It’s been a long time coming, but at Destination D23 in September 2023 Disney finally confirmed that Dinoland USA will be replaced. Specifically, it’s going to be replaced by a land themed to “Tropical Americas”, called Pueblo Esperanza. In this post, I’m going to highlight my hopes and expectations for this transformation.
Concept Art Copyright Disney, Fair Use Claimed
Reminder: Dinoland Destruction Has Begun
As of January 13, 2025, the following attractions / areas in Dinoland (Animal Kingdom) are permanently closed:
TriceraTop Spin (the aerial carousel ride)
Fossil Fun Games (the carnival games)
Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures (the store)
As of now, this means that Restaurantosaurus, DINOSAUR, and The Boneyard will remain open for some time in 2025. When it comes to specifics, Disney has been…unclear.
Disney confirmed DINOSAUR will close in 2026.
As to Boneyard, they said “There’s still time for another excavation (or two) throughout 2025.”
As to Restaurantosaurus, they said “You’ve still got time in 2025 to rustle up some grub at Restaurantosaurus…”
I can’t for the life of me understand why they can’t just use words like adults trying to communicate information. “Throughout” 2025 means the Boneyard will be open until sometime in 2026. But then why not just say it’ll close in 2026, like they did with DINOSAUR. And am I then to presume that Restaurantosuarus will close in 2025, because it lacks either “2026” OR “throughout 2025” language? In any case, we expect all three of these to be closed sometime early in 2026.
What we know About Tropical Americas
Here’s what we know about the new land coming to Animal Kingdom.
“Pueblo Esperanza” Will Replace Dinoland USA
The Dinoland USA replacement will be called Pueblo Esperanza. It will be themed to “Tropical Americas” (think South America, Central America, and Mexico).
Disney has released a nice piece of concept art showing the entire land, and it’s pretty easy to see how it fits over the existing plot:
Map Copyright Google, Concept Art Copyright Disney, Fair Use Claimed
I discuss the rides more below, but you can see from this that, essentially:
all of Dino-Rama is being replaced by the new E-Ticket Casita ride (discussed below)
DINOSAUR will be converted to the Indiana Jones ride
The Boneyard will be replace by the carousel
Restaurantosaurus will be converted to a new restaurant
There Will be Three Rides
The new land will have three rides. This is an upgrade from the current two in Dinoland, USA, and welcome news since Animal Kingdom definitely needs more rides since the loss of Primeval Whirl.
Pueblo Esperanza will have three rides:
a carousel
a ride themed to Encanto’s Casita
an Indiana Jones ride.
About the carousel, Disney has said: “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.” As noted above, this will occupy the space currently occupied by The Boneyard (*tear*).
Disney has provided a nice piece of concept art for this. You can see it’s a smaller carousel in the style of Jessie’s Critter Carousel, a favorite of ours in Disney California Adventure:
Concept Art Copyright Disney, Fair Use Claimed
The Indiana Jones attraction will replace DINOSAUR and feature Indy exploring a Mayan temple. Here we have to pause for a moment. Many of you know that DINOSAUR actually shared the same track system as Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland. It’s reasonable to expect, then, that we’re basically going to get a newer/better version of that ride in the new land. You can see from the concept art that the vehicle is in the same style as the existing “Time Rovers”:
Concept Art, Time Rover Photo Copyright Disney, Fair Use Claimed
While this is a tad disappointing—who wouldn’t like a fully original ride?—the upside is that the existing Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland is already a really great ride. So if Imagineers can actually improve on that ride, it is a win for the park.
Finally, about the Encanto ride: “Inside the Casita, Antonio has just received his special gift — the ability to communicate with animals — and his room has transformed into a rainforest. It’s time to go explore alongside him, and you never know what member of the family you might bump into.”
Based on the concept art we’ve seen about this one so far, I’m hoping for something in the style of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. That ride style is excellent at making scenery “come to life,” which is exactly what we need from a ride in Casita.
I think this qualifies as satisfying one hope I outlined before the details were announced:
My “reach” hope is that they take the time to add a new, genuine E-ticket attraction. Flight of Passage is still a fantastic ride, but Animal Kingdom needs more to keep people coming back and to keep them in the park from 9AM to 9PM.
Pueblo Esperanza Construction Timeline
Disney has so far given a yearlong timeframe for the opening of Pueblo Esperanza—2027. In general, you’d expect a land to open in time for the summer travel season, but with a project of this scope I’m sure there’s some flexibility still in the timeline,
The first phase of closures in Dinoland took place in January 2025, when TriceraTop Spin, Dino-Rama, and the Chester & Hester store closed. Next up will be closures for The Boneyard, Restaurantosaurus, and DINOSAUR. As discussed above, DINOSAUR will be open until early 2026. The Boneyard will probably be open until early 2026. Restaurantosaurus might make it into early 2026.
Conclusions
While I think this is overall good news for Animal Kingdom, I do worry that it isn’t enough.
Let’s start with the plus side: the park is going to have, presumably, two new (well, one “new”) E-Ticket rides in the form of the Encanto attraction and the Indiana Jones replacement of DINOSAUR. Two great new attractions is a big deal and easily meets the benchmark for any new land. But the Indiana Jones ride is really just a replacement for DINOSAUR.
That brings us to some losses—they aren’t small. I think the new Indy ride will be a better ride than DINOSAUR, but the kids love dinosaurs, too. The carousel is a fine replacement for TriceraTop Spin—let’s call that a wash. However, I also think The Boneyard is a big loss. While Zoe is maybe past peak age for it, I would have loved to see it stay as a highlight in Animal Kingdom for future families with small kids.
So, if I’m being pessimistic, this is really just one new ride. I have high hopes for the Encanto ride, but there’s been no suggestion its going to be revolutionary in the way Flight of Passage or Rise of the Resistance were. Rather, my best hopes for it are that it’s something like Runaway Railway.
In a vacuum, one new ride is a win. But Animal Kingdom doesn’t exist in a theme park vacuum…
Magic Kingdom is getting two new Cars rides at the cost of the riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island. On top of that, it’s getting a new Villains land with two new rides. Hollywood Studios will get a new Monsters Inc. land and coaster at the cost of MuppetVision 3D. Epcot…well, they’ve got festivals. And then there’s Universal Orlando Resort, which opens a new park in 2025 and has more planned expansions resort-wide.
If you’re looking at the next five years, you might argue Animal Kingdom is getting the third-best treatment. Now, while I used to be an Animal Kingdom fanboy, I’m not advocating for the park based on those passions. Rather, I’m puzzled because the park has lagged in development for years now.
Magic Kingdom, you’ll recall, just got TRON. Epcot has gotten Cosmic Rewind and Remy’s Ratatouille in the last several years. Hollywood Studios has gotten Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land since Animal Kingdom’s last major update, Pandora. Animal Kingdom actually lost a ride in 2020.
So, when you look at the last decade…is this really enough? Then again, enough for what? Animal Kingdom isn’t on track to be an 8AM to 11PM park, but with its specialty setup (also housing animals), that’s maybe not an option. It is on track to be a solid 8AM to 8PM park? Maybe.
When Pueblo Esperanza is complete, Animal Kingdom will have nine rides, the same number as Hollywood Studios. My count for Animal Kingdom includes the Wildlife Express Train, so I’m perhaps a bit generous. Add in the three shows, and the park is at least on solid footing.
But this is all sort of beside the point. This work is happening, and its the only major work happening at the park right now. The outlook for Disney World as a whole is bright, and we’re (mostly) excited for the changes at Animal Kingdom and all the parks. We’ll be traveling there in 2027 and beyond, so I guess we have to admit they’re still doing a lot right.
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