Veteran Imagineer Joan Hartwig recently offered new insights into the Tropical Americas land set to open next year at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Hartwig has been with Walt Disney Imagineering since 1990, and has spent much of her career at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. As the executive creative director for the Tropical Americas project, Hartwig will lead a series of updates on the project.
Veteran Imagineer at the Helm of Tropical Americas
Hartwig has an expansive career with Walt Disney Imagineering, dating back more than 36 years. She is one of, if not the most tenured, Imagineer on the Tropical Americas project, but that’s not all that she has done at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In fact, her resume includes being the Art Director for the extremely popular Avatar Flight of Passage attraction, work on Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Harambe Market, to name a few.
Tropical Americas: A Long Time Coming
While Disney fans first learned of the Tropical Americas project in 2024, the idea for a Tropical Americas-themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom can be traced back much further. Hartwig said that “earlier concepts of potential park expansions imagined guests journeying into an ancient Maya temple and exploring a lush rainforest”.
Back in February, BlogMickey.com reported that legendary Imagineer Joe Rohde said that he had been trying to get a Tropical Americas-themed land into Disney’s Animal Kingdom for some 15 years prior to his retirement. In fact, Rohde said that replacing DinoLand USA was part of those discussions.
In the update from Hartwig, she said that Rohde said that Disney “thought for a really long time about building a Tropical Americas-inspired land at Animal Kingdom. Specifically, one that features the Maya because of how intertwined with nature they were — it’s just a natural fit for the park.”
The Fundamentals: Research, Research, Research
Hartwig said that from the very beginning of this project, Imagineers knew the story of Tropical Americas needed to be grounded in the real world. Just like the Imagineers of yesteryear did when first building Animal Kingdom and the exciting additions that have opened since, the Tropical Americas team embarked on several research trips to learn more about the region’s culture, customs, architecture, and folklore.
Earlier this year, BlogMickey.com had the honor of attending the Maya at the Mouse conference. Maya at the Mouse is a third-party conference where scholars studying the Maya share in-depth presentations about various topics. Hartwig and her team were in attendance for the second year in a row. Attending the Maya at the Mouse conference is just one way that the Tropical Americas team is ensuring that the final product presented to the world for decades to come is authentic to the real-world locations and people that inspired the land.
Hartwig says that the team at Imagineering “always want to tell Disney stories from a place of curiosity and humility, and these trips allow us to go beyond simply re-creating the areas that inspire us.”
Recently, a small group took a trip to Honduras, where they met with Maya artists whose life’s work is carving and recreating intricate details found throughout the Copán site, one of the most extraordinary and well-preserved cities of the ancient Maya civilization.
Together, they traveled through the lush mountain valleys to the very quarries that have supplied this region for centuries. Imagineers experienced firsthand the striking red and green stones native to the landscape. Hatwig said that witnessing this artistry was a breathtaking moment, made even more meaningful knowing that the same materials that built Copán will find their way to Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom to be crafted by carvers using time-honored techniques.
The team also traveled to Colombia to immerse themselves in the places and cultures that inspired Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Encanto,” which will be represented in the first-ever Encanto attraction at a Disney park.
During the research trip, the team met with many of the people and visited many of the places that the original “Encanto” filmmakers first visited in researching Disney Animation’s Academy Award-winning film.
Imagineers also gathered first-hand experiences to ensure Pueblo Esperanza feels like a real, lived-in town, true to the region – from the colors and materials of town plazas to hues of haciendas in varying light to the way buildings respond to the climate and terrain.
These journeys are not just about where Imagineers go, but the insight, inspiration, and deeper understanding that shapes every detail they bring back. Imagineers travel because there is always more to learn, and each experience brings them closer to telling these stories with authenticity and care.
Our research results in a richly layered environment that honors Central and South America, all through the lens of Disney storytelling. In 2027, Pueblo Esperanza will welcome visitors to a crossroads of culture surrounded by a rainforest filled with life.
An Expanded Description for the Encanto Ride Storyline
Hartwig also shared an expanded storyline for the Encanto-themed attraction. In 2027, guests will enter the magical Madrigal casita, where we will be invited to celebrate Antonio’s new gift: the ability to talk to animals. And along the way, we’ll learn that no matter what our special gifts or abilities are, we’re all part of the “familia” of all living things.
Here’s a “before/after” of the description first offered at the 2024 D23 Expo, compared with the expanded storyline description from Hartwig’s recent update:
The first-ever “Encanto”-themed ride-through attraction is coming to Animal Kingdom, featuring the beloved Madrigal family from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film. Inside the Casita, Antonio has just received his special gift — the ability to communicate with animals — and his room has transformed into a rainforest. It’s time to go explore alongside him, and you never know what member of the family you might bump into…
…guests will be invited to celebrate Antonio’s new gift: the ability to talk to animals. And along the way, we’ll learn that no matter what our special gifts or abilities are, we’re all part of the “familia” of all living things.
For everything you need to know about the Tropical Americas retheme project for DinoLand USA, check out our article below!
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