This Monday was the final day for Dinoland USA in Animal Kingdom. This section was home to some really unique theming, a great play area for kids and just a lot of nostalgia. I honestly didn’t realize how much I was going to miss it until we made our last trip to see Chester and Hester and the roadside Dino fair they left behind. There are some really exciting things yet to come for this area and you still have the opportunity to ride Dinosaur until 2026 but the rest of Dinoland USA is now closed. Let’s reflect on what was and what’s to come to honor this great section of Animal Kingdom!
The Story
The story goes that back in 1947 an amateur fossil hunter found some dinosaur bones on the site we know as Dinoland USA. Before that this was just a small, sleepy highway town. The fossil hunter and some scientist friends got some money together and purchased the site where the bones were found. Once word spread of the find, scientists, volunteers and grad students all came to live there and work to find more out about these dinosaurs! The Dino Institute was founded and sponsored a dig site we might know as the Bone Yard. An old fishing lodge became the dining hall for all those grad students that we know as Restaurantosaurus, complete with a dine in Air-Stream trailer. A research facility called Chrono-Tech partnered with the Dino Institute and formulated a way to warp vehicles through time, this became Dinosaur and the search for the Allosaurus!
Of course the locals in this town had to get in on the action! Chester and Hester owned a local gas station and turned it into a fossil souvenir shop, but they didn’t;t stop there. The turned their parking lot into Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama, a small amusement park complete with rides and games. You could take a flight on a Dino at Triceratops Spin or do a different kid of time traveling on Primeval Whirl.
Dinoland Fossils
There have been lots of things to come and go in Dinoland USA since it’s opening in April of 1998. Some left to make way for new attractions and others just disappeared. It was really a walk down memory lane looking back at the opening day attractions here in Dinoland!
Lucky the Dinosaur
One of those fossils was Lucky the Dinosaur! Lucky was the first ever free roving audio-animatronic figure made by Disney Imagineers. He came to Dinoland from Disney’s California Adventure in 2005 and only stayed from June to August. He was escorted around Dinoland by his handler…..Chandler the Handler, so cheesy just like Dinoland! Haha! He pulled a flower cart behind him that hid his computer and power source.
Dinosaur Jubilee
The Dinosaur Jubilee was an opening day attraction that served as a placeholder until Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama was completed in 2000. This was a walk through attraction inside a tent and was actually very cool! It housed fossils and skeletons to represent the Dino Institutes finds on the site. The Black Hills Institute and Triebold Paleontology supplied these casts which included Stan the T-Rex which was the most complete T-Rex found until Sue was discovered. Dinosaur Jubilee had 7 other dinosaur skeletons and audio-animatronics of a Mammoth and Smilodon. The student interns of the Dino Institute were your comical tour guides through this attraction. Think Jungle Cruise but with dinosaurs!
Donalds Dino Bash
The last thing to go down with the ship as far as entertainment goes is Donalds Dino Bash. This was such a fun theme here in Dinoland and I LOVED the characters costumes. Chip and Dale dressed in Dino onesies is the cutest thing ever! There was always fun music playing as part of the party, banners and signs and of course Donald Duck in his Dino finest meeting guests along with Daisy.
Entertainment & Animals
There also used to be a fossil prep lab and a few animal exhibits. At one time you could see Abdim’s Stork, an American Crocodile and and Asian Brown Tortoise in Dinoland USA. Technically the Theater in the Wild is also part of Dinoland but there has been no announcement of this closing. It is currently home to Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond but it was once home to other shows. From 1998-99 you could see Journey Into the Jungle Book. From 1999-2006 it housed Tarzan Rocks which was such an awesome show! I remember being in awe of this show and loving everything about it!! In 2006 the show was changed to Finding Nemo the Musical and that was revamped into what we know today in 2020. I truly love the Finding Nemo show too, there is just something about those giant jellyfish in the audience!
What’s Next
Dinoland is now extinct with the exception of the Dinosaur ride, but what’s coming?? Well at the D23 Ultimate Fan Event this past August, Disney announced what we are getting int he place of Chester and Hester and all their shenanigans! The whole area is being rethemed into a Tropical America’s themed town called Pueblo Esperanza. Some have criticized this but I think it goes well with the way the rest of the park is laid out with the different regions. It also makes me think of Walt Disney’s good will ambassador trip to the Tropical America’s and I wonder if we will get some nods to that in the little details of this new section. You can watch a show about that trip on Disney+ called Walt Disney and El Grupo, it is an awesome watch, 10/10 recommend!
Indiana Jones
The Dinosaur ride is being rethemed to a new Indiana Jones adventure and I could not be more excited about this! I am a huge Indiana Jones fan and love the ride in California so I can’t wait for this! The concept art looks like ancient ruins with a giant idol of some kind. The ride system on the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland is a similar system to Dinosaur so my theory is that is why this ride is sticking around until 2026 since it is not a complete re-build.
Encanto Casita
I feel like this ride is going to be so much fun! It is a trackless ride through attraction similar to Mystic Manor in Hong Kong Disneyland and will be set on the day that Antonio receives his special gift, the ability to talk to animals! As his room transforms into a rainforest we will ride through the house meeting not only the animals but the rest of family Madrigal!
Esperanza Character Carousel
The story is that a woodcarver from this town of Pueblo Esperanza converted an old horse stable into a carousel for the town to enjoy. He crafted his favorite Disney animal characters from all his favorite stories. The first one that has been announced is Kevin from UP and it is beautiful! If the rest of the figures look as beautiful as this one, this is truly going to be a masterpiece. In the concept art you can see some other characters as well. Timon and Puma, HeiHei, Abu, Bambi, Eeyour and a bunch more. The thing that sticks out to me about the concept art and the Kevin ride vehicle on this particular attraction is that nothing looks brand new. Everything looks a little worn and not so perfect which I feel like fits in just right here in Animal Kingdom.
Conclusion
I love that everything we are seeing so far seems to be connecting well with the rest of the park. Like I said above, it looks a little worn and not so perfect. When you walk through Africa or Asia in this park, nothing looks pristine and new, it looks lived in and authentic. I am hopeful this new Pueblo Esperanza will be just as inviting and beautiful as Harambe and Anandapur are in their sections. Maybe we will see some new animals over here at some point, you just never know! With all that being said, I am sad about losing Dinoland. It has been a big part of my kids lives and one of their favorite sections of the park. It will be so strange not to see Chester and Hester and the kitschy gift shop with knick knacks everywhere. But as Walt Disney himself said, the parks will always be in a state of becoming and never quite complete. It’s hard to see things we love and things we have strong memories with go but it is exciting to see what’s coming! Thank you all for reading along and taking a little trip into Dinoland USA one last time. Have a magical day!
