New Indiana Jones Attraction Headed to Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Indiana Jones has a new adventure on the horizon.

As part of D23 in Anaheim, Disney announced that a new Indiana Jones attraction would be coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the animal-themed park that exists as part of Disney’s sprawling Walt Disney World complex outside of Orlando, Florida. The attraction will replace Dinosaur and be the anchor attraction for a Tropical Americas section of the park. Recent Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, who starred as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” was on hand to make the announcement.

“This is going to be a completely new story,” D’Amaro said. Construction will begin this fall. “The work will begin in phases, making sure you will be able to experience Dinosaur one more time. Indiana Jones will be one of two signature attractions we are planning.”

Walt Disney Imagineering head Bruce Vaughn said, “It takes place in an ancient Mayan temple that Indy has recently discovered. He’s heard rumors of a mythical creature that lives deep within this temple. The best part is that he’s bringing us along with him.”

Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened on Earth Day, 1998. It’s one of the more unique parks in Disney’s theme park portfolio, in the sense that it has actual animals that exist alongside attractions that feature animated characters or made-up creatures. The park’s emphasis on conservation and animal rights falls is really striking, even if the mission statement for the park has somewhat swayed in recent years. (There is an entire land devoted to James Cameron’s “Avatar” film franchise, after all.) Dinoland, USA, with Dinosaur (originally Countdown to Extinction) opened along with the rest of the park.

The Dinosaur track layout is actually identical to the Indiana Jones Adventure in Disneyland and utilized the same EMV (enhanced motion vehicle), which is sort of a flight simulator on top of a traditional attraction vehicle, which is able to pitch and yaw according to what is going on in the show scenes.

This new Indiana Jones attraction is different and will be unique to Disney’s Animal Kingdom (there’s a clone of the Indiana Jones Adventure, more or less, in Tokyo Disneyland) and will follow our favorite professor/treasure hunter on an excursion in South America. Adventure has a name, and it’s Indiana Jones.

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