Disney World has seen a lot of changes over the last five years.
New lands have been added, like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios. New attractions have been added, like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT, as well as TRON Lightcycle / Run in Magic Kingdom. Even the walls are coming down in EPCOT as its transformation is starting to get more and more complete. Now, Animal Kingdom is about to be shown some love as there are plans to retheme a certain part of the park.
DinoLand U.S.A. has some hardcore fans and those who feel that it is time for it to be rethemed. While we understand that this part of the park brings back feelings of nostalgia, we have five reasons why you should NOT hate this retheme.
In 2023, Disney announced that Animal Kingdom would undergo a few changes, one of which included a retheme and expansion of DinoLand U.S.A.
This retheme is set around the Tropical Americas and could include themes from some of Disney’s IP, like Encanto, Coco, or even Indiana Jones. Progress seems to be moving along, as Disney has filed permits for a trailer compound that is regularly used at construction sites. We have also gotten a look at newer concepts for the retheme, including a 3D model.
While all this news is super exciting, we understand that not everyone will be happy with this retheme, but these five reasons might help soften the blow and loss of DinoLand U.S.A.
New Food Offerings
With any new land or attraction, we can typically expect new food offerings to be available. For example, when TRON Lightcycle / Run opened, a new snack stand called Energy Bytes opened, with a theme around TRON. When Toy Story Land opened, Woody’s Lunchbox was the first restaurant available to try. It has theming based on Toy Story, and the food offerings also match the theme.
When DinoLand U.S.A. gets rethemed, places like Restaurantosaurus won’t fit into the Tropical Americas theme.
Maybe Disney will take inspiration from the new Coco restaurant that will be aboard the Disney Treasure and implement some of its theming into this new part of Animal Kingdom. Not only can the restaurant’s theming change, but so can the food offerings.
While no menus or restaurants have been announced yet, we can assume that the food offerings will mimic those found in the Tropical Americas.
New Attractions
Currently, DinoLand U.S.A. offers two attractions, DINOSAUR and TriceraTop Spin, as well as carnival games at Fossil Fun Games. In 2020, DinoLand U.S.A. lost the attraction Primeval Whirl as it permanently closed.
Many people only visit DinoLand U.S.A. to ride DINOSAUR or if they have younger children who want to win a prize at Fossil Fun Games or play in The Boneyard.
Since DinoLand U.S.A. does not offer too many exciting things to do, hopefully, this will bring about new attractions that will draw people to come and visit this part of the park.
There have been rumors that DINOSAUR will be rethemed to be Indiana Jones, and from the concept art where the Indiana Jones area lies is where DINOSAUR currently is. It is possible that Disney could take inspiration from the Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland and bring it to Animal Kingdom as DINOSAUR. Indiana Jones Adventure has similar ride vehicles and technology to DINOSAUR.
While no concrete ride details have been announced, we will make sure to keep you updated as more information comes in.
Crowds Will Spread Out
We know that a crowded day at Disney World can be annoying, but a crowded day at Disney World is better than not being at Disney World! Hopefully, this new retheme and expansion can help distribute crowds throughout Animal Kingdom.
In its current state, DinoLand U.S.A. can sometimes feel like a ghost town and tends not to be as crowded as other parts of the park. This means that more crowds are focused in other places rather than spread out.
With the Tropical Americas theme, more people will be interested in visiting and checking out this new part of the park, which means crowds can be more distributed and not all in one area.
Potential for New Animals
Currently, DinoLand U.S.A. has no live animals present, which may seem obvious since Dinosaurs have gone extinct. However, with the retheme, there is the potential for animals to be brought to this part of the park.
To fit into the theme, the animals could be from parts of the Tropical Americas. It would be so cool if the retheme and expansion allowed for new animals to be brought to this part of the park!
Potential for More Shade
It gets hot in Disney World, and the summertime heat is no joke. Animal Kingdom is actually the hottest park at Disney World and can get up to 10 degrees hotter than other places on the property due to its dense vegetation. Basically, Animal Kingdom has a “rainforest” effect.
In DinoLand, U.S.A., shade is scarce, and it can be difficult to find a place to escape the sun’s rays. Since the retheme is based on the Tropical Americas, we can expect more vegetation and shade to be added to this part of the park.
From the concept art and even 3D models, there seem to be plans to add more trees to provide natural shade. While this can change, we hope that Disney takes this expansion and retheme as an opportunity to add more shade.
Losing an opening day land can be sad, especially for those who have such nostalgic and happy memories from DinoLand U.S.A., but not all change is a bad thing. Hopefully these five reasons can help you feel a little bit better about this retheme.
What We Hope Will be Part of the Animal Kingdom Expansion!
Yes, I am sad to see DinoLand USA go and I am NOT excited for the new Tropical Americas to come to Disney’s Animal Kingdom because one thing that makes me MAD is Indiana Jones ride is replacing my number one favorite ride DINOSAUR. Seriously, the final Indiana Jones movie BOMBED at the box office and do NOT prove me wrong about that.