Indiana Jones Adventure at Animal Kingdom: Ride Details, Concept Art & Timeline
Walt Disney World has announced officially confirmed that Indiana Jones Adventure is replacing DINOSAUR in Animal Kingdom. This post shares details, concept art, and everything we know about the plan–plus comprehensive commentary about why this is happening and whether we think this is a good or bad ride reimagining for DAK.
This Indiana Jones Adventure news was announced during the “Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase” or Parks Panel presentation during the 2024 D23 Expo at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro offered a sneak peek at concept art for the future in addition and teased what was to come in a few years.
This was just one of several blockbuster announcements for Parks & Resorts at Horizons, during which D’Amaro revealed several ‘shovel to soil’ projects that will come online in the next 5 years, including over a half-dozen additions that will debut before the end of 2025. He and head Imagineer Bruce Vaughn followed through on their promise to deliver concrete details and not just tease more ‘Blue Sky’ possibilities.
One of the tentpole additions for Walt Disney World is Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom. Welcome to Pueblo Esperanza.
Construction on this new 11-acre section of the park is set to begin later this year, as permits have already been filed and work is underway on backstage facilities for makeshift Imagineering project offices.
Just like Harambe, the Tropical Americas area feels lived in, with a long, rich history. The space will be lush and sprawling, featuring a large fountain in the center where the villagers like to gather and tell stories. Additionally, a woodcarver has created a giant working carousel featuring his favorite animals from Disney stories. It’s a new take on a classic attraction that young families are going to love.
That’s not all that will be located here – the new land will include not one but two signature attractions! The first of these is the Encanto magical Madrigal Casita dark ride, which is likely to be a family-friendly Omnimover–perhaps like an Encanto-ized version of Mystic Manor.
The other attraction will reimagine and replace DINOSAUR. This will be a new Indiana Jones Adventure that will be different from the existing versions of the attraction at Disneyland in California and Tokyo DisneySea.
In this new adventure, the man with the hat has recently discovered a perfectly preserved Maya temple, and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to explore it. He’s heard rumors about a mythical creature deep within the temple — and he’s got to see it for himself. So, he brings us along on the adventure… but will there be snakes? We’ll just have to wait and see.
For those keeping score at home, this is official confirmation of Indiana Jones Adventure coming to Walt Disney World. Tropical Americas was officially announced last fall at Destination D23, and at that point, Indiana Jones was “under consideration” for the region.
At the time, Bruce Vaughn indicated that Imagineering had considered several intellectual property options for the area, but that Encanto and Indiana Jones “rose to the top” because they give Imagineering “so much to play with.” Vaughn also indicated that there’s “a long way to go and a lot more to discover, but our team in Florida is all over it.”
At the time of Destination D23, we were also advised that this is what’s happening. That it was pretty much a done deal even last fall, but Disney just wasn’t ready to confirm for a variety of reasons. With that said, even some official announcements from the 2017 and 2019 D23 Expos didn’t come to fruition, so nothing is truly a “done deal” until it opens.
We once again received further unofficial confirmation earlier this year strongly signaling that these two franchises had been greenlit for the Animal Kingdom project. All of that suggested Tropical Americas featuring Encanto and Indiana Jones is the plan for Dino-Rama.
Now it’s official. And Coco is not part of the project. Of course, it still hasn’t opened–and it sounds like work won’t start until sometime in 2025 since D’Amaro indicated Tropical Americas would be done in phases to give guests time to say goodbye to DINOSAUR.
I’m not going to rehash my commentary from the original announcement at last year’s Destination D23, much of which focused on why Animal Kingdom is Disney’s top priority right now. That’s worth reading if you question the decision to move forward with expansion at Animal Kingdom as opposed to Beyond Big Thunder at Magic Kingdom or potential projects at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT.
As also mentioned there, I love the idea of reimagining DINOSAUR into Indiana Jones Adventure. For those who are unaware, Dinosaur and Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland use the exact same ride system and even a very similar track layout. Despite this, Indiana Jones Adventure is substantially superior. It’s not even close.
Indiana Jones Adventure is so far superior to its prehistoric counterpart that it’s completely understandable that guests don’t realize they’re (basically) the same underlying ride. Whereas DINOSAUR leans heavily on darkness, more darkness, empty show scenes and non-working effects, Indiana Jones Adventure is jam-packed with brilliantly-staged show scenes and an interior that’s far more engaging and satisfying. There are a number of effects, and the way these interplay with the track and everything coalesces is just incredible. It’s a definitive demonstration of why ride systems aren’t everything–or really, anything–and it’s all about how they’re utilized.
I’ve shared previously that my dream approach involved Disney going the “fast and cheap” route and merging the worlds of dinosaurs and Indiana Jones–a best of both worlds attraction that could also be accomplished with a smaller budget and quicker turnaround time. While I’d still like to see this happen, I now have reason to believe it will not occur–that the changes from DINOSAUR to Indiana Jones Adventure are actually pretty significant.
I’m perfectly fine with this, as I’ve also heard that the Animal Kingdom version will be streamlined like the Tokyo DisneySea incarnation (which basically means dropping all of the effects that broke over the years at Disneyland–hardly a surprise that they’d do this). Likewise, that the unique concept for the attraction is very good, in keeping with the spirit of Animal Kingdom (yes, it’ll feature snakes–many, many snakes) and could end up being the best of the bunch.
You might be inclined to expect that given that Indiana Jones Adventure is 30 years old. It stands to reason that a ride built decades later could and should be better. However, I’d argue that Indiana Jones Adventure truly stands the test of time, and is still one of the ‘modern’ masterpieces of Imagineering.
Indiana Jones Adventure is a masterclass in themed design, worldbuilding, and storytelling in thrill rides. It’s also Exhibit A in how Walt Disney World did dinosaurs dirty with that land at Animal Kingdom. Dinosaurs are, by every measure, the coolest creatures to ever have roamed the earth. They would eat Harrison Ford in 99 battles out of 100. (He’d get lucky and crash his plane into them 1 time.) As the newer attraction based on these beautiful beasts, DINOSAUR should be light years better than Indiana Jones Adventure. And yet, it’s not even remotely close.
Prior to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Indiana Jones Adventure was the most groundbreaking addition to Disneyland ever. Indiana Jones Adventure was a generation-defining attraction and paved the way not just for future rides, but influenced entire lands. Even three decades later, it’s still a revolutionary ride that feels fresh. Everything about Indiana Jones Adventure is excellent. The queue setting the tone, the humorous pre-show, and the daring journey aboard a transport vehicle deep into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in search of unimaginable rewards.
Even though the track layout of DINOSAUR is substantially similar, the queue and pre-show don’t have the same size or scale, nor does some of the interior space of the attraction. So it’s hardly a foregone conclusion that a newer version of the ride would be better. After all, DINOSAUR wasn’t!
If all goes well with this ride reimagining, Walt Disney World fans are in for a real treat. Even those who are upset that DINOSAUR’s countdown to extinction is now underway will almost assuredly be quickly won over by Indiana Jones Adventure. I’m pretty confident of that, even when taking nostalgia (it’s a helluva drug) into account.
Indiana Jones Adventure is just that much better–most reasonable fans, even the overly sentimental ones, will recognize that. Even as someone who has done both versions of this ride dozens of times, I can’t wait to have Indiana Jones Adventure at Walt Disney World. In part because I want all of you to experience it. But also, because I love it so much that I welcome a third edition with open arms. As Sallah would (and does) say, “it is unlike anything you have ever experienced, I assure you!”
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Excited that Imagineering is working on a third version of Indiana Jones Adventure, or would you prefer a totally original attraction for Animal Kingdom? What do you think of the Tropical Americas expansion announced for Animal Kingdom? What about the potential of Indiana Jones and Encanto in DAK? Excited or underwhelmed by the plan? Or, are you in wait and see mode with this? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I love Dinosaur and I am a bit sad to see it go, but I also recognize it needs to happen and I’m glad AK is getting some love. I really like the concept art design for the whole area – it looks beautiful and I’m really hopeful there will have at least a few animal exhibits from the region. I’m not a huge IJ fan. I’ve done the ride in Disneyland multiple times, but for whatever reason it just doesn’t do it for me. I know that I am in the minority and can objectively recognize it is a superior ride though!
Dinosaur was is an educational ride. will the IJ one be educational too? I hope so, but fear not, it will just be a ‘ride’.
I agree with kids having playgrounds in each park as well as rides.
Getting rid of Tom’ s island and the river at MK is in my opinion also a mistake as it adds to the magic of MK, and a respite ftom the mayhem of the rest of the park. without it will just be a theme park, soulless like Universal!! I love AK but it does need new attractions, extra ones in keeping with the original concept and not
just replacing them with something else!
Wait a minute…what’s going to happen to Dino-Sue? That’s not something you just toss out.
Sorry, maybe I’m missing something but doesn’t sound worth spending the money to travel and visit Disney again. They continue to deviate further and further way from the traditional family themed movies, rides and attractions to push new marketing projects and themes no one really wants or is willing to spend additional money for. (For example Splash Mountain for Tiana Bayou Adventure) While some may want to experience and check them out, don’t see those changes as reasons parents will want to revisit or continue to plan regular family vacations. Think Disney has lost site of who was paying for all of those family visits, by removing the traditional rides and attractions that made them famous. If its just for the experience of having new rides…….. there’s much less expensive options than Disney parks and accommodations.
I agree.
Agreed
Lamenting the inevitable loss of the architechtural mashup Restaurant-O’Saurus. Those great themes – Quonset hut motor pool, Forest Ranger camps, National Park Lodge, Geology/Anthropology Student Field Housing and Diner-With-An-Airstream-Stuck-In-Its-Side – along with all the amazing contents, backstory (that DID NOT lean on IP) Dino-centric sountrack, Wonderful posters and some legit Joe Rohde sketches will be sorely missed. THAT is what Imagineering can do, create, new, unexpected, multilayered worlds.
Totally am not going to miss Dinosaur. It was mostly a loud, obnoxious and uncomfortable experience. If you want dinos, Universal has them locked down. As far as “playgrounds” go. They are being removed from most businesses now. Even the golden arches is taking them out. It comes down to liability as it will be the parents who let their kids run unsupervised will whine and sue when Johnny decided to jump off the structure he was not supposed to be on in the first place. Also if you want a play place, there are a plethora of them around the US and beyond that cost a lot less than a Disney park ticket. Indy in Florida is long over due!
Indiana is my favorite ride! So excited to get “another” version and not just a cut and paste from Disneyland. What I hope Disney also thinks about is the line queue. I hope they think about the rain in the summer, heat from late April to mid November, and water stations. All the rides are great news and sorely needed. But a big issue is comfortable queues and it would be nice if they are also interesting unlike Tron.
Hi Tom,
You stated in your article that there will be over a half dozen additions that will debut before the end of 2025? Did you mean there will be 6 new additions to the park(s) before the end of 2025, or just 6 new announcements made of additions to Disneys plans. You only mentioned 3 rides and you also mentioned that these projects will be coming online in the next 5 years. Its probably just me reading this wrong, but I’m a little confused as to the timeliness and what to expect.
I’m glad to see that AK is getting priortized, next month we are spending 7 days at WDW but during that time just a 1/2 day at AK. My 11 year old doesn’t want to spend that much time at AK and we always look to skip the dinosaur ride. Its just not worth the hassle.
The problem with all the blue sky, non-announcement announcements is that this incredibly exiting news felt anticlimactic – even though I have been banging the “why can’t Dinosaur be 25% as good as Indiana Jones” drum for a decade. When I saw the headline, my first thought was, “Yeah, but we knew that…wait, didn’t we?” Your commentary has brought the excitement back for me, Tom. AK went through a golden moment of being my top park, but post-pandemic cuts have left it in dire need for this announcement and at least a few more. The concern I have with AK is whether they can keep focus on the exploratory park that makes it so perfect for younger kids. It will be really sad to see the Boneyard go, and I am perpetually nervous about Conservation Station hanging on. 50-75% of my treasured Disney parenting memories are tied to interactive experiences my little ones delighted in – Tom Sawyer’s Island, Honey, I Shrink the Kids playground, Affection Section, Jedi Training, the Viking Playground, Enchanted Tales With Belle and the Boneyard. All of these attractions have either been closed or reported legitimately at risk. Parents of toddlers and preschoolers might feel great about Instagramming a photo with Elsa, but chances are their kids would feel more magic by engaging with the textural worlds Imagineers have the ability to create.
Wish we could recommend comments! Exactly this- parks should just be nice places to *be*
E-tickets are great but for families, seniors, or really many of us who like a little sit – beautifully themed areas with shade, opportunities to play, planting and water features, really make a vast difference (and cost SO little to Disney in comparison!)
(Exactly why Epcot communicore is such an unbelievable fail)
Like many others here I am sad the dinosaurs are leaving, but kind of sad in theory. Dinosaur land was never great and the dinosaur ride was unfortunately always an inferior version of the Indiana Jone ride in California.
With that said, this new tropical americas land sounds great and both the rides sound great. The encanto ride might actually fit Animal Kingdom’s theme really well. I really hope they add a real life animal trail like in Africa and Asia.
Now my dream is that in ten years they open an awesome dinosaur themed ride somewhere else in the park to fulfill the whole “animals of the past” thing.
Think we will be getting new nighttime show same year this opens? I’m hoping for nighttime Animal Kingdom again hours wise!
You think they’re going to (or even can?) fix/change the track at all to make it a little bit more smooth?
Same question. The existing ride is jarring and uncomfortable. Would be nice to have a much smoother and modern track (and longer if they hype is real). The new area sounds promising but again seems like not enough attractions for a land. Love the idea of another Harambe type design. They hit it out of the park with that part of DAK.
If you read carefully you’ll see in Tom’s article that he says they’re not going to use the existing track, they’re building a whole new ride instead.
I could not be happier. This is what I was hoping for with this ride. My now 24 year old son is adopted from Guatemala and ethnically he is more Mayan Indian than anything else (you can tell that by looking at him). I am beyond thrilled we are getting a ride set inside a Mayan pyramid. I am envious of the Imagineers who are will get to travel to Tikal National Park to do research.
I love Dinosaur, and not true to my nostalgic character, am good to see it go. Especially for IJ, and a themed tropical Americas! Wonderful. Fits AK so much better than a silly dino fair. I hope Disney does a fully immersive IJ, unique to Disneyworld and doesn’t reimagine with a cheap layover and the old, jerky ride track. So much potential here! Encanto wasn’t my favorite movie, but it was a sip of water in the recent Disney Decade film Desert. I think this ride also sounds great, especially if it is as you say a MM style, please?! This land will be magnificent and bring the already majestic AK to the next level.
I love Dinosaur. I’m okay with the reimagined ideas…until you said snakes. Lots and lots of snakes. NO. Please no. This is one of my favorite rides right now. You cover it with snakes, it won’t be able to ride it. Indiana Jones hates snakes. Why would Disney do this to us?
I sometimes feel my family is the only one that loves AK. On our first WDW trip, with our 2yo, we went there for three days. (We hit MK once, did HS as a half day, hit the pool and skipped Epcot.)
It is the BEST park and we can barely do everything in one day even when we rope drop and stay til close.
Among my daughter’s favorite parts are the Sue replica (the big t-rex) and the Dino world playground. Are those going too??
I think we’ll all enjoy the IJ ride (although we especially loved the queue for Dinosaur), and we’ll love Casita.
But I agree – Disney did dinosaurs dirty. The inagineers could’ve done better..
That playground is wonderful-much like Tom Sawyer Island, it gives kids a chance for unstructured play and grown ups a chance to hydrate and not stand in lines! We find it a welcome break at both parks, and I think my kids melt down at HS because there really isn’t anything similar. Hopefully it’s a matter of re-theming or keeping it there (an archaeological dig site fits Indiana Jones perfectly). It would be a bummer to see things like the Dig Site and Tom Sawyer leave Disney.
I totally agree. I have a son (now 24) who is an animal and nature freak and so we have spent a lot of time walking around AK just looking at animals and it has always been a go to park for our family.
@hilary, as you may or may not know, what’s really a bummer is that DHS DID have a playground in the past (honey I shrunk the kids theme). Its a shame they keep taking these areas out!
Oh right-I forgot about that! Definitely played on it once as a kid. It’s really odd that with a whole Toy Story Land they couldn’t manage an immersive playground.
I’m sure the Indiana Jones ride will be really cool, but I’m sad to see dinosaurs leaving DAK. My son (and so many other kids) love dinosaurs. Dino Rama could have been amazing if they had done it right. I hope Disney remembers to keep the focus on the animals as they are developing Tropical Americas and these new rides.
Any news on how long Dinosaurs will remain open? We have an August 2025 and my overly sentimental wife is a little miffed about this decision lol she is hoping for one last ride.
February 1, 2026 I believe for Dinosaur. The rest of the park except the Restaurant is already closed.