Disney Parks Boss Josh D'Amaro talks more about Disney's plans for Indiana Jones at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Nov 20, 2023 in "Disney's Animal Kingdom"

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Tropical Americas Encanto land concept art at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Posted: Monday November 20, 2023 3:20pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In a new interview with EW, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro discusses Disney's early plans to bring Indiana Jones to Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

D'Amaro first revealed early plans for Indiana Jones to come to Disney's Animal Kingdom during a D23 fan event this past September.

The new land themed to the tropical Americas would replace the entire Dino-Land U.S.A. area, with Indiana Jones replacing the existing Dinosaur ride, and Encanto replacing Dino-Rama.

Dinosaur is replaced in this concept art with Indiana Jones

Fans were surprised by D'Amaro revealing blue-sky concepts still in the early planning stages and not green-lit. D'Amaro told EW, "We've got so many stories to tell, we have so many things we want to make even better in the theme parks. My plan is to continue to share that with the guests. I know people are like, 'My gosh, I can't believe he's saying this. Is he serious, is he not?' The answer is, we are absolutely serious."

Imagineering Boss Bruce Vaughn said at Destination D23, "Imagine a land filled with authentic experiences from this part of the world. With all of the placemaking and storytelling you'd expect. Look, 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 Encanto land concept art at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Vaughn continued, "Imagineering has been talking about stories from this part of the world; Encanto with Indiana Jones just rose to the top. They give us so much to play with. We have a long way to go now and a lot more to discover. But our team here in Florida is all over it."

New experiences inspired by “Encanto” – the Academy Award winning Walt Disney Animation Studios film – and the fan-favorite adventurer Indiana Jones are being considered for the reimagined land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

D'Amaro's latest comments to EW today suggest that Indiana Jones remains at the forefront of Disney's plans in Florida, and the parks chairman is talking up Disney's ambitions.

"We know what this business is capable of, we know what our fans expect of us, and we're going all in. You're going to see more and more of that. As we make our way through some of these ideas, some of them will become real, and we'll say that's specifically what we're going to do, but I want our guests to be on the journey with us."

D'Amaro also addressed how Indiana Jones may fit into Disney's Animal Kingdom thematically. Much like when Avatar was announced for the park, fans are skeptical about its suitability for a part centered around nature and conservation.

"Animal Kingdom is about exploration and adventure," he says. "I was fortunate enough to have run that theme park, so I know how special it is, and I think there are a lot of stories that we can stay true to Animal Kingdom and express new properties in there, and that's what you see us starting to do."

You can read the full interview at EW.

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eddie1047 hours ago

capsshield9 hours ago

They will also need more rides and or attractions

flyerjab9 hours ago

I actually see it as return on value for park guests. A lot of visitors probably aren’t park hoppers. If you are looking to spend time at the parks on a trip, are you dropping money on a park that closes at 7 or at 9, 10 or 11? DAK is most likely cannibalized by the other WDW parks. Now add Epic Universe to that mix. This park needs more popular rides that are open all day and through the night, rain or shine. That is what Tropical Americas gives them, along with the Lion King dark ride. Harambe needs more to do after dark. A popular dark ride would help them in this regard. And if they really want to make this park competitive long term, they NEED a night time show…something original.

pigglewiggle11 hours ago

All this new stuff that's been "announced" but not announced, do you think we really have to wait until D23 to hear timelines of closures? It would be a dream to hear about planned closures at least more than 4 months in advance of a trip. 😄

BrianLo11 hours ago

I'd love to be wrong, but I can't help thinking 1) Indy 2) Encanto 3) Tropical Americas 4) Zootopia TOL 5) Lion King 6) Night Show seems to be a bit too optimistic. I just don't know if that Lion King (or whatever dealers choice) attraction will come to be. But maybe they are really serious about not giving up their length of stay to Epic medium term so feel Animal Kingdom needs to be turned into unskippable.

flyerjab1 day ago

I will never argue about this. I am for IP and non-IP attractions. But arguing for non-IP attractions as your main anchor attractions just isn’t happening anymore. As long as Iger calls the shots we have to deal with the reality we live in. And that reality is IP mandated attractions, all day, every day (unfortunately).

The Leader of the Club1 day ago

Let’s just move villains land to DAK: Elephant Graveyard Coaster, Kaa’s Jungle Gym, It’s Tough to be a Bug, and a meet and greet with the Hunter who killed Bambi’s mom!

Bocabear1 day ago

They also purpose-built that enormous seating area for the failed water show... They need to revisit that... A water based Parade with performers and floats would be amazing... the more evening entertainment they create, the more reasons they will have to keep people in the park longer.... The first water based show was a good idea with a "designed By Committee" show.... They need something without water screens and cartoons... Beautiful floating sets....a true Water Pageant....Designed to celebrate each of the thematic areas of the park, Africa, Asia, Pandora, Tropical Americas.... An entire Folklorico unit would be amazing.... NO Disney cartoons...something special and unique to this park....

Bastet1 day ago

Sorry, wrong thread

Bastet1 day ago

I would love a villains land - Bald Mountain hanging coaster, Cruella's car chase, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Hades Hall for meet n greets, headless horseman carousel .

osian1 day ago

As opposed to having popular non-IP atttractions? Given a choice between popular and non-popular, or IP and non-IP, which would be best for the park?

doctornick1 day ago

I'm confident that they will add a new nighttime show at some point in the upcoming years. The question I have is "when?" - adding a show now would help for if/when they down the attractions in Dinoland so replacing some of that capacity without other "stuff". But if it is a night show than you have to extend park hours which means even more hours of time for guests to need "stuff to do". the reverse option is wait until Tropical Americas and whatever else is to be done if completed and opened and the park has a lot more attraction capacity - then you can extend hours and have a nighttime show much more easily and effectively. I actually think the best option is adding a day time show on the water. Something of higher quality than the kites but not necessarily a very long show given that many folks won't want to sit in the sun for a long period mid day. So maybe something that is more brief but runs a few times in the afternoon. Complete aside, but I'd got to add that Awakenings on the tree is also a great nighttime enhancement that it is sad it doesn't get used much now given the shorter hours so the park isn't open as much after dark.

flyerjab1 day ago

I don’t see how they don’t give DAK another shot with a nighttime show. I actually really liked their last attempt. It just wasn’t reliable due to weather issues. They have to come up with something that drives people to this park later in the evening. That’s why I won’t be surprised if this expansion/refurb of Dinoland is more focused on rides and attractions as opposed to animals. The animal exhibits shutdown later in the day so they will need more attractions that draw in guests. I know it isn’t universally liked here, but having popular IP-based attractions that are all indoors or covered from the elements will help this park tremendously. Harambe in its current form suffers because its big attraction and the accompanying Gorilla Falls trail shut down, leaving little for guests to do at night. It won’t surprise me if the Lion King attraction does happen here as it will give guests a reason to go to Harambe after dark. Adding Pandora helped in this regard: 2 popular rides that are indoor that can be enjoyed at any time day. And the land itself is beautiful to experience at night. Now, add the Tropical Americas land with three attractions, all popular IPs that are indoor rides that are open all day. This will increase guest flow to the park later into the evening. Add a successful, unique night time show (maybe with drones??) and this becomes a more full day park.

eddie1041 day ago

My dream vision … Encanto and Coco both get a substantial dark ride of some sort. The “bonus” attractions get approved (Lion King and Pandora Expansion) Smaller B and C tickets are taken into account like this Carousel idea which is great but shouldn’t be the headliner ride for its property. Also hope the rumored night show is also green lit as well.