A temple facade has appeared for the new Indiana Jones ride coming to Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. This will be an original Indiana Jones adventure, and not a clone of the ride at Disneyland. Nearby, the base of the magical ‘casita’ is being built for a new Encanto dark ride. Plus, framing for the carousel, new buildings, and work on the land’s entrances are happening now.

Let’s check in on construction for all of the Tropical Americas land, replacing DinoLand, USA and opening next year, in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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Indiana Jones Ride Update

The Dinosaur ride closed permanently in February, and now we’re seeing a tall Maya temple facade being erected directly in front of the former attraction’s entrance building.

Thanks to recent aerial views from Bioreconstruct, we’ve seen how the first pieces of steel for the temple facade only started going up last month, yet it’s already resembling the official concept art.

The stepped pyramid is being constructed directly in front of the former Dino Institute museum facade, with some former elements still remaining, just being covered up.

Windows and decorative elements along the front side of the former facade are still visible.

These remaining elements will likely be covered with tiered flat ancient-themed walls, as seen in the scale model for the land.

The round wall atop the roof of the building has been removed, with these black squares now in place where it was previously connected. This used to block where the ceiling is raised up to a point in the center, the highest point in the queue where the carnotaurus skeleton was.

On the right of the ride entrance, work is happening atop the roofs of the covered exterior queue. Connections for new themed elements are being added.

Here is how the queue areas appear in official concept art.

The Indiana Jones ride will be reusing the existing ride system from Dinosaur, including the ride vehicles and track layout, but it will feature an all-new story created specifically for Animal Kingdom.

To the left of the Indiana Jones ride, prep work is just starting for a new kids’ play area for the land.

This play area is being sectioned off by white pipes separating it from the rest of the land.

Here is how the play area appears in official site plans from permits.

The play area is rumored to possibly contain water elements, and while that has not yet been confirmed by Disney, we can see at least that some water pipes are being staged in this area at the site.

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Encanto Ride Construction

The base for casita’s magical house facade has been erected in front of the large Encanto ride building.

The second main attraction for the new land will be an indoor Encanto ride, which will feature the magical casita, the home of the Madrigal’s, sitting in front.

The ground will be raised like a hill leading to the house, burying this recently installed base.

Official concept art shows how the house will be raised higher than the guest pathways leading to the ride entrance, which will be located on the left side of the building.

This is a similar set up to The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World, which features a false mansion facade in front for show, but we enter the attraction around to the left.

There will be an empty space behind the casita, but in front of the ride building.

This empty space will be filled with palm trees and vegetation to create depth between the house and the hillside background behind it.

The entire guest-facing sides of the large ride building will be covered in mountainous green hillside theming.

Attachments for preformed theming sections have been installed along these guest-facing walls already.

Samples for some of the green foliage-themed wall pieces can be found sitting behind the park. These test samples will test the appearance of the fake foliage in real weather conditions, as well as see how the materials hold up against the elements.

The ride building has already been painted green, to help blend in with the hillside theming in case portions are visible behind the attached elements.

Atop the structure, roofing materials are staged wrapped in plastic.

Rounded hilltop shapes for the top of the mountains will be installed on the roof, behind the casita home.

In photos of the official model we can see the realistic green foliage theming along the front walls of the ride building.

Atop the structure we can see larger pieces, meant to appear as mountain peaks as viewed from the ground.

The Encanto dark ride will showcase scenes from film where Antonio receives his gift, taking us through many areas of the Family Madrigal’s magical house, including the massive indoor rain forest Antonio sees when he opens his door for the first time.

This project is moving very quickly, with all of the steel framing installed in about 10 weeks from the first beam in December to the final one in February.

Imagineers, animators, and other members of the project team signed the final beam as seen in official photos from Walt Disney Imagineering.

What appear to be conduit is being run out to the future home of the casita. The magical house will need electricity as it has been confirmed it will feature moving elements, such as swinging window shutters or doors.

Guests will see these elements, which will make it appear as though the house is alive, as they enter the interior queue, located on the left.

The large section on the left will be queue areas, with new angled roof forms taking shape at the entrance area in front.

The small covered pathway leading out of the ride building, on the right, is expected to be the attraction’s exit.

Guests will be spit out onto the pathway with these existing buildings for restrooms, shopping, and most likely, new meet and greet spaces.

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The Tropical Americas Land

Minor work has been happening on these recycled structures, leftover from DinoLand, including patched up holes left from prior theming and a new framing for an updated entrance into the former gift shop.

While many structures are being retained and re-themed, some brand new buildings have started popping up as well.

Located a little further down the road, and set within the new land’s future central courtyard, these new buildings are receiving cinder block walls now.

Here is how this new strip of small village buildings will appear once completed, as shown in official concept art. They are facing the courtyard’s central fountain in the art.

A lot of new work is also happening near the future entrances to the land, with framing for a bell tower now in place.

With walls flanking the entrance path, this tower is shown on the right side, separating the main path from outdoor seating near the land’s main restaurant.

New columns and sections of walls have shown up along the land’s second entrance as well. This entrance is located closer to the Finding Nemo theater show.

Between the two entrances is where we find the land’s new carousel attraction.

Framing for the shell around the carousel is in place now, showing how incredibly close the actual attraction will be to the entry pathway.

The ride will feature hand-carved wooden figures inspired by animal characters from Disney animated feature films.

On the other side of the central courtyard, the former Restaurantosaurus is being transformed into a large hacienda.

Exterior finishes have been removed, including wooden siding and more, while new weatherproofing is being added before it is refinished.

Not all elements from DinoLand have been completely removed just yet though.

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When Will Tropical Americas Open?

The new Tropical Americas land is meant to represent the ecological biome of life found from the northern reaches of South America, through Central America, and into parts of Mexico.

Disney shared details on how the Imagineering team behind the new land took a research trip, visiting places like Colombia, for first-hand experiences to ensure the new “Pueblo Esperanza feels like a real, lived-in town true to the region.”

They also traveled to Honduras to meet with Maya artists who recreate intricate details from ancient Maya civilizations in preparation for the Indiana Jones ride.

While the main structures for this land have gone up in record time for a project of this scale for the resort, it’s possible the finer details may take much longer. So, the sooner they can get everything built, the quicker artists can move in to recreate the lush landscapes needed to fully transform the space.

Tropical Americas is still set to open next year here at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, although an exact timetable has not yet been revealed.

BlogMickey.com has reported that some permits have been extended, now showing a new expiration date of May 19th, 2027. These amended Notices of Commencement show Whiting-Turner as the contractor, but it’s not known if they were amended to give the team more time to finish the land or just to update other details for the contract.

Even after the major work is done, the land may still need time to complete smaller details, program and test rides, and more. So it’s possible the rides may not be ready until later in 2027, perhaps by October. Hopefully we learn more at the D23 fan event this August.

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Quick Monsters, Inc. Land Update

A huge milestone has occurred for the Monsters, Inc. door coaster over at Hollywood Studios as the first pieces of track are being installed now.

These suspended coaster track sections are being installed just after the ride’s load station, which will be themed as the laugh floor.

The framing for the Harryhausen’s restaurant in Monstropolis is taking shape as well.

See our recent update for more story details for the door coaster, and the whole Monstropolis land.

That’s all for now, but be sure to see the video version of this story for additional visuals. A big thanks to Bioreconstruct for the incredible aerial views. You can follow him on social media and YouTube for more theme park photography.

Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Original Photos: Alicia Stella | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Official Images: Disney | Other Images as Captioned

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