New Aerial Photos Reveal Site Preparation for Tropical Americas Land at Disney's Animal Kingdom

5 hours ago in "Tropical Americas"

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Tropical Americas Concept Art

Posted: Monday October 14, 2024 10:52am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

New aerial photos from @bioreconstruct reveal significant site preparation underway for the Walt Disney Imagineering trailer compound to support the construction of Disney's Animal Kingdom's upcoming Tropical Americas land.

The photos show extensive land clearing and utility work behind Kali River Rapids, marking the first visible steps in the much-anticipated transformation of the park.

Imagineering Trailer Compound

Walt Disney Imagineering recently filed several Notices of Commencement related to the Tropical Americas expansion. The most recent filing, assigned to Modular Building Systems International, details the installation of trailers at the back of the park. These types of facilities are standard for large-scale construction projects at Disney parks. Similar temporary compounds were used during the Fantasyland redevelopment at Magic Kingdom and the creation of Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The trailer compound will serve as a hub for the teams working on the redevelopment of DinoLand U.S.A.

Disney's Animal Kingdom WDI Trailer Compound Permit

Encanto and Indiana Jones Transform DinoLand U.S.A.

During the D23 Fan Event in 2023, Disney revealed that the new experiences in this area would draw from Encanto, the Academy Award-winning animated film, and the beloved Indiana Jones franchise. The land will replace the entire DinoLand U.S.A. area, with Indiana Jones taking over the existing DINOSAUR ride, and Encanto set to reimagine the Dino-Rama section.

Tropical Americas Concept Model

Bruce Vaughn, head of Imagineering, shared insights into the vision for this new land:

"Imagine a land filled with authentic experiences from this part of the world. With all of the placemaking and storytelling you'd expect. 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 Concept Art

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EagleScout610Less than a minute ago

Good riddence

Gusey10 minutes ago

I've crunched the numbers, and TriceraTop Spin will have been opened for 8473 days (roughly 23 years & 2 months) before it closed. That means, it's operated longer than 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at 8362 days (roughly 22 years & 10 months) and Ellen's Energy Adventure at 7637 days (roughly 20 years and 10 months). Studio Backlot Tour May 1, 1989 September 27, 2014 9280 25 years, 4 months, 26 days River Country June 20, 1976 November 2, 2001 9266 25 years, 4 months, 13 days Innoventions September 29, 1994 September 8, 2019 9110 24 years, 11 months, 10 days El Rio del Tempo October 1, 1982 January 2, 2007 8859 24 years, 3 months, 1 day TriceraTop Spin November 1, 2001 January 12, 2025 8473 23 years, 2 months, 11 days 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea October 14, 1971 September 5, 1994 8362 22 years, 10 months, 22 days Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes October 1, 1971 January 1, 1994 8128 22 years, 3 months Ellen's Energy Adventure September 15, 1996 August 13, 2017 7637 20 years, 10 months, 29 days

KDM3109119 minutes ago

I wish they'd move Triceratop to DHS as a Trixie spinner, which would require minimal investment in the grand scheme and at least give DHS one "short wait" attraction

arich3535 minutes ago

I wish they would keep the playground, just retheme it. My kids love that area

KDM3109135 minutes ago

At least we get one more holiday season with the decorations that are cute. I expect Dinosaur itself is safe until after spring break at the least. Very sad day, though.

lentesta38 minutes ago

That Chester & Hester's date is later than the date we'd heard a few weeks ago, which makes me think the Dinosaur date is almost certainly also pushed back.

lazyboy97o38 minutes ago

Epic Universe is an example of how it is something that is scaled. The lands do not have the same resources because the scope of work for each is not the same. All while also having teams in various stages of work on two additional parks and new additions to the existing parks. If there was a point where you couldn’t scale up more than just designing a park would be a serious issue, but it’s not. A bigger land isn’t the limitation of scaling the team to accomplish the work.

Gusey44 minutes ago

So construction begins Fall 2024 was actually about the backstage stuff? 🤔

TrainsOfDisney52 minutes ago

that photo in the twitter post reminded me - I do hope they can save the concrete dinosaur outside of the gift shop. It was created by folk artist Gregory Warmack, who has since passed away. His art is on display in many museums including the Smithsonian.

Moth1 hour ago

I'm planning a funeral.

gerarar1 hour ago

The tour guide and the guy were WDI. Their shirts had the WDI logo and imagery on it. The others not so sure, could be managers at the park or something, but they do seem Parks related per their name tag. They pointed to where I was standing while passing by, which is where the walls are currently Edit just saw @wdwmagic's reply, so now I'm sorta confused why two of them were wearing WDI outfits. I walked right past them when they were under the dinosaur sculpture to get a better view lol

Disney Analyst1 hour ago

DarkMetroid5671 hour ago

Tbh I really shouldn’t be surprised at this community’s willingness to complain, but even for you guys this is a new low lol

Mr. Sullivan1 hour ago

I know it’s not the same staff or a small group working, that’s not my point. I’m not speaking just about people with boots on the ground at a construction site, I’m talking about everyone involved from the bottom to the top as well as the limit of what they’re able to do at once and what resources are available to them. There does come a point where there are too many balls in the air and not enough eyes and hands to successfully watch and juggle them all. The more attractions you add to a project, the more people have to get involved, the more logistics you have to manage, the more money you have to move around (which will impact other components of the project), the more resources you have to use, the more time it takes. 4 attractions is too much commitment and too many elements all at once for TA when 4 other parks are receiving the same amount of intense work. As for the Epic comparison, there isn’t really a comparison to be made. Epic Universe isn’t an open and operational theme park. None of that work has to consider guests walking through the park while they’re working. It’s also interesting to note that each of Epic’s lands is also getting only 1-3 attractions each, and Disney plans to have a lot of this stuff open within the next 5 or so years.