The main entrance archway for Tropical Americas is starting to look like the concept art. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Friday, a dark mesh covered most of the steel frame that went up over the construction wall in early August, and the arch’s rounded center and sculpted shoulders on each side now match the renderings for the land. Crews were working from tiers of scaffolding around the curve.
Over at the land’s side entrance, where the themed pillars lost their scaffolding last month near Finding Nemo and Expedition Everest, orange fencing and piles of dirt still sit around the base. The landscaping there has yet to go in.
The Encanto Mountains Look To Be Getting Concrete
The rockwork above the Encanto show building appears to have moved into its next phase. The faux mountain range, which started as steel mesh in July, now spreads across the roofline in several rolling peaks wrapped in scaffolding. Crews in white suits appear to be applying concrete over that mesh. Smooth gray sections are spreading across it, and white buckets sit on the plank walkways.
A concrete shell would give the peaks their first solid surface, with paint likely to come after. That was the order of work at the side entrance, where sculpted concrete came first and the weathered finish came later. Once finished, the mountains should hide the box of the show building and give the house in front of it a backdrop.
Casita Looks To Be A Facade
That house is Casita, the Madrigal home that fronts Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto. Themed steel on the tall frame now traces peaked roof lines and a curved arch. Lighter framing with arched openings sits beside it in building wrap, and a tall, squared tower of braced steel appears to rise above the rest.
It also appears only the front half of Casita is being built. The frame looks like a true facade, with the show building behind it and nothing that seems to extend toward the rear, which guests would not see anyway. The ride itself takes place inside Casita on Antonio’s gift day, with riders carried through the house on vehicles meant to look like pieces of furniture, and it has no height requirement.
Elsewhere in the land, a concrete block building with an arched doorway and a curved concrete arch over the entry is rising behind scaffolding. What it will be has not been revealed.
When Tropical Americas Opens
Tropical Americas is still set to open in 2027, with guests entering through Pueblo Esperanza, a fictional village in the heart of the rainforest. The land will include Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto, Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, and El Carrusel de los Animalitos, a carousel with 22 animals from Disney stories. Disney has not announced a specific opening date.
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