Tropical Americas Construction Update - Ground Clearing Continues, Disney Imagineering Teams Visit Site

7 days ago in "Tropical Americas"

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Dino-Rama Demolition - April 9, 2025

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Posted: Wednesday April 9, 2025 9:43am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The transformation of Disney's Animal Kingdom continues as work progresses on the highly anticipated Tropical Americas expansion.

Dino-Rama Demolition - April 9, 2025

The latest update from the former Dino-Rama site shows that demolition crews continue to work on ground clearing, with teams actively removing concrete flooring throughout the area.

Dino-Rama Demolition - April 9, 2025

Dino-Institute Billboard Removed

One of the final remnants of Dino-Rama—the Dino-Institute billboard—has now been removed. The billboard was one of the last Dino-Rama vertical elements still standing after the removal of TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, and the iconic Cementosaurus figure.

The Dino-Institute billboard pictured before its removal

With its removal, the entire former Dino-Rama area is now virtually cleared of themed elements as Disney prepares the land for new development.

Dino-Rama Demolition - April 9, 2025

Imagineers on Site

Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) teams were spotted touring the site today, likely evaluating progress, refining plans, or preparing for the next phase.

Dino-Rama Demolition - April 9, 2025

Current Work and What's Ahead

The current phase remains focused on:

Concrete removal across the former midway and attraction areas
Debris clearing and site preparation for new infrastructure and foundations

Once clearing is complete, Disney is expected to begin utility work and vertical construction to support the development of the new land.

Dino-Rama Demolition - April 9, 2025

About Tropical Americas

The Tropical Americas expansion—set to open in 2027—will replace Dinoland U.S.A. with a richly themed new land inspired by the cultures, landscapes, and biodiversity of Central and South America.

Tropical Americas Concept Art

Confirmed attractions include:

An Encanto-themed ride-through attraction where guests will explore the magical Madrigal family's casita
A brand-new Indiana Jones adventure replacing DINOSAUR after its closure in early 2026
A large quick-service hacienda-style restaurant
A carousel-style attraction featuring hand-carved animals from Disney stories
A lush, story-rich environment named Pueblo Esperanza

Discuss on the Forums

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The Leader of the Club17 hours ago

Don’t get me wrong, I love ENG. I would love to see Yzma’s lab coaster end up in Villains land. Animal Kingdom just doesn’t feel like the park for that particular concept. A dark ride following Kuzco & Pacha through the jungle could work, but I think people would be disappointed it’s not the lab coaster.

HauntedPirate19 hours ago

bmr159119 hours ago

I personally haven't complained about Encanto, but TENG is set in Peru, which is Tropical Americas and has a main character who is turned into a llama.

The Leader of the Club19 hours ago

I’m gonna push back on Emperor’s New Groove a bit. What does a coaster through Yzma’s lab have to do with the theme of DAK? Because she can turn people into animals? We sit here and complain that Indy and Encanto are just cramming IP in without regards to the theme, then do it anyway when it’s an IP that we have nostalgia for.

bmr159120 hours ago

Watch out, world, here he are.

TheMaxRebo21 hours ago

Wish has "You're a Star" which is a pretty fun song and fits "Star"light Thinking only of these two properties I do think Wish makes more sense to be a float in the nighttime parade and TENG would make for a better attraction

lazyboy97o21 hours ago

The success of the “roller coaster themed like India or whatever” came after Disney’s California Adventure and was still ignored.

celluloid21 hours ago

The character is thee primary reason for the IP. Adventure Is Indiana Jones, and what is Indiana Jones' relationship to animals? What images does that evoke? are the kinds of questions asked if a property was tied in. Primarily, Indiana Jones' connection with animals is his fearing of snakes while raiding temples and covering them with gasoline and setting them on fire. Your description and idea is great as far as what can be done, and we know he can be made to fit, but it also makes the character ironically enough inconsequential. It is not that your idea (and likely, they are coming up with one like it) are bad. But exploring and raiding are not the same. The same framework you wrote is Expedition Everest with the mythical creature as the diety protector, and there was more care to that then plopping Indiana Jones on that adventure, because its not quite a fit. (It was argued against getting Indy in AK for a long time)

KatiebugFan21 hours ago

Because the TENG is better than Wish and TENG is set in Peru which is in the Tropical America zone (I believe). Plus TENG has "Pull the lever Kronk" what does Wish have?

KDM3109121 hours ago

People love to hate DCA 1.0 and to some extent I get it, it didn't have much of the Disney "magic" to it. However, it was completely devoid of IP. Just original ideas. Could have been executed better, but at least there was an attempt. I wonder if the initial flop of it is what scared them and sealed the fate of virtually everything being IP only moving forward.

Ghost9322 hours ago

The Emperor's New Groove flopped in theaters, but was a major success on home video. Disney wouldn't have given the movie a direct-to-video spinoff or Disney Channel TV series if it saw no value in the franchise. I don't hate Wish like most people on here, but the two films aren't really comparable. I don't see any kind of devoted cult following for Wish.

Sir_Cliff22 hours ago

Animal Kingdom was at least originally about the relationship between humans and animals, if I remember correctly. In that case, Indiana Jones can fit if it is being used as a framework for exploring temples dedicated to animal deities by, for example, a Mayan civilisation. I don't think you really need to compromise either the theme of the character or the land in that regard: Indiana Jones is excavating this temple to X deity/ies and you are invited to visit it, you have interactions with the animal deity/ies, he gets annoyed with your misadventures and perhaps plays a role in saving you, and off you go. I don't think that kind of framework either compromises Indiana Jones' character or the theme of the park. It's more or less what happens in the other Indy rides, so I can't imagine it will be much different.

Gremlin Gus23 hours ago

Tbf, Emperor's New Groove is a more liked film than Wish

Giss Neric1 day ago

Ya'll want Emperor's New Groove representation at the parks when the movie underperformed at the box office but also complain why Wish got it's own float in the Starlight parade when the movie also underperformed.