Tropical Americas Land Is Coming to Animal Kingdom

Tropical Americas is coming to Animal Kingdom in 2027. With the 2026 edition of D23 behind us, we’ve got more detail than ever about what this new land will offer. Here’s what we know and what we expect from this new land!

Concept Art Copyright Disney, Fair Use Claimed

Reminder: Dinoland USA Has Closed

As of February 2, 2026, Dinoland USA is officially closed:

TriceraTop Spin (the aerial carousel ride) closed January 13
Fossil Fun Games (the carnival games) closed January 13
Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures (the store) closed January 13
The Boneyard (the playground) closed September 2
Trilo-Bites and Dino-Bite Snacks (snack stands) closed October 20
DINOSAUR, Restaurantosaurus, and rest of land closed February 2

What we know About Tropical Americas

Here’s what we know about the new land coming to Animal Kingdom.

Note on Spoilers: Even in this “reporting on the future” post, we try and avoid heavy spoilers. Instead, we stick to the more general descriptions of rides given by Disney. For example, if rumors revealed a coaster with a reverse launch, we probably wouldn’t mention that here unless Disney was widely hyping that element.

Tropical Americas Is Replacing Dinoland USA

The Dinoland USA replacement will be Tropical Americas. Just as the other lands in the park are “set” in a fictional place, Tropical Americas will be primarily set in Pueblo Esperanza.

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 old Dinoland USA plot:

Map Copyright Google, Concept Art Copyright Disney, Fair Use Claimed

On top of this, you can now find a model over at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney Presents:

I discuss the rides more below, but you can see from this that, essentially:

Dino-Rama is being replaced by the new E-Ticket Casita ride (discussed below), plus an unidentified structure, possibly a play area, but maybe even just queue space
DINOSAUR will be converted to the Indiana Jones ride
The Boneyard will be replaced 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.

Tropical Americas will have three rides:

El Carrusel de los Animalitos - a carousel
Antonio's Fiesta de Encanto - a ride themed to Encanto’s Casita
Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent - an Indiana Jones ride

About the carousel, El Carrusel de los Animalitos, 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 formerly 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:

Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent will replace DINOSAUR and feature Indy exploring a Mayan temple. With Dr. Jones, you’ll explore “this mysterious temple near a once water-filled underground cave…Local legend says the passageway leads directly to the Maya Underworld, and is protected by a serpentine creature: the Tsukán.”

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. (I’d also add that Disney has a pretty stellar lineup of contractors on this one.)

Finally, about the Encanto ride, Antonio's Fiesta de Encanto:

“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.”

Notably, the ride will have no height requirement.

While I’d hoped the ride would be trackless, in the design of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Rise of the Resistance, it will be tracked. This reveal hasn’t really dampened my excitement, though. Trackless vs. tracked sort of misses the point—Runaway Railway and Rise are great rides because of the scale of the immersion. I expect that tradition to continue, even with different underlying technology.

A social media post confirmed that the “entire original cast” recorded for the attraction.

Playground and Other Details

Not much is known about the rest of the land. Permit information revealed a playground with a climbing area and multiple slides will be built outside the Indiana Jones attraction.

This is the old “Cretaceous Trail” area. In my recollection, it doesn’t feel like a big enough spot, but satellite imagery seems to disagree:

Since the DINOSAUR ride (just SW of the new playground location) and the Chester & Hester retail (NE of new playground) are being remodeled, not demolished, this space won’t get any bigger. It still feels a little awkward and cramped, but the bottom line is I’m thrilled Animal Kingdom will once again have a proper playground.

The other big feature of the land is the restaurant. Little is known about it other than that it will use the old Restaurantosaurus space. Disney has described it as “large hacienda which will be one of the largest quick-service restaurants at Walt Disney World Resort.”

Tropical Americas Opening Timeline Speculation

Disney has so far given a yearlong timeframe for the opening of Tropical Americas—2027. Since that timeframe was announced, things have gotten…a little interesting.

First, rumors and armchair analysis have long suggested that a “primetime” spring or summer 2027 opening of the entire land wasn’t feasible. Whether this was always the plan or whether construction went slower than originally planned, no one outside Disney can really say. And to be clear, Disney has not confirmed the land will not be fully ready for a primetime debut. But it’s sounded more and more like either the entire land would open in late 2027 at the earliest or the land would open in phases.

But that brings us to the second point…

At the 2026 edition of D23, Disney announced several details of the land without touching on an opening timeframe. By contrast, they announced that some of Monstropolis (not the coaster) would be opening in 2027.

The most natural reading of the construction timeline has always been that Monstropolis—which was announced and started later than Tropical Americas—would open after Tropical Americas and before the more extensive Magic Kingdom projects. Disney “moving” (again, the never actually gave a timeframe before) Monstropolis into 2027 while also not mentioning a timeframe for Tropical Americas certainly suggests Tropical Americas is not positioned to headline 2027.

That Monstropolis announcement also confirms that the split opening of Galaxy’s Edge was not a one-time event. Disney opened Galaxy’s Edge before Rise of the Resistance was ready, and they’ll open Monstropolis before the coaster is ready. It stands to reason that opening Tropical Americas before both of the E-ticket rides are ready is a possibility.

To my mind, the timeline is pretty much up in the air. I expect some of the land to open in 2027. If I had to put money on some situation, I’m expecting some of Tropical Americas, including the carousel, to open by summer 2027. How that coordinates with Monstropolis (will they debut together at the start of summer, or will one open in spring) is still unclear.

Commentary and Conclusions

Note: This section was written around the time of the initial announcement and does not necessarily reflect more recent updates.

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 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 opened 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 Tropical Americas 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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