Kingdom has always been my favorite park so, again, I’m in the minority….
I agree with Norma! I am not an Encanto fan either. The movie doesn’t have the “classic” Disney film vibe and will not age well over time. Indy was an explorer, so That fits in better with the overall Animal Kingdom theme, but Encanto doesn’t. And the music is awful!
I agree with Norma and also Animal Kingdom is one of my favorite parks. I have stayed at Jambo house many times . Animal Kingdom was not designed to be an amusement park. It’s whole purpose was to be a relaxing educational park where we could enjoy the animals along with the relaxing atmosphere, there are some rides there but a welcome change between the times that you’re enjoying the animals and relaxing atmosphere. Trying to turn Animal Kingdom into an amusement park just highlights how Disney loves to fix things that aren’t broken
While we loved Dinoland, I recognize it was an area with lmited appeal and little to do. What concerns me about these ‘expansions’ at WDW is that they seem to involve replacing operational areas more than creating new spaces (or reopening closed ones), and there seems to be a fair amount of people who are seeing those replacements, either because of what’s going away or what’s coming in or both, as unwelcome, off theme, or at least out of place. If people aren’t any more interested or there isn’t anything more to do in the ‘expanded’ areas than there was before, it won’t solve anything and it will be just be another reason Disney needs to raise prices again. I seriously wonder about the market research that Disney does before landing on these decisions. Surely there are things that would have been more well received than ideas that are getting 30-40% unhappy reactions. “Play” in EPCOT for example, was going into unused or outdated space, and I think a lot of people were very excited about that. I realize that Disney probably realized that the tech wasn’t up to it or would be prohibitively expensive, but I really don’t get what’s getting cut, replaced, or what’s coming up in some regards.
Interesting and misleading headline making it sound like the park isn’t popular. Animal Kingdom was still the 9th most visited theme park in North America last year! It’s just that the other three WDW parks were in the top five.
Closing DinoLand has zero impact on a visit. It’s been on life support for years. It was perhaps the weakest land in any Disney park and has been apparent from the beginning that the budget ran tight when opening the park. The future is much brighter for that area of the park.
I am with Norma! My kids loved going to the Dino dig! We love the restaurant and the Dino ride is one of our favorites! We also loved Primevilwhirl and were very sorry to see it go. I like the idea of adding the tropical Americas to the parks, but no-one in our family liked Encanto (or Avatar for that matter). I wish they would come up with some new ride themes and not base everything on IP—I think that will date and go out of style…I don’t think these new movies have as much staying power as the old ones. I’d love to see something Jungle Book if we have to have IP. We also love AK…wish they could learn to incorporate old and new together better.
Might be my Boomerism, but I’d prefer the Animal Kingdom to be developed more for real life… you know… animals. Less rides there is a plus. Enjoy the greatness of the animals
I agree with everyone! I truly wish they would bring more live animals! We, too, did not enjoy Encanto. My least favorite Disney movie. They need to replace the boneyard with a similar escape for the little ones if they take it away. It would be nice if they could do a Living with the Land type ride with an educational animal vibe. I wasn’t a fan of Dinoland, but this isn’t much of an improvement!