Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Disney's Animal Kingdom to get an Indiana Jones land?


The big rumor this week is that Disney's Animal Kingdom will get an Indiana Jones land. Yes, i know, DAK is supposed to be an “Animal Kingdom” but it didn’t stopped Disney to build the Avatar land there so i suppose the question of meaning is probably not the most important thing. But there is more about this which could make sense in having an Indy land built there. According to Orlando Informer "All of DinoLand, USA will be remade into Indiana Jones Land with half of the attractions getting a theming overhaul and the other half being razed to the ground and replaced by brand-new experiences. Dinosaur, the area’s flagship ride, is expected to be re-skinned as Indiana Jones Adventure, the 1995 attraction from Disneyland – not at all surprising, given that Dinosaur has literally the same exact ride vehicle and track layout as its Californian predecessor. The Boneyard Fossil Fun Site is also currently expected to stay, albeit with the expected makeover into an archeology-themed dig site...
...that leaves the Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama miniland on the chopping block; all the real estate that is currently eaten up by both TriceraTop Spin and Primeval Whirl, along with their attending midway games and gift shop could be home to one giant new E-ticket ride, although what, exactly, that could entail is anyone’s guess at this point in time.”

You can read the full Orlando Informer article HERE but it’s right that the Dinosaur ride has exactly the same track than Indiana Jones Adventure so, yes, they could re-use the ride with the IJA theming and save a lot of money indeed. Same for the Boneyard Fossil site. And DAK vegetation would fit perfectly with an Indy theming too. So, there is several points that could make this rumor right, and we have to wait to see if is or not. The full Orlando Informer article also says that Disney may envision to build a fully-immersive Indiana Jones themed resort experience just like they're planning with the Star Wars resort, which in my opinion could be a very good idea indeed.



And what about an Indiana Jones land too for Disneyland Paris, you ask? Well, the coming of Indiana Jones Adventure to DLP Adventureland  is rumored since 20 years, the blueprints are ready ( see above and below ) and the good news is that DLP Imagineers are still keeping available the land to build it when it would be decided to do it. When? Well, here is my opinion on all this. As we know a new Indy movie will get into production soon and is planned to be released on July 10, 2020. Obviously Harrison Ford will be quite old at that time and they plan to have a new actor playing Indy in the movie, and for the next films of the franchise ( btw, good luck to them to find one as good as Harrison Ford! ).



My guess is that Disney will wait to see the success of the movie - and the new actor - and then will give the green light for this DAK Indiana Jones land - if the rumor to build it at DAK is right, of course - and then eventually at DLP. Apparently it seems that we need to be patient so it may mean that all hope is not lost to have Indiana Jones Adventure coming someday at Disneyland Paris Adventureland!

Pictures: copyright Disney

1 comment:

Dear Lord P. said...

May the Mouse hear our plea! We desperately need an Indiana Jones Adventure ride in Paris.

As for Animal Kingdom, turning Dinoland into Indyland seems logical. If Joe Rohde is in charge of the project, I guess he may complete it with tribal designs or ideas of ecological and heritage protection.

Also, although the name "Edge of Civilization" was probably meant as a joke in the article, it is actually quite good.