We were so excited when Disney announced a new Tropical Americas area for Animal Kingdom at D23, but we’ve been waiting on more details!
Disney has given us some concept art, but other than that, we’re still (not so) patiently waiting for more. However, one Disney Imagineer just spilled some secrets that inspired the new land! Let’s take a look.
Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde gave us a behind-the-scenes look at Pueblo Esperanza, which is taking over DinoLand U.S.A.
Rohde was one of the main Imagineers who worked on Animal Kingdom, which opened in 1998. He recently visited the Disney World team to be a keynote speaker for Maya and the Mouse, a Maya archeology conference.
Rohde spoke on “the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration between artists and researchers” and focused on the dangers of sharing inaccurate yet popular information with the public.
In one of the pictures Rohde shared on his Instagram, we can see that there will be a Mayan temple design with accurate symbols and correct explanations. This concept art is not the final temple design, though!
The conference featured many speakers who discussed different cultural elements of the Maya, one of which was about the types of plants. Certain types of plants can only be pollinated by native bees because the Maya used to raise them. We know Animal Kingdom Imagineers care a lot about the different types of plants they use, so we’re so excited about what this could be for the new Tropical Americas area.
There was even a Mayan linguist who translated a vase, so we can assume the Mayan language used in the new area of Animal Kingdom will be very accurate.
We love seeing how much effort Disney puts into ensuring proper research is done when developing new lands and attractions. For Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Disney incorporated a lot of New Orleans culture and made sure to bring in consultants to accurately represent New Orleans.
We can’t wait to find more details about Pueblo Esperanza, so make sure you’re staying up to date with AllEars to learn more!
Check out everything we learned at D23 that’s coming to Disney Parks!
Are you excited for Pueblo Esperanza? Let us know in the comments!
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