Over the past year, Disney has been talking a lot about ideas that they have for the future of their parks. From villains- and Coco-themed lands in the Magic Kingdom to Zootopia at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney has a lot of concepts about what they want to do with their next phase of theme park growth and expansion, but not a lot of concrete plans just yet.
Earlier this year, Disney shared some concept art that showed a new combined Encanto/Indiana Jones land where DinoLand USA currently sits at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Given this art, and how easy it would be to re-theme the Dinosaur ride into the Indiana Jones Adventure ride from Disneyland (which uses the same ride system) fans got their hopes up that perhaps this was one project that might actually come to fruition. However, a new interview with parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro via EW, is seemingly casting some doubt on the finality of these plans.
The Encanto/Indiana Jones combined land is still just an idea
Though it was never fully announced, given the detail in the concept art and the ease of which it seemed that DinoLand USA could be re-themed, it seemed like this project would be a no-brainer for Disney to green-light. However, D’Amaro was very cautious when talking about this project during his recent interview with EW, saying that the concept art was merely showing “where our heads are” as his team continues “dreaming” plans for Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
These comments echo those of Imagineering head Bruce Vaughn who said earlier this year, “We have a long way to go now and a lot more to discover,” when it comes to reimagining DinoLand USA, and that “our team here in Florida is all over it.”
Disney is ready to spend money, but they’re still not sure what on
In the EW interview, D’Amaro confirmed that plans were still coming together for Disney’s big $60 Billion parks investment, but nothing was ready to be announced just yet. “As we make our way through some of these ideas, some of them will become real,” he said, adding “I want our guests to be on the journey with us.”
“We’ve got so many stories to tell,” he continued, “We have so many things we want to make even better in the theme parks. My plan is to continue to share that with the guests. I know people are like, ‘My gosh, I can’t believe he’s saying this. Is he serious, is he not?’ The answer is, we are absolutely serious,”
Unfortunately, this isn’t great news for the combined Indiana Jones/Encanto land that was showcased earlier this year, as Disney is seemingly not ready to commit to any one project, including this one. While it would be nice to have an idea about when a finalized project might be presented to fans, there’s no indication that anything concrete is coming soon, and Disney is likely entertaining other concepts in addition to this one while deciding where to spend their money. So while we may indeed see this land in the future, for now, don’t hold your breath.
