A newly filed permit from Walt Disney World outlines the plans for the demolition of the DinoLand USA section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and the final layout for the Tropical Americas land planned to replace it. As a reminder, the new Tropical Americas land will feature an all-new Encanto-themed ride, an all-new carousel featuring popular Disney characters, and a re-themed DINOSAUR attraction into an Indiana Jones-themed ride. In total, the permit covers 12.87 acres in the DinoLand USA area, including current backstage areas.
Demolition of DinoLand USA
As previously announced, DinoLand USA will be demolished in phases, beginning with the Dino-Rama section featuring Fossil Fun Games carnival-style games of skill. The Dino-Rama section will be closed starting January 13th, with the final day of operation scheduled for January 12th. Here’s a look at the plans for the demolition of the existing offerings.
While Walt Disney World has plans to salvage and save the existing Fossil Fun Games kiosks, the Cementosaurus will be demolished along with footers in the area. Other plans for demolition include the existing retaining wall on the plot of the former Primeval Whirl attraction. The boundary of the first phase of demolition appears to keep in place walkways along the northern perimeter of the Dino-Rama area.
The permit calls for the demolition of the TriceraTop Spin attraction, perhaps squashing some hopes by Disney fans that it would be relocated elsewhere. Some of the backstage trailers will be demolished, while others will be preserved. The Chester & Hester’s Dino Treasures building is part of another permit and will not be demolished. Some of the themed signage near the back of the land will be demolished while smaller signs will be salvaged.
The scope of the first phase of demolition will see the entire Dino-Rama and Dinosaur Treasures area behind construction walls as crews do their best to level the area to prepare it for the construction of the Encanto-themed attraction set to open by the end of 2027.
Tropical Americas Construction
In terms of construction, there isn’t a lot of new construction as far as the Water Management District is concerned. If I’m reading the permit correctly, there will only be a net increase of 0.68 acres of impervious areas. Of course, the Water Management District is primarily concerned with what is concrete and what is grass. What Disney decides to put on top of the concrete is the interesting part.
In one of the permit pages, there is a very insightful graphic showing the area pre-development and the area post-development. Here’s a closer look!
DinoLand USA (pre-development)
Here’s a closer look at the area as it stands today (pre-development). In the permit below, we can see existing buildings in blue, with grassy areas in green. The beige color represents pavement and/or walking paths. Areas of interest include the DINOSAUR attraction at the bottom of the image, the Dino-Rama area in the middle of the image, and Restaurantosaurus on the left.
Tropical Americas (post-development)
In the post-development image, we can see a massive show building for the Encanto-themed attraction now dominates the construction area. At the top of the permit, we can see the V-shaped building for the carousel, Restaurantosaurus will see some minor modifications, and the DINOSAUR attraction will mostly remain the same with some minor modifications to the queue area. We’ll take a closer look at the final layout in a new article soon!
For more on the Tropical Americas retheme of DinoLand USA, check out our project tracker below!
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