Animal Kingdom is getting a new Tropical Americas land, and we can’t wait! But unfortunately, we’ve had to say goodbye to our beloved Dinoland, U.S.A., which will close permanently on February 2nd, 2026. Construction is already underway where the Boneyard playground and Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama previously stood, and we have some new construction updates!
©Disney
The two rides currently under construction are an animal-themed carousel and an Encanto ride. Some new aerial photos by @bioreconstruct on X, formerly known as Twitter, show just how fast construction is progressing in the area.
In new aerial construction photos, we can see that construction on the exterior of the Encanto ride is in full swing. On the top right corner of the image below is the building for the ride, which will be transformed into the Madrigal family home. They’ve already made lots of progress with foundation and beam structures.
©bioreconstruct
On the bottom left corner of the photo is the new animal-themed carousel. You’ll be able to ride on iconic Disney animals from Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo, and Bambi. They’ve already started pouring concrete, but there isn’t any new update on the structure just yet. The green line between the two areas is the walking path to DINOSAUR and Restaurantosaurus in the back of Dinoland U.S.A.
©bioreconstruct
In the above photo, you can see just how large the ride building for Encanto will be. The yellow arrow is what Bioreconstruct thinks will be the start of the queue for the attraction. Let’s hope it’s not for the sake of our feet! It does look like a queue entrance with a concrete barrier around the ride’s exterior.
©Disney
From Disney’s concept art, it looks like guests will enter the home from the courtyard to the right in an outdoor queue, and it lines up with the construction photos above. Construction updates have been increasing rapidly, so we’re sure we’ll know soon. Stay tuned to Disney Food Blog for the next Encanto update!
EXPANSION NEWS! DISNEY WORLD CAST MEMBERS SHARE HEARTWARMING UPDATE FOR ‘ENCANTO’ RIDE
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Meh. Obscure. Where’s Mickey…
Dino land was a complete waste in my opinion, glad to see it go. Hopefully the Encanto ride won’t be lame. Disney needs to compete with Universal in keeping things exciting and Up-to-date