Lots of progress has been made on the new Encanto attraction that’s being built in the Tropical Americas land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Since we last checked in, the ride’s entrance and queue have taken shape. We can also see the rest of the building now has exterior walls painted in that iconic Go Away Green color.
Let’s head to the sky for some new aerials from @bioreconstruct.
In the photo above, we can see the Encanto ride’s entrance at the top of the picture. The rest of the building is where guests will journey through Casita as the Madrigal family celebrates Antonio’s magical gift.
Below is a closer look at the entrance area.
Now, you know we love to compare construction pictures to the original concept art. We’re trying to line everything up, but we think there’s a good amount of differences with the art Disney has shown. Take a look below and see if you can match things up.
The entrance on the left of the concept art seems like it matches pretty closely, but where we get lost is the space in front of Casita, the Madrigal’s home. The concept art depicted a berm with Casita set back a bit. In reality, we think Casita will be closer to guests than we expected.
It also looks like Disney will use a design trick for the Encanto ride that we’ve experienced for years at the Haunted Mansion. Like the Haunted Mansion, it looks like guests will enter to the side of Casita. Then, the ride itself won’t take place in the Madrigal’s home you see from outside. Instead, it will take place in a large show building tucked behind the familiar facade. This is an effective design trick at the Haunted Mansion. However, it only works if you can completely conceal the big ride building.
We’ve been impressed with the speed of construction on the Tropical Americas so far. We’re hoping the rapid pace on the Encanto ride carries over to the Indiana Jones ride, which got off to a much later start due to DINORSAUR remaining open until earlier this year.
The new Tropical Americas land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is currently scheduled to open in Summer 2027. The Encanto ride will help anchor the land alongside a reimagined DINOSAUR ride that’s becoming an Indiana Jones attraction. Rounding out the Tropical Americas is a carousel ride, a quick service restaurant (RIP Restaurantosaurus), and merch spots.
