If you've been on pins and needles waiting for real details about Animal Kingdom's Tropical Americas overhaul, a new update is here.
During the Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase at D23, Disney pulled back the curtain on official names and juicy new story beats for the three rides headed to the land taking over DinoLand U.S.A. The whole project kicked off back at D23 2024, when Encanto and Indiana Jones were already the names on everyone's lips as the anchor experiences — and now we finally know how it's all shaping up.
The three attractions are officially Antonio's Fiesta de Encanto, Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, and El Carrusel de los Animalitos — with Encanto and Indy set up as the land's marquee headliners.
Antonio's Fiesta de Encanto sounds like an absolute treat for Encanto fans. Guests will step into the celebration surrounding young Antonio Madrigal receiving his gift — the ability to talk to animals — while riding in vehicles built from oversized furniture that reacts to the story unfolding around it. The finale drops riders into a reimagined version of Antonio's room, transformed into a lush rainforest with over 50 animals, all developed alongside Disney's own Animals, Science, and Environment team.
Bonus for families: there's no height requirement. And the voice cast is sticking around too — Stephanie Beatriz, Jessica Darrow, and Diane Guerrero are all returning as Mirabel, Luisa, and Isabela.
Over on the former DINOSAUR footprint, Disney confirmed the new ride is called Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, and it's not just a retheme of the existing attraction. The story sends Indy into a hidden passage inside an ancient temple that supposedly leads toward the Mayan underworld — guarded, according to legend, by a mythological creature. Naturally, Indy investigates anyway and discovers the legend is very real: a creature called Tsukán.
From there, things move fast. Guests get pulled through a portal into the underworld itself for an escape sequence involving bats, scorpions, fire, and snakes, building to a showdown with Tsukán.
Disney Parks Blog shared a quote earlier this year: “You may be asking, ‘why'd it have to be snakes?' and Imagineers have a great answer to that. Chris divulged that you'll encounter the Tsukán throughout the attraction, including a final confrontation that will probably solidify your fear of snakes for the rest of time.”
Disney also dropped a fun bit of trivia: the Indiana Jones Audio-Animatronic will actually be modeled after Harrison Ford — a first for any Indy animatronic.
And if you want proof things are moving along, park tracker bioreconstruct recently shared an aerial photo showing the colorful temple facade taking shape, with sculpted rockwork sections crane-lifted into place after months of work at Imagineering's backstage offices.
This stage officially marks the burial of the DINOSAUR attraction at Animal Kingdom. Between the returning voice cast, the Ford-inspired animatronic, and a genuinely creepy new villain, this expansion is shaping up to be way more than a simple DinoLand facelift.
Which ride has you the most excited?
