Tropical Americas Progress: New Contractor Lot Approved at Disney's Animal Kingdom

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Tropical Americas Contractor Lot Permit

Posted: Tuesday May 13, 2025 3:50pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has received official approval from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for the construction of a new contractor support area near Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

The permit, issued on May 13, 2025, authorizes the development of a 10.43-acre DAK Contractor Lot, which will provide parking and infrastructure for crews working on the Tropical Americas expansion.

Tropical Americas Contractor Lot Permit

According to the permit, the project will not affect any wetlands or surface waters, and no endangered or threatened species were observed on the site. The area is already part of a previously approved stormwater basin under CFTOD’s master permit.

This infrastructure project is another sign of continued progress on the Tropical Americas land at Animal Kingdom, which will replace the former Dinoland U.S.A. with new experiences themed to Encanto and Indiana Jones. Demolition in the area began earlier this year.

Tropical Americas Concept Art

The contractor lot is designed to handle increased construction activity and help facilitate the multi-year transformation of the park.

Tropical Americas Contractor Lot Permit

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Gremlin Gus2 minutes ago

Tbf, Ray and Dr. Facillier are dead by the end of the movie, so how would you really explain them being physically present in TBA if they're dead by the time TBA takes place in unless they somehow magically appear there for some reason

ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ10 minutes ago

The mind boggles. A passive Ray-narrated ride that turns active with Facilier would have been pitch perfect. And don't even get me started on the knockoff Star Wars land. At least Encanto looks to deliver and Indy has actual talent behind it.

eddie10412 minutes ago

Yep and it’s about to get even more love.

Fox&Hound32 minutes ago

Obviously the while family will be in the ride. That would be like building a Star Wars land without Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Or Princess and the Frog without Naveen, Facillier, or Ray. Oh, wait…

ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ49 minutes ago

Why would they?

splah1 hour ago

raises the question, what are the odd they don't have the rolling ball finale?

KDM3109111 hours ago

Love how now that the area is doomed they are giving it any type of love

James Alucobond11 hours ago

He's seen for about 20 seconds of a ~3.5-minute ride as a pair of narrative bookends.

Touchdown11 hours ago

And Everest.

TrainsOfDisney14 hours ago

He appears in 3 scenes - pretty memorable ones at that.

lentesta15 hours ago

Bruno is in the walls in the standby queue.

James Alucobond15 hours ago

Again, if they had no intention of at least superficially featuring animals prominently, they would not pick Antonio’s ceremony as the basis for the ride. That does not mean that the Madrigals won’t show up, that songs from later in the film won’t be sung as lightly modified reprises (in the same vein as Frozen Ever After), or that they won’t drop the ball on exploring anything deeper than “look at all the animals”.

Brer Panther15 hours ago

Exactly. I'd be shocked if the animals were very important seeing as they're minor characters at best in the movie.

Gremlin Gus16 hours ago

The ride was always going to focus on Mirabel since she's the protagonist of the film and she's popular. If they made the ride about Antonio and the rest of the Madrigals are side characters in this ride, then it really doesn't work that well and it makes more sense for Mirabel to be the main character of the ride with the rest being side characters. And I'm sure Antonio will be involved in some way, sure maybe not the main character per say, but probably important like a sidekick if that makes any sense. I mean yeah he is, sure he's not #1 most popular, but you get people who like him because he's a cute character and all.