Disney’s Animal Kingdom is currently undergoing the most significant metamorphosis in its history. The aging, prehistoric asphalt of DinoLand U.S.A. is officially going extinct to make way for Tropical Americas, a lush, vibrant new land dedicated to the biodiverse environments and rich cultures of Central and South America. Featuring a brand-new Indiana Jones adventure and the first-ever Encanto dark ride, the expansion promises to inject a massive surge of energy into the park.
For months, the construction site has mostly consisted of heavy machinery clearing the old carnival games and erecting massive, generic steel warehouse buildings. However, the project has finally turned a corner. Highly themed exterior structures are beginning to rise above the construction walls, giving guests their first real glimpse of the magic to come.
If you are tracking the progress for your next Walt Disney World vacation, here is a deep dive into the latest construction milestones at Tropical Americas, an inside look at how guests will enter the Encanto attraction, and a breakdown of when this massive new land could finally open.
The Garden House: Your Gateway to the Madrigals
According to recent on-the-ground updates from BlogMickey, the very first signs of actual theming for the Encanto attraction are officially taking shape. The most exciting development on the horizon is the steel framing rising for a structure known as the “Garden House.”
To manage the massive crowds expected for this blockbuster ride, Walt Disney Imagineering had to get creative with the attraction’s entrance. The Encanto ride will feature a towering, forced-perspective facade of the Madrigal family’s magical Casita, but guests will not simply walk through the front door. Instead, they will enter through the Garden House.
Located to the left of the main Casita facade, the Garden House will serve as the primary queue entrance. If this sounds familiar, it is because Imagineers are using the same architectural conceit as at the Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom, where guests enter a ground-level conservatory to the left of the grand manor.
Based on scale models previously displayed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the Garden House will function as a covered, heavily themed switchback area. It is expertly designed to act as a seamless transition zone, taking guests out of the sprawling, sun-drenched landscape of Tropical Americas and gently guiding them into the enchanted, magical rooms of the Casita.
Exiting the Magic: A Repurposed Meet-and-Greet
The construction progress extends beyond the attraction’s entrance. On the opposite side of the massive show building, structural framing is also underway for the ride’s exit. While guests will queue through the Garden House on the left, they will disembark and exit the attraction to the right of the Casita.
But the Encanto experience won’t end the moment you step off the ride. For fans familiar with the old layout of DinoLand U.S.A., the exit path drops guests directly adjacent to the former Hester & Chester’s Dinosaur Treasures gift shop.
Rather than demolishing this quirky roadside-style building, Disney is actively repurposing it. The former shop is currently being transformed into a dedicated character meet-and-greet space. This is a brilliant operational move. After riding through the immersive world of the Madrigal family, guests will have the opportunity to meet characters like Mirabel and Bruno in person (though they will need to wait in a separate standby line).
The Tropical Americas Carousel Takes Center Stage
While the Encanto ride is undoubtedly the crown jewel of the new expansion, it isn’t the only project currently going vertical. Looking past the Garden House framing, guests visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom today can also see the steel skeleton and concrete base for the land’s brand-new carousel.
Situated prominently near the front of the Tropical Americas footprint, this family-friendly attraction will feature a stunning array of hand-carved wooden animals representing the diverse wildlife of South America. The carousel’s steel structure is already dominating the foreground of the construction site. It serves as a great reminder that Tropical Americas will be a well-rounded, multi-attraction land capable of absorbing large crowds and entertaining younger children who might not quite be ready for the intense thrills of the neighboring Indiana Jones ride.
When Will Tropical Americas Open?
With steel framing rising rapidly in the spring of 2026, the biggest question on every Disney fan’s mind is exactly when they will be able to set foot inside the Casita.
Disney has officially confirmed that Tropical Americas is targeted to open in 2027, but we can use the current construction pace to narrow that window.
Building a state-of-the-art dark ride is a complex, multi-year endeavor. The current phase—erecting the exterior steel framing and pouring concrete foundations—is just the tip of the iceberg. Once the exterior shells of the Garden House, the Casita facade, and the carousel are fully enclosed, Imagineers will need to spend several months intricately carving rockwork, texturing, and weathering the facades to make them look authentic.
Simultaneously, the interior of the Encanto show building requires extensive work. Installing the ride track, programming next-generation audio-animatronics, syncing the lighting and projection mapping, and rigorously testing the ride vehicles is a painstaking process that typically takes over a year once the building is sealed.
Given that exterior steel is scheduled to take shape in April 2026, major structural construction will likely wrap up in early 2027. Following months of operational testing, tweaking, and cast member previews, we anticipate that Tropical Americas will officially open to the public in the late Summer or Fall of 2027. An opening in the latter half of 2027 gives Imagineering the necessary runway to perfect the complex ride systems and position the new land as the ultimate holiday draw for Walt Disney World. Until then, watching the Casita rise from the ashes of DinoLand U.S.A. is an exciting preview of the magic to come.
