Tropical Americas General Discussion - Opening 2027

[Nick]

Indy as I heard several years ago...

Yeah, that was heavily rumored replacement for about 2-3 years. Makes sense that they would come back to it with them getting a lot of pushback on the Moana/Zootopia concept.

 

[JungleSkip]

The absolute gall to continue to present “I dunno, maybe?” ideas at these things. Company is a shell of its former self. Absolutely no confidence in their own product

 

[Grabnar]

I have to say the Moana idea was better that IP definitely fits Animal Kingdom more than Encantocand Indiana Jones does but at least it's not a zootopia land

Encanto has an entire kid whose whole powers are that he can talk to animals, it’s really cool, but totally secret. And you know what? Life’s never been the same.

Just focus on him and have the ride be focused around him, maybe toss in an animal trail with a bunch of animals from South America and you're good. The Houston zoo just did a walkthrough trail based around the Pantanal and it'd be a really good model for what they could do with just a bit of land: South America’s Pantanal, The Houston Zoo

south america’s PANTANAL — SH|R Studios

AZA AWARD WINNER

shrstudios.com

 

[Nick]

The absolute gall to continue to present “I dunno, maybe?” ideas at these things. Company is a shell of its former self. Absolutely no confidence in their own product

Remember in 2017 when they announced like 20 something things? Sure some got cancelled, but that happens when you announce projects early. When you actually go back and look, almost everything announced at that massive D23 DID happen and they announced a lot.

The fact they can't even make up their mind on this one project is kinda insane, but at the same time i'm not gonna complain too much about them not confirming during D23 last year or else we would've gotten Moana and Zootopia. I think this seems far better for the park and the concept art seems far more advanced. I just don't know what they're waiting for. Has to be funding.... right? There's no other excuse.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Has to be funding.... right? There's no other excuse.

I'll give him some more time, but this feels like D'maro is pleading to Iger to get funding into DAK with EU coming down the line.

 

[BigHouseFootball]

Encanto makes even less sense for DAK than Zootopia! I’d much rather have the Moana proposal as I feel Encanto is incredibly overrated. And they aren’t going to be focusing on the one kid who can talk to animals. This will be the Mirable show.

But. A copy of Disneyland’s Indiana Jones? Yes please!

 

[Jake S]

Listen, I’d prefer hearing zero Lin Manuel Miranda music in any theme park, but I agree Encanto is a better DAK fit than Zootopia.

 

[saint.piss]

They still will not fully commit to this, but Zootopia and Moana seem to have been dropped for Encanto and Indy with Zootopia replacing It's Tough To Be A bug. I admit I like this a lot better than Moana and Zootopia as it looks like it fits DAK much better.

You're telling me this isn't Fiesta Village in Knotts?

 

[SeventyOne]

Encanto has an entire kid whose whole powers are that he can talk to animals, it’s really cool, but totally secret. And you know what? Life’s never been the same.

Just focus on him and have the ride be focused around him, ]

Are you seriously suggesting an Encanto ride centered on the one character (as far as I remember) who doesn't sing a song?

Sorry DAK fans, the dream is dead. Pandora and Zootopia are dumb stretches, Moana was worse, this is the worst of all, The only theme is IP that sells merch. Sooner or later happens to everything at WDW.

 

[mainejeff]

Agreed with much of the comments here.

Indiana Jones....YES! Finally!

Encanto....I could care less about that IP but it will be pretty and a good fit for AK visually. My prediction.....the E-ticket will be Mystic Manor 2.0 which would get me much more excited for this.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I prefer an Encanto attraction to Moana or Zootopia, but in AK all three feel out of place imo. Encanto should have a trackless dark ride where you explore the living house in MK or Epcot, not here.

Though, I certainly do like these plans a good bit more than I did the Zootopia/Moana concept. Indy always has a place in WDW, though he should really be replacing the stunt show in Hollywood rather than Dinosaurs as a whole in Animal Kingdom. I can really only like these ideas so much given my darling Dinosaur is on the cutting room floor either way. What a shame that the Dino Institute can't seem to just exist on it's own.

And hey, hopefully with their non-commital attitude towards everything here I'll maybe get a couple more years to ride Dinosaur in peace! A perfect world. Worst case scenario is they begin to rip and tear Dinosaur early next year with a Guardians/Tron-style build cycle so I get no Omnimover til like 2030. What a dilemma.

 

[BigHouseFootball]

I mean in a perfect would we would get an entire Indy land in Studios complete with E-ticket ride, revamped show of some type, and a restaurant, and Dinoland gets a full refurb with new theme but still dinos because everyone loves dinosaurs. Always.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

(*bangs head with hammer*) I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I think this will be good. I hope they let some real animals back here.

 

[Nick]

Are you seriously suggesting an Encanto ride centered on the one character (as far as I remember) who doesn't sing a song?

Sorry DAK fans, the dream is dead. Pandora and Zootopia are dumb stretches, Moana was worse, this is the worst of all, The only theme is IP that sells merch. Sooner or later happens to everything at WDW.

I can't disagree more. This area looks very cohesive compared to what Moana/Zootopia was pitched as and it also is themed to, essentially, South America, which continues the continent theme.

We were always going to get IPs shoved here and if that had to happen, I think this is the far better thing for the park. I'll also disagree that Pandora doesn't fit, but agree to disagree.

 

[Grabnar]

Are you seriously suggesting an Encanto ride centered on the one character (as far as I remember) who doesn't sing a song?

Sorry DAK fans, the dream is dead. Pandora and Zootopia are dumb stretches, Moana was worse, this is the worst of all, The only theme is IP that sells merch. Sooner or later happens to everything at WDW.

If not central at least heavily featured, yes. Mainly because they'd already teased looking at MK for this expansion which tells me they at least considered the stretch of how to fit this into DAK. There's a universe that if you squint your eyes you can make this work (through an IP lens). Once you accept that we're never getting another Everest or anything remotely similar this is about the best that you can expect. I'm just happy that the rumor has moved away from entirely Zootopia.

 

[Nick]

I'm just happy that the rumor has moved away from entirely Zootopia.

And on this the other big thing is that it still keeps Zootopia Land in play as a possibility to come to DHS as an expansion in the future, which is where it belongs.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Also, I know we rarely expect Disney to evince any sense of urgency, but if they're deeply worried about other parks cannibalizing AK's attendance, I don't see why a retheme of the land, irrespective of the availability of the rides, couldn't be done within two years. The simple act of turning Dinoland into a more aesthetically pleasing space will still benefit the park greatly imo.

Just imagine it...an Avengers Campus of the East! One rethemed version of an old ride and an Encanto facade that may or may not hold a ride in the future. I can see the commercials now...

 

[luckoftheirish]

Are you seriously suggesting an Encanto ride centered on the one character (as far as I remember) who doesn't sing a song?

Sorry DAK fans, the dream is dead. Pandora and Zootopia are dumb stretches, Moana was worse, this is the worst of all, The only theme is IP that sells merch. Sooner or later happens to everything at WDW.

I dunno how people think Moana is a worst fit for AK than zootopia. Like Moana is about balancing/fixing nature and takes place on earth allowing animal exhibits plus has more nature style landscape verus a literal zootopia city

 

[MrBlonde]

I’m annoyed that the parks barely had anything concrete to announce but it just dawned on me why nothing got the green light:

Hulu.

They’re stuck starting the valuation and buyback process and it’s going to be billions going out of Disney’s balance sheet, so they’re just priming the pump for when they can get to these things.

In related news, the new attraction in AK will be a jungle playground featuring the Predator. Unfortunately, his invisible camo will be permanently activated for budget purposes.(/sarcasm)

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I’m annoyed that the parks barely had anything concrete to announce but it just dawned on me why nothing got the green light:

Hulu.

They’re stuck starting the valuation and buyback process and it’s going to be billions going out of Disney’s balance sheet, so they’re just priming the pump for when they can get to these things.

In related news, the new attraction in AK will be a jungle playground featuring the Predator. Unfortunately, his invisible camo will be permanently activated for budget purposes.(/sarcasm)

But Aren't there obvious solutions to the money problem? Like selling legacy media assets such as Freeform and A&E to venture capital? It seems like that's the surest way to dredge up the money needed for these projects