Here’s How Moana & Zootopia Could Take Over DinoLand USA at Animal Kingdom

    At the 2022 D23 Expo, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro presented a few “Blue Sky” concepts to more than 6,000 Disney fans. One of the concepts was a replacement of DinoLand USA by two of Disney’s hot Intellectual Properties – Moana and Zootopia. While details remained scarce, D’Amaro did present one piece of concept art for how Zootopia and Moana could take over DinoLand USA.

    In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the concept art to see how it might work with the existing DinoLand USA layout. First, here’s our photo of the concept art presented in the D23 Expo “A Boundless Future” Disney Parks panel.

    Now, let’s take a look at the current DinoLand USA layout to try and figure out how the pieces of the puzzle fit. In the screenshot below, we’re looking south across DinoLand USA. The now demolished Primeval Whirl can be seen in the lower left of the image, Triceratops Spin in the lower middle, DINOSAUR in the upper middle, and Restaurantosaurus in the middle right of the image. We also zoomed out a bit to showcase some extra space “behind” the former Primeval Whirl site – this will be important in a minute.

    We specifically angled the image above to try and align with what we think the concept art layout will be. Here’s a look at how we think the Moana and Zootopia areas fit within the existing DinoLand USA layout. While there will be some considerable work to be done, we think that Disney will attempt to reuse some elements from DinoLand USA such as the existing TriceraTop spin attraction and Restaurantosaurus.

    If this works out like we think it will, we anticipate that the Moana water ride will be built on the former Primeval Whirl site. It will likely be large enough to take up the former roller coaster’s footprint and then some. As you can see in our image above, there is some backstage space that can be used for a show building for the Moana water ride. We anticipate the spinner to be a simple retheme of the existing TriceraTop Spin attraction. Looking towards the back of the concept art, we can see the Zootopia Central Station. We think that this will be a retheme of the DINOSAUR attraction. Other landmarks like Restaurantosaurus and Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures will be kept in place and rethemed.

    Here’s a look at how it could all come together!

    If we go back to the unlabeled concept art, there’s another thing that is glaringly obvious – Moana is the priority. With the Primeval Whirl site already cleared, and other elements being simpler reskins of existing buildings and a spinner, it’s likely that we see progress on Moana before the Zootopia section. Of course, it’s worth keeping in mind that this concept art was presented as “Blue Sky”, so it’s possible that the project takes a couple of twists and turns along the way, but it’s very likely that DinoLand USA doesn’t exist 5 years from now. We should probably also note that not all “Blue Sky” concept art released at the 2022 D23 Expo is created equal. It’s clear that the Animal Kingdom artwork is much more detailed than the Magic Kingdom concept art. That’s likely because the Animal Kingdom project is much further along than the Magic Kingdom project. We anticipate that the Animal Kingdom project is close to getting final approval to move forward.

    What do you think? Are you excited about the possibility of Moana and Zootopia coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom? Let us know in the comments below or on social media!

    As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!

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    3 COMMENTS

    1. I guess Disney is leaving us old farts behind. Moana sounds like something I’m not interested in and I don’t even know what Zootopia is.

    2. As much as I love Moana and Zootopia, they’re already being covered in EPCOT (Moana) and the Blue Sky plans announced for MK (Zootopia). It makes much more sense to me to convert the Dinosaur ride into the Indiana Jones ride already in Disneyland (a favorite of mine!), and then re-theme the land as Mexico/Central-South America, with new animal exhibits from those parts of the world. Restaurantosaurus and Chester & Hester’s Dinosaur Treasures could easily be transformed into headquarters for young archeologists working for Dr. Jones.

    3. Young person here! LOVE the ideas for this. Really hope Moana & Zootopia (two of my most favorite movies) replace this outdated and boring land!

    Comments are closed.

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