Tropical Americas News Update: Boneyard Demolition, Encanto Construction, and Zootopia Show

Work is kicking into high gear on the Tropical Americas land in Animal Kingdom, as The Boneyard play area closed and has already been demolished. A large tower crane is on site as the Encanto ride prepares for vertical construction. And we finally have an official closing date for the Dinosaur ride next year. Plus, work is happening on the marquee for the new Zootopia 3D show, opening in November.

Let’s dig into the latest construction and rumors in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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Walt Disney World is getting a new Tropical Americas land, replacing the DinoLand, U.S.A. area in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The new area, which will feature an Encanto ride, Indiana Jones ride, and an outdoor carousel, is set to open in 2027.

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TROPICAL AMERICAS CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Checking in on construction for the new land, work had been focused on the area where the new Encanto ride is being built, on the former grounds of the Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama area. But over the past month, construction has expanded to encompass much more of DinoLand itself.

The Boneyard play area and Dig Site closed forever September 2, 2025, and has already been demolished.

Disney says the new Tropical Americas land will feature some type of play area of its own, but no part of the former play area is being retained.

Instead, the new carousel will be built in this area where The Boneyard once stood.

In addition to the former play area, the main entrance into DinoLand has been demolished as well. This includes the “Oldengate Bridge” featuring the brachiosaurus fossil cast model that sat atop.

Work walls have been erected around the area, including ones that block the former entrance path into the area. This means you must now walk all the way around the construction zone to reach the Dinosaur ride and Restaurantosaurus, which remain open during this work.

More concept art for the new Tropical Americas land have been added to these work walls. In addition to the overall land art, we now have art depicting a scene from the upcoming Encanto ride, as well as the exterior facade for the future Indiana Jones ride.

The Indiana Jones artwork is surrounded by unique bat drawings. This is similar to the way the Encanto art is surrounded by butterflies, which tie to the story of that film.

Work is happening on both sides of this long path of work walls. Construction on the Encanto area on one side, and demolition of The Boneyard and former animal habitats on the other side.

The removal of the former animal habitats will make room for the central courtyard of Tropical Americas. Here is where a central fountain will be located, within the center of the fictional village of “Pueblo Esperanza.”

A massive tower crane has been assembled within the future Encanto area.

Looking at construction work for the Encanto section of the land—as seen in aerial photographs by Bioreconstruct on social media—we can see how preparation for concrete forms along the back corner of the future ride building is happening now.

Looking closer at the photo above, at the very back of the Encanto area, we can see what could be an array of complex conduit, sticking straight up into the air.

Concept art for this land shows how this Encanto area will look once completed.

Above is another look at the demolition progress on the former play areas and entry area as seen in aerials taken by @bioreconstruct a little over a week ago.

The entry bridge was already completely removed at this point.

Demolition on the Dig Site continues on the opposite side of the former bridge than The Boneyard. This was a large sandbox area where kids could dig up and reveal bones of a wooly mammoth.

The former animal enclosures are now also located behind work walls, right in front of Restaurantosaurus, as seen in the photo above.

The image of the scale model above shows is how this area will look when completed, with a carousel situated in the former play area, and a new fountain courtyard where the American crocodile animal enclosure was located.

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DINOLAND FINAL CLOSING DATES

Disney has finally released official closing dates for the remainder of DinoLand, U.S.A.. Dinosaur and Restaurantosaurus will be closing permanently on February 2, 2026, with the final day for to experience the ride and dining on February 1st.

We’re not sure exactly how much time that allows Disney to convert the Dinosaur ride into a new Indiana Jones adventure, but with the whole land set to open in 2027, they’ll have less than two years to finish everything in time from that point.

Animal Kingdom debuted a new frame design for Dinosaur’s on-ride photo this week, featuring the ride’s logo, and tagline: “It’s Fast! It’s A Blast! It’s In The Past!”

Ahead of Restaurantosaurus’ closing, the menu at Harambe Market on the other side of the park will be undergoing changes to add menu items that will soon be unavailable.

It is worth noting that Harambe Market already offers chicken tenders on its kids menu now—but additional offerings, including burgers, are expected to be added in the coming months.

In addition to Restaurantosaurus, Trilo-Bites is still open as well, serving Dole Whips and snacks. This small stand is located outside of the land in front of the work walls where the DinoLand, U.S.A. entrance used to be.

Inside of the land, located to the right of Restaurantosaurus, Dino-Bite Snacks is also still open, serving hand-scooped ice cream, fresh baked cookies, and soft pretzels. The outdoor seating deck here currently offers some views of the demolition of the land.

Meet and greets for Donald and friends are still happening in front of Restaurantosaurus and within the Cretaceous Trail until the area closes in February.

It is expected that the Cretaceous Trail could be the future location of a new playground, which is rumored to be themed to Indiana Jones, matching the Mayan temple site next door.

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ENCANTO RIDE INFO AND RUMORS

New information and rumors for the Encanto ride have come out since our last update.

This all-new ride will see new dialogue written by Jared Bush, the co-director and co-writer of the original Encanto film. He shared that he’ll be writing for the ride in a post on social media, saying this means “new words for the magical, fantastical Familia Madrigal! You will not believe what the imagineers are cooking up.”

The official details for the ride have said that it will take place during Antonio’s gift ceremony, which has left fans wondering if we’ll have a chance to see Bruno on the ride, who had not appeared yet in the film by this point. He’s even missing from the group shot seen in official concept art for the attraction.

The ride is expected to take us through several rooms and spaces within Casita that are seen in the film, with the largest space being Antonio’s room, which is much larger on the inside.

We can see in the official model for the ride building how it gets taller toward the back, which is likely where this massive scene takes place. It’ll be so large, it’s even possible it could contain multiple scenes within the same room, including this finale moment with the family photo seen in official concept art.

Even though Bruno is not seen in the official art, he could still make an appearance on the ride after. Insiders on WDWMagic Forums have discussed the possibility of two more scenes taking place after the ride’s major sequence.

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ZOOTOPIA BETTER ZOOGETHER UPDATE

The new 3D show replacing It’s Tough to Be a Bug! at the Tree of Life Theater has an official opening date. Zootopia: Better Zoogether! officially opens on November 7, 2025.

Visible construction work seems to be picking up at the entrance for this new show, with the new marquee now covered behind the work walls in this area.

New story details have been released for the show, which is set during Zoogether Day, “the holiday that celebrates unity across the diverse biomes of Zootopia.” The show will feature characters and locations seen in both the first Zootopia, as well as the sequel.

During the “celebration of Zoogether Day, a watch party has gathered to see performances of ice-skating spectaculars from Tundratown, synchronized swimming from Marsh Market, mouse drone shows above Little Rodentia and of course, a finale by superstar Gazelle.”

The “4D” show will be hosted by an all-new character named Heidi Howler.

Like the Encanto ride, Jared Bush did some writing for new show, with Byron Howard directing some of the visual content.

When the new show opens guests will be able to meet Judy and Nick at a new location in Discovery Island near the Tree of Life, called the Zoogether Day Gathering Spot. The characters will be dressed in new outfits from Zootopia 2.

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We will continue to follow these projects, as well as the Monsters, Inc. land being built and Hollywood Studios and new rides coming to Universal Orlando, so stay tuned. Be sure to see the video version of this story for additional visuals.

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