Disney Files Key Permit for Tropical Americas Expansion at Animal Kingdom, Detailing Site Demolition Plan

Oct 28, 2024 in "Tropical Americas"

Gallery / 3 Photos
Tropical Americas Permit and Site Demolition Plan - October 2024

Posted: Monday October 28, 2024 12:45pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has taken a significant step forward in transforming Dinoland U.S.A. at Animal Kingdom, filing a key permit with the South Florida Water Management District for the first phase of the Tropical Americas expansion, also known as Project Ro.

The permit includes a detailed site demolition plan, outlining which areas of Dinoland U.S.A. will be removed to make way for the new land's first attractions.

Site Demolition Plan

Demolition Details in Phase One

The permit's site demolition plan reveals the first areas set for removal, focusing on Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama, including its carnival-style Fossil Fun Games, the TriceraTop Spin ride, and the Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures gift shop. The removal of these attractions is a first step in preparing for Tropical Americas, which will introduce new themed areas inspired by the vibrant cultures and rich ecosystems of Central and South America.

Pre and Post Development - Pervious and Impervious Areas

Preparing for Tropical Americas

Project Ro's filing marks a key milestone towards the start of work on Tropical Americas, a land that will bring all-new new experiences, including the first-ever "Encanto"-themed attraction, and an entirely new Indiana Jones adventure. This new attraction will take guests on an archaeological journey through a recently uncovered Maya temple, with Indiana Jones leading the way as they search for a mysterious creature rumored to inhabit the temple's depths.

The permit also addresses environmental impacts and measures to protect surrounding areas during the project, which aligns with Disney's commitment to maintaining Animal Kingdom's focus on conservation.

Tropical Americas Concept Model

The first wave of closures will take place in January 2025, with the final day for guests to experience TriceraTop Spin, the Fossil Fun Games, and the charming shop Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures set for January 12, 2025.

While much of the Dino-Rama area will be closing, several DinoLand attractions will remain open, at least for now. DINOSAUR, The Boneyard, Restaurantosaurus, Dino-Bite Snacks, and Trilo-Bites will still be available to visitors until later in 2025.

The entire Tropical Americas land slated to open in 2027.

Tropical Americas Concept Art

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JD8016 hours ago

That carousel is going to look gorgeous at night (assuming the park is open past sunset).

James Alucobond1 day ago

They removed it a while ago when they released the new wave of art. The outlining bushes remaining in the art are fun to take note of, though. https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/animal-kingdom/gallery/11aug2024-tropical-americas-pueblo-esperanza-concept-art.htm#&gid=1&pid=1

Gremlin Gus1 day ago

They removed it when they showed off the concept art at last year's D23, and funnily enough, you can kind of see where the river used to be with the plants around the river still there in the concept art. Kind of sucks that they removed as it does look cool, but eh, I can live without it.

Timothy_Q1 day ago

Worth pointing out they removed the pink river in front of Casita in the concept art

EagleScout6101 day ago

https://mickeyblog.com/2025/03/28/photos-new-tropical-americas-signage-makes-its-way-to-disneys-animal-kingdom/

Disney Analyst1 day ago

I was mostly curious if anyone knows whether it's the ride system, or other errors causing downtime (i.e. peoples items falling onto track, etc.). We may have had times where we had lightning lanes switched to Multiple Experience passes due to downtime, but I honestly didn't keep track well enough to remember which ride gave us that pass, how long it was down, etc. All I know is ride downtime never impacted us in any real way. Apart from Rise going down a lot our first day.

Timothy_Q1 day ago

Also retheming Dinosaur to Indy doesn't mean the ride will suddenly get the same downtime DL Indy usually has There's no correlation between the 2 things

UNCgolf1 day ago

They may update some of the computer systems/controls, but they aren't going to replace the ride system with something else.

MisterPenguin1 day ago

The vehicles are on a track. They'll build the new 'story' around where those tracks go. They won't change the current placement of the tracks. The movement of the vehicles then get programmed as to stop and go and sideways spine breakers.

rle4lunch1 day ago

You got very lucky with your visit. When we were living in San Diego, we'd visit every few months and the ride is regularly down at least once daily (for hours at a time). I'd say in the last 10 years of riding it, we've had it break while riding at least 3 times and were given complementary fast passes for a different ride at least 10 times for it.

Disney Analyst1 day ago

How much of the downtime at Disneyland is due to the ride system, and not other circumstances? I can say on our trip last year, we never had an issue riding Indy.

Giss Neric2 days ago

I would expect they would at least upgrade the ride system knowing how much downtime the Indy ride at Disneyland has on a regular basis. Indy for sure will have more complex show scenes than Dinosaur.