New Aerial Photos Reveal Tropical Americas Construction Progress at Disney's Animal Kingdom

21 days ago in "Tropical Americas"

Gallery / 3 Photos
Tropical Americas Construction - Aerial Views - June 13, 2025

Posted: Friday June 13, 2025 3:35pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

New aerial photos from @bioreconstruct on X reveal the latest progress on the Tropical Americas expansion at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as work moves beyond the former Dino-Rama footprint and into a previously backstage area.

Photo from @bioreconstruct on X

Demolition and grading have advanced into a former backstage operations zone, which aligns with Disney’s earlier announcement that Tropical Americas will span 11 acres.

Along with the continued ground clearing and leveling across the site, a large crane is on site, assisting with utility and infrastructure preparation.

Photo from @bioreconstruct on X

The original Dino-Rama structures, including TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games, and the Cementosaurus, have all been demolished over the past several months. Disney has also removed the smaller themed items like the Dino-Institute billboards.

What’s Coming to Tropical Americas

Tropical Americas Concept Art

The new land, opening in 2027, will feature:

A first Encanto ride-through attraction, set inside the magical casita of the Madrigal family
A brand-new Indiana Jones attraction, replacing DINOSAUR in 2026, set inside a Maya temple
A large quick-service restaurant designed like a traditional hacienda
A wood-carved carousel featuring Disney-inspired animals
Themed to a fictional village named Pueblo Esperanza, drawing from Central and South American influences

Indiana Jones Attraction Concept Art

Encanto-themed ride concept art

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

James Alucobond2 hours ago

We have no way of knowing if they will focus on Antonio and the animals in a manner that is thematically cohesive with Animal Kingdom, but there is literally no reason for them to carve out the slice of the film they have said they’re extracting if they’re not at least trying to do so. Concern is not unwarranted, but your continued insistence that it will be something they’ve already said it’s not is kind of silly.

Timothy_Q5 hours ago

The day Antonio gets his gift is only the first act of the movie The Family Madrigal, Colombia Mi Encanto, and Waiting on a Miracle The rest of the movie and all other songs take place the following day Hard to imagine them not wanting to include anything from act 2 and 3 though

Brer Panther6 hours ago

That doesn't necessarily mean the ride will focus on Antonio and his animal friends. It'll probably just be a generic tour of the house, seeing all the other Madrigals do their stuff, probably with a performance of "We Don't Talk About Bruno" thrown in for no reason, before we get to Antonio's room and then the ride ends.

lentesta7 hours ago

Not counting the load/unload areas, there are 12 distinct show scenes. All of them take place in and around the Madrigal house. The big show scene is Antonio's room.

Gremlin Gus8 hours ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Josh D'Amaro say something along the lines of that the ride takes place the day Antonio getting his gift and we would eventually end up in Antonio's room along with the Madrigals, which to me seems like the story of the Encanto attraction is going to expand upon that day in some way and not be a book report of the film.

Brer Panther8 hours ago

I'm still not convinced that the Encanto ride isn't just going to be a book report of the film. It takes place on the day Antonio got his gift... just like the whole film.

BlakeW3912 hours ago

Well, kind of and kind of not. Themes are just underlying ideas that are present in a work of art. DAK's themes are what they are, not because Joe Rhode told us what they are on Instagram, but because of the actual composition and narrative properties of DAK. Joe Rhode is the one who wove those themes into his work and he is more familiar with it than anyone else but if he just up and decided to say the theme of Animal Kingdom is actually the moral grey area of AI vs real intelligence... it wouldn't just become true. Not saying he would do that of course but you get what I mean.

BlakeW3912 hours ago

Yes, simply watching Antonio's ceremony play out as it did in the film would not fit Animal Kingdom. Regardless of if there is a cartoon jaguar on the ride or something. But from what I can tell, the Madrigal Casita won't even fit the tone and art style of the land being built around it, anymore than a cartoon pride rock would fit the tone and art style of Harambe. So even in a vaccuum, separate from the themes of DAK, I struggle to see how it'll be integrated well. And if recent Disney projects are any evidence, the answer is, not at all. Such is the problem with this patch work hodgepodge IP strategy they have going on.

doctornick14 hours ago

Joe returned to the company. How much control he has over "his park" at this point is a valid question, but I would expect him to be involved in this Tropical Americas build.

eddie10415 hours ago

Joe is still involved but not in a major capacity.

HMF19 hours ago

It is whatever Joe Rohde says it is but sadly he retired so now it is whatever the Marketing people say it is.

James Alucobond22 hours ago

Indy barely shows up even in the DL attraction. I doubt him having a big presence is a possibility even if they don’t adapt the IP particularly well to the park. We know this is not the format. It’s not a sequence of scenes from the film. It’s one scene from the film (the one with animals) teased apart into a longer scenario.

Brer Panther22 hours ago

That's gonna make the Encanto attraction pretty hard to make fit in Animal Kingdom too, then, won't it? If the Madrigals are the main characters of the ride and we're just going through the scenes watching them a la Under the Sea, I mean.

BlakeW3922 hours ago

Yes, but it also doesn't have to be. Themes aren't something that need to be spelled out to us by an author. They're underlying ideas that exist in art, which we can observe for ourselves.