According to Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, we can expect shovels in the ground this Fall at Disney’s Animal Kingdom as Disney works to transform DinoLand USA into a Tropical Americas-themed land. We’ve already seen early permitting filed to allow for the construction of backstage offices for Walt Disney Imagineering and third-party contractors, but even more permits have been filed recently.
New DinoLand USA Permits
The permits, which are the most indecipherable and ambiguous that Walt Disney World files, tap their in-house contractors, Buena Vista Construction Company (BVCC), for work described as “provide labor, material, and/or electrical for construction”. Essentially, this is work that could be big or small (typically small) and Disney doesn’t want to tip their hand to what is happening. Usually, we don’t report on BVCC permits because of how vague the description of work is, that said, these permits are interesting.
In the Google Earth screenshot below, we can see a reverse view of DinoLand USA, with the DINOSAUR ride building in the lower left of the image, the (since-demolished) Primeval Whirl attraction in the middle of the image, the Theater in the Wild building in the upper right, and some backstage support buildings and a marina in the lower right.
The permits are interesting because there are three of them and they are all related to backstage buildings that will very likely be demolished in the upcoming Tropical Americas work. We’ve highlighted the buildings in question below. The two trailers side-by-side are a “show control” trailer on the left and an “operations” trailer on the right. The third building above the two trailers is another “operations” trailer.
Looking at the Tropical Americas model (reverse view of screenshots above), we can see that a large show building will house the Encanto-themed attraction for the reimagined land. It’s hard to imagine these backstage buildings making the cut, so it’s unclear if the BVCC permits are for new construction, or perhaps some sort of construction preparing the land for construction.
Tropical Americas will be built in phases, and there will be “plenty of time” left to experience DINOSAUR before it closes. It would make sense that the shovels in the ground expected this Fall would be for construction of the Encanto attraction, but we’ll have to wait and see where the first steps of construction take place.
It’s also entirely possible that shovels in the ground means that Disney will begin construction on their new backstage trailer complex for Imagineering, but that shouldn’t really count as the start of construction when discussing Tropical Americas. Hopefully, D’Amaro meant that we’ll start to see some earth moving either in DinoLand USA proper, or in backstage areas directly related to the Tropical Americas land, and not a backstage support site 0.5 miles away.
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!