Temple Takes Shape for Indiana Jones & Myth of Jade Serpent at Animal Kingdom Ahead of Likely 2027 Debut

Facades are rising fast on the Encanto and Indiana Jones Adventure attractions in Animal Kingdom! We have our first major construction update on Tropical Americas progress since more was revealed during last month’s D23. Here’s a fresh batch of early September 2026 construction photos, along with our updated predictions on opening dates.

Let’s start with a quick recap on what was shared about Tropical Americas during the Parks Panel at the 2026 D23 Expo. Namely, names. What was informally the Encanto Magical Madrigal Casita attraction became Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto, an what was Indiana Jones Adventure became Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. It’s weird having an Adventure-less Indy attraction, but Myth of the Jade Serpent is an objectively good title.

Beyond that, we learned that Harrison Ford will portray Dr. Jones for the first time in a Disney Parks attraction, plus a bit more about the ride’s rich cultural inspiration, new storyline, and experience guests will have upon entering the temple and embarking on this not-Adventure.

Imagineers also shared that the project team is dedicated to authentic storytelling, working with archaeologists, anthropologists, and experts to ensure the area is accurate and showcases Maya culture and its connection to nature. Speaking of which, Disney Legend Joe Rohde separately confirmed there will be no live animals in Tropical Americas.

Most notably, Imagineers revealed that the attraction will take guests through a passageway leading directly to the Maya Underworld, which is protected by a serpentine creature: the Tsukán. Guests will encounter the Tsukán throughout Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, including a final climactic confrontation with a gigantic Audio Animatronics figure. (More on this deeper in the post.)

As for Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto, Disney shared new concept art (above) and revealed that the attraction will be all-ages and without a height requirement. Moreover, that the ride will create new rooms in the Madrigal house you never see in the movie as guests are invited inside for the celebration of Antonio’s gift day, a sacred and special occasion for the family. Ride vehicles will represent different pieces of furniture assembled by the power of Casita to carry you through the rooms.

Vehicles will feel lively and dynamic, reacting like characters themselves to the scenes unfolding. You’ll move through the house, eventually ending upstairs in Antonio’s room. The space has been transformed into a rainforest, overflowing with animal species of many shapes and sizes. In total, there are more than 50 animals represented inside the attraction, from a cute capybara to a toucan and donkey.

Against that backdrop, let’s turn to the latest construction photos. Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom is moving fast as of Fall 2026, racing towards its ??? opening year/date/season (more on this timeline later). As always, all aerial photos are courtesy of theme park eye in the sky bioreconstruct, which were shared on September 4-5, 2026.

Tropical Americas Construction Photos (September 2026)

The biggest development this month is that the fantastic facade of the temple is being installed!

Thanks to aerial construction photos, we’ve been watching the steel infrastructure for the temple rising over the last several months. Based on what we’d previously seen, it appeared that the prefabricated rebar “chip” method will once again be used, similar to a few years ago for Moana’s Journey of Water.

The temple was built in sections that were pre-sculpted and painted backstage first, then brought to the construction site and installed. We’ve seen these during past aerial fly-throughs that have shown images of the Animal Kingdom sample yard. (Also shown in Imagineers Revise Heights in Piston Peak & Villains Land, Reveal Dark Avenue Details in Monstropolis & More.)

However, what we did not know until now is whether those were simply samples to test weathering, or finished products. Given that these sections are now gone from the sample yard, our assumption is the latter.

Pre-fabricating the facade off-site in sections should allow for significant time-savings on the primary job site versus sculpting the facade on-site. This more efficient method allows final finishing work to happen simultaneous to the structural build, as opposed to after it.

Meaning that instead of the facade work taking as many months as the underlying infrastructure did previously, it should now be finished in a matter of weeks. Just contrast Moana’s Journey of Water, for example, with the ongoing (and frankly, simpler) facade work on Monstropolis. This detailed Maya temple should likewise come together quickly.

Although the Walt Disney World fan consensus is that the facade looks fantastic, we’ve also seen some concerns that the temple is either undersize or that the old Dino Institute building will still be visible.

We already know that the temple structure that’s front and center is not going to block the entire rest of the building. It simply cannot based on construction photos. And based on models we’ve seen, that’s not the goal in the first place.

Around the base of the temple, crumbling walls will be built. You can already see the steel structure for these in the aerials (and as an Easter Egg, there’s also the Dino Institute logo right above them). The remainder of the flatter facade will be repainted, weathered and made to look like an extension of that.

The main temple will be the focal point, and the eye will be drawn away from the rest with lush landscaping and other tricks. I’m also guessing that you’re not going to be able to walk right up to the front of the temple, which will likely be separated from guests by fencing for a dig site or something. Sorry, climbers!

Still, some fan concerns persist that it won’t feel like you’re entering a temple, but instead a big building around that.

One thing we’d note here is that attraction exterior at Tokyo DisneySea is very similar to what’s planned for Walt Disney World. While the front of the temple is taller there and visible from all around Lost River Delta, there’s also a larger and boxier building that is visible to guests. That serves as the actual entrance, not the courtyard you see above, which is off to the side.

This is well-themed, so no one really bats an eye at as ‘ruining the illusion’ or anything. It’s also not particularly photogenic, but it still looks good for what it is. I hesitate to ever compare TDS to WDW, as it’s highly unlikely the depth, detail and overall illusion will be as compelling at Animal Kingdom. Nevertheless, the animating idea is similar. It should look convincing. Fingers crossed.

Less notable is that the Madrigal Casita continues to take shape, rising in front of the massive show building. It is safe to assume that the same pre-fabricated chip technique will be utilized here to bring the magical manor to life.

As we’ve previously mentioned, the idea is to make the Madrigal family home appear to be a freestanding structure, not a false-facade on a gigantic show building. The show building behind it should be largely hidden from guest view by blocking sightlines via vegetation and other structures in Tropical Americas, including the elevated casita. Imagineering recently indicated that the closest guests will get to the front door is 40 feet away, which is actually closer than we expected given the large lawn.

We’ve seen comments from concerned fans worried that the structure is too small based on aerial photos. After seeing the casita in person from just outside the walls, I’m fairly confident that this is definitely not going to be a repeat of Be Our Guest Restaurant and its infamous ‘toy castle.’ The casita is considerable in size, more akin to Beast’s Castle at Tokyo Disneyland. It’s much more prominent than the show building in the distance.

You can also see the steel mesh for the rockwork concealing the show building behind the casita along the edges of each tier of the show building. This will hide the highest points of the structure, along with more mountains dotting the rest of the roofline, per the model. Having these on each level of the building should give the rockwork a layered appearance, creating the illusion of a vast mountain range.

Work on this has been moving fast, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it starts taking its final form and resembles the Madrigal family home well before this Christmas. If progress on the Maya temple is any indication, this will also go fast once the underlying infrastructure is built. Maybe the casita facade will start materializing by the time we have our next aerial update!

Against the backdrop of this impressive progress, let’s turn to talk timelines for Tropical Americas…

Tropical Americas Timeline

As fast as this appears to be moving, with major progress since we last took a look last month, there’s very little here that suggests to me the entirety of Tropical Americas will debut in under a year. Of course, we didn’t expect that in the first place, but many of fans did (or do?) believe a Summer 2027 opening for Tropical Americas was/is possible.

One thing we’d note is that Disney did not divulge an opening season during the D23 Parks Panel. They didn’t even reiterate the previously-announced 2027 opening year. However, Disney did reveal that Monstropolis will start opening in 2027. Just as we predicted in Is Monstropolis On Track To Open Early in 2027 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios?!

That was a two-part prediction and the second half of it was that the first half of Tropical Americas will also start opening around that same time. Collectively, the two pieces will more or less form one whole new land, and be the foundation for Cool Kids’ Summer 2027.

My expectation remains that El Carrusel de los Animalitos will open sometime next year, and probably for Summer 2027. The same is likely true for Indiana Jones Adventure opening sometime in 2027, but I have far less confidence in predicting a “summer date.”

Tropical Americas debuting in phases feels like a given at this point, and I would not bet against 3 separate opening dates (and seasons) for the 3 separate attractions and areas within the land. While I could absolutely see Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto slipping into 2028, I’m highly skeptical all three attractions do.

With Animal Kingdom, it comes down to need more than anything else, and if that means debuting the carousel and village area in Summer 2027, followed by Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent in Late 2027, followed by Encanto in Spring 2028, so be it. (See When Will Tropical Americas Open at Animal Kingdom? for further discussion.)

Here are additional updates on Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent…

Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent

During the 2026 D23 Expo Parks Panel, Imagineers Michael Hundgen and Chris Beatty revealed a treasure trove of news about Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent.

During Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, you’ll rendezvous with Dr. Jones, who is in the midst of exploring this mysterious temple near a once water-filled underground cave, called a cenote. Local legend says the passageway leads directly to the Maya Underworld, and is protected by a serpentine creature: the Tsukán (as discussed above).

The adventure takes off when riders are unwittingly sucked through a portal to the Underworld, where they’ll have to escape perilous dangers, like monstrous bats, larger-than-life scorpions, fire and flame, and snakes.

Following the presentation, a new piece of concept art for the queue was added to the show floor:

It’ll be interesting to see how the queue is transformed from the Dino Institute to the inside of a mysterious temple. This is perhaps the biggest reimagining of the entire project, as the ride-through portions (presumably) contain more overlap.

Personally, I find this to be more of a wildcard than the exterior. It’s a tall task to transform museum-esque space of the Dino Institute to a mysterious temple. Going from clean and clinical to weathered and ancient temple ruins will be a challenge. It won’t be easy to sell the illusion of depth and dimensionality, but we’re cautiously optimistic that Imagineering is up to the task.

Finally, in case you missed it, we also got a look at the model for the Tsukán on the final day of D23:

The detailed Tsukán towers over the human scale reference figure standing at the base of the display. That person is roughly the size of the jaw of the creature, which could clearly devour us. That’s meant to underscore just what a dominating presence the finished Tsukán Audio Animatronics figure will pose.

In order to achieve the desired realism, Imagineers are hand-sculpting the Tsukán’s Audio Animatronics figure as opposed to relying solely on digital fabrication. This is meant to make the gigantic snake appear more lifelike. It should be a night-and-day difference from the big snake in Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland, which is a bit cheesy.

Similar to the Disneyland snake that occurs earlier in that attraction, it’s expected that the Tsukán will dart towards guests in a narrow escape during the climactic encounter. This is also similar to the finale scene of the defunct DINOSAUR attraction. We’d expect this to be similarly located, serving as a substitute for the boulder scene in other Indiana Jones Adventure attractions.

Ultimately, we’re looking forward to Tropical Americas. This project is very necessary, as Animal Kingdom badly needs about a half-dozen new rides. Three will have to suffice for now, but hopefully this is just the start of big plans to make DAK a full-day park for the average guests and not just super fans.

All of these concepts look fantastic. Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent sounds like a great twist on the classic ‘Adventure’ attraction with wow-moments, along with mythology and storytelling that’ll fit Animal Kingdom. The facade looks great to me, and I’m hopeful they’ll nail the queue and show scenes.

The Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto dark ride has tremendous potential to be a great family-friendly dark ride, and everything we’ve heard has us optimistic. (It honestly doesn’t bother me in the least that this isn’t trackless–most guests won’t even know as the ride profile should be very dynamic.) Even the critter carousel and ‘Village of Hope’ look like they should deliver a great central hub to the land.

Tropical Americas reminds us a bit of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea, and although it’s unlikely the attractions will rise to that level, it’s nevertheless nice to see that level of attention to detail and three rides that should be tremendous assets to Animal Kingdom.

Now, we just need a dazzling drone show to keep people in the park until the evening hours–it would be a travesty if we get this expansion, but Animal Kingdom still closes at 6 or 7 pm most days and we can’t see it lit up at night. We can’t wait for this expansion and whatever else is debuting at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in the next couple of years.

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Your Thoughts

Thoughts on construction progress on Tropical Americas? Expectations for the opening timeline in 2027-2028? What do you think of the temple facade for Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent? Excited or underwhelmed by this expansion? 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!