Disney announced that Dinoland U.S.A, their 26-year-old dinosaur themed section of Animal Kingdom, will be closing at an unspecified date in 2026. This could be a major development for the park. Even though it has many cool shows and nature-themed attractions for guests to admire, one of Animal Kingdom’s greatest flaws is that it’s severely lacking in thrill rides. Replacing Dinoland U.S.A, which mostly consists of playground, would be a huge game-changer. The drawings of the new layout feature a potential Encanto dark ride, which would be a fun new addition. Unfortunately, amongst all of these changes lie the replacement of a beloved dark ride: DINOSAUR. Based off of the early 2000’s movie of the same name, DINOSAUR takes guests back in time to the Cretaceous period, dangerously close to the meteor shower that caused the extinction of most life on Earth. Although old, the ride still works extremely well, having effective scares that are startling, but enjoyable. DINOSAUR brings smiles to everyone! However, in 2026, along with the rest of Dinoland U.S.A, DINOSAUR will close permanently to be rethemed to Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones has been a long awaited dark ride in Walt Disney World (there is already one in California). But is it really worth the removal of an all-time favourite? No, absolutely not!
Instead of choosing one or the other, perhaps both could happen. In Florida, space is not an issue like it is in California. Ideally, DINOSAUR will remain, and Indiana Jones will still get built somewhere. But if we don’t say this now, we may never see DINOSAUR ever again.