Disney's Animal Kingdom® Park News from Disney's Animal Kingdom

Austin the Sengi said:
Based on what was recently announced at the Destination D23 event. It appears that Disney has new plans to completely change DinoLand USA into a new, South America inspired land; with “Encanto” and a “Indiana Jones” retheme of the current “DINOSAUR” attraction being considered for this reimagined land, as seen in the concept art below.

In addition, Disney also have plans to create a new show based on “Zootopia” to eventually replace “It’s Tough To Be a Bug!”, rather than an entire land as previously expected.

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Will this include animals?
 
As of right now, there is no word if Disney will add and/or relocate any live animals for this new development. Especially if Disney decides to treat this land in a similar way to what they did with Pandora - The World of Avatar.
 
Austin the Sengi said:
Based on what was recently announced at the Destination D23 event. It appears that Disney has new plans to completely change DinoLand USA into a new, South America inspired land; with “Encanto” and a “Indiana Jones” retheme of the current “DINOSAUR” attraction being considered for this reimagined land, as seen in the concept art below.

In addition, Disney also have plans to create a new show based on “Zootopia” to eventually replace “It’s Tough To Be a Bug!”, rather than an entire land as previously expected.

View attachment 653972
Click to expand...
Honestly really like these ideas. More zoos need major South American complexes and I am glad Zootopia is no longer planned on being a whole land.
 
Austin the Sengi said:
Based on what was recently announced at the Destination D23 event. It appears that Disney has new plans to completely change DinoLand USA into a new, South America inspired land; with “Encanto” and a “Indiana Jones” retheme of the current “DINOSAUR” attraction being considered for this reimagined land, as seen in the concept art below.

In addition, Disney also have plans to create a new show based on “Zootopia” to eventually replace “It’s Tough To Be a Bug!”, rather than an entire land as previously expected.

View attachment 653972
Click to expand...
Honestly really happy with this, I think Indiana Jones is the superior theme to Dinosaur, even though I love the cheesiness of the latter.
 
Yay! I've been wanting a South American zone to come to Disney's Animal Kingdom! Encanto is one of Disney's top movies right now, and it'd be great to see this fit into Disney, hopefully alongside some of the species that appeared in the movie (e.g. Jaguar, Capybara, Toucans).
 
Neil chace said:
Yay! I've been wanting a South American zone to come to Disney's Animal Kingdom! Encanto is one of Disney's top movies right now, and it'd be great to see this fit into Disney, hopefully alongside some of the species that appeared in the movie (e.g. Jaguar, Capybara, Toucans).
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I recall white nosed coatimundi in the movie too.

Edit: per Google, there are tapir as well.

Edit 2: Based on their designs, they seem to be South American coatis. Oops.
 
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Even if this section doesn’t have live animals, or only has a small number to match what there currently is, it’s right next to the jungle themed sections of the park and should blend together well. It is still a bit sad to see a third of the original concept (extinct, extant, fictional animals) go. I think that with some investment and a replacement to the carnival area Dinoland still could have been good. I personally would’ve gone with a boat ride based on the expeditions conservationists hosted to what is now Dinosaur National Monument in order to persuade policymakers that the land should be protected. Ties in dinosaurs and conservation while providing an opportunity to showcase native and ambassador animals like beavers, opossum, and eagles.

In the alternative, an ice age animal themed area could work and I’m 90% sure Disney owns the Ice Age franchise now after the fox acquisition.

Regardless, this fits well with the park’s general atmosphere and the planned triple focus had been abandoned from the literal start. Curious what updates they plan on making to California’s notoriously unreliable effects in the Indiana Jones ride.
 
Persephone said:
In the alternative, an ice age animal themed area could work and I’m 90% sure Disney owns the Ice Age franchise now after the fox acquisition.
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Theme park rights versus film rights are two different realms. For example Disney owns marvel but because of theme park copyright laws they can’t open anything marvel in Orlando. Just looked it up and I think other themaparks or waterparks in the northeast and Asia own the rights for Ice Age. It would be a cool concept though.
Austin the Sengi said:
As of right now, there is no word if Disney will add and/or relocate any live animals for this new development. Especially if Disney decides to treat this land in a similar way to what they did with Pandora - The World of Avatar.
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I think they will add animal exhibits. Not just because of their prominence in the movies but also why would they dedicate the area to South America if they weren’t going to include South American biodiversity. I think the thought that there would be an animal complex in the area was the main push for them to build a South American area.
 
Change is good, and dinoland as a whole has started to look a bit dated. I’ll be sad to see dinosaur go though, as it’s a fantastic ride. Similar blueprint to Indy though, so will be a fairly straightforward conversion.
 
Are there currently any South American animals in the Oasis or other parts of the park that could be relocated to the new area? I guess the American crocodile kept in Dinoland could stay too.

It would be so awesome if in addition to Encanto and Indiana Jones they make a trail with capybaras, anteaters, coatis, tapirs, monkeys and jaguars or pumas.
 
Per the March 2022 species list:

South American Animals:

Roseate Spoonbill
Rosy-Billed Pochard
Giant Anteater
Chiloe Wigeon
Yellow-Billed Teal
Cotton-Top Tamarin
Red-Footed Tortoise
American Crocodile
Poison Dart Frogs
Argentine Horned Frog

Not Mainland South America But No One Would Complain:

Galapagos Tortoise
Rhinoceros Iguana
Puerto Rican Boa
Puerto Rican Crested Toad

Latin American Species Currently Only In Bird Shows / Free Roaming / Ambassador:
Macaws
Great Horned Owl
Yellow-Naped Amazon
Harpy Eagle
Toco Toucan
Yellow-Headed Amazon

Domestics:
Alpaca
Long-Tailed Chinchilla


Also some insects but Asia and Africa don't really have any inverts on display. Fewer species than I thought. For some reason I remembered the Oasis / Discovery Island being mostly Latin American species, but it actually seems to be a lot of Asian (and some African) animals that didn't really fit with the larger enclosures on the trails or rides.

If there are animal exhibits, I would expect:

A third walkthrough aviary
Capybara / Giant Anteater / Tapir / Red-Footed Tortoise
Toucan and/or Harpy Eagle Aviary
American Crocodile
Tamarins
Sloths (How do they not already have one?)
Maybe another primate or two

Jaguars if they get particularly ambitious but I really doubt they will.

The original DAK plans called for a water safari through Asia and, given the generally smaller and more aquatic / arboreal nature of major South American species, I think that could work well here but I doubt it will happen.
 
Smaggledagle said:
On September 14th, the zoo announced that a (0.1) yellow-backed duiker named Penny was born in May and is now on exhibit.

It’s the... - Disney's Animals, Science and Environment

On September 24th, the zoo announced that they moved (2.0) western lowland gorillas named Cory and Flint from the family troop exhibit to the bachelor troop exhibit.

This World... - Disney's Animals, Science and Environment
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DAK Gorilla population

Family troop:
GINO(m) 1980
KASHATA(f) 1993
AZIZI(f) 1997
LILLY(f) 2010
GRACE(f) 2019
ADA(f) 2021

Bachelor troop:
AUGUSTUS(GUS) (m) 1981
ZAWADI(m) 1991
KEJANA(KJ) (m) 1991
CORY(m) 2014
FLINT(m) 2014

M’BIZI(SPIKE) (m) 1993-7/2022
 
More recent news:
- It is indeed true that Disney has been taking about remodeling Dinoland USA, but it’s not official. An official date will be released about 2-5 years before construction actually starts.
- There may have been some rumors spread that Disney’s Animal Kingdom will close permanently in 2024, and that is NOT true and just a rumor.
- A keeper told me that the park actually brings in older lemurs on purpose, because a young lemur could jump out of the exhibit. The three current ring-tailed lemurs that replaced the two old ones are 12, 14 and 20. The 12-year-old lives with his mom and grandma and they came from the North Carolina Zoo. 20 is already old for a lemur, that is about how long most lemurs live. Both collared brown lemurs are well into their 30s by now and are among the oldest in the world.
- Cory and Flint the gorillas have gotten in some fights with the older bachelor males because they are lowest ranking, but have overall been getting along pretty well. Currently the pecking order from top to bottom is KJ, Zawadi, Gus, and then Cory and Flint all the way at the bottom but Cory and Flint may eventually outrun Gus as they get older.
- As far about the old goats and sheep, there are only two Alpine Pygmy boys left, and four older sheep ladies, with the oldest being 16 years old. Only one of the older goats has died this year and no sheep, but were now down at just six. Tiana, the alpaca also passed away this year at the old age of 14. Orange, the rooster is the only chicken left and he now comes out with the goats and sheep, but is never in the main contact yard. Back when they were down to two chickens for a while, they were retired from display due to old age. Many animals in the Affection Section are getting old, including the donkeys, pigs, cow, rooster and several goats and sheep.
 
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