Disney Bulldozes Animal Kingdom Area, Park Landscape Changed Overnight
Over the last few months, Walt Disney World Resort has bulldozed an original part of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Here’s the latest update.
At D23 Expo 2024, Walt Disney Imagineering announced plans to bring a Tropical Americas-themed area called Pueblo Esperanza to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. The new Disney Park land will feature two new attractions inspired by Encanto (2021) and an Indiana Jones retheme of the DINOSAUR ride.
In January 2025, much of DinoLand U.S.A. closed permanently, including TriceraTop Spin, Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures, and Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama (including the Fossil Fun Games). The area’s steel roller coaster, Primeval Whirl, had already shut down in 2020 and was disassembled shortly thereafter.
Construction walls surrounded much of DinoLand U.S.A. immediately after the area shut down earlier this year. Guests spotted excavators in the area, and the visible parts of Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama slowly disappeared, including the large Cementosaurus, Dino Institute-themed billboards, TriceraTop Spin, and the Fossil Fun Game structures.
This week, a Disney Parks fan captured an aerial image of the current state of the closed parts of DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. @Attractions shared these photos on X (formerly known as Twitter), comparing the Disney Park area in January and July 2025:
Construction progress from January to July at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as workers transform DinoLand into the Tropical Americas, the future home of an “Encanto” ride.
More photos by @bioreconstruct: https://buff.ly/cVyWUG5
Construction progress from January to July at Disney's Animal Kingdom as workers transform DinoLand into the Tropical Americas, the future home of an "Encanto" ride.
More photos by @bioreconstruct: https://t.co/PNvOOzBLEk pic.twitter.com/rroB3ES53T
— Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) July 30, 2025
The photos show the untouched DINOSAUR building just steps from the Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama area. As of July 2025, all the buildings, attractions, and other structures in the closed area are gone. Construction equipment is parked atop completely cleared dirt, but it seems like crews have yet to begin building the Pueblo Esperanza attractions.
Some parts of DinoLand U.S.A. remain open for guests as the phased construction continues. The Boneyard play area will close permanently on September 1, 2025. DINOSAUR, Restaurantosaurus, and Trilo-Bites will remain open through the end of 2025.
Walt Disney World Resort has not announced a grand opening date for Pueblo Esperanza at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park. However, the land is expected to open in 2027.
Which part of Pueblo Esperanza are you most excited about? Let Disney Dining know in the comments!
