The paperwork behind Tropical Americas now runs into late 2027. Walt Disney Imagineering filed an amended Notice of Commencement for the project at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on November 12, and it extends the permit to November 2027.
The filing amends a notice first recorded in December 2025. Both list Walt Disney Imagineering as the owner, Whiting-Turner as the contractor and 500 DinoLand Drive in Bay Lake as the address, and both describe the work as “General Construction.”
A Familiar Backstage Address
The 500 DinoLand Drive address once belonged to a temporary trailer backstage at DinoLand U.S.A., and it now turns up regularly on Tropical Americas paperwork, which makes it a useful marker for work going on behind the construction walls. The Encanto attraction was built nearly on top of the spot where that trailer stood.
Amendments like this keep a project’s paperwork current while work continues. Notices carry an expiration date, and when construction is still going as that date gets close, the owner files an amendment to push it out. This one gives Imagineering coverage at the address through nearly all of next year.
Whiting-Turner Has Been There From The Start
Whiting-Turner is the general contractor on big jobs like this one, and it has been tied to Tropical Americas since the first filing. The company was named on the site prep permit Imagineering filed in December 2024 for “Area Development” in the old Dino-Rama section, and it was on the amended Encanto ride permit for 610 DinoLand Drive in May, which extended that work to May 19, 2027.
Whiting-Turner is Walt Disney World’s go-to contractor for major projects. Its past work at the resort includes Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, TRON Lightcycle / Run and the EPCOT overhaul, and Tropical Americas is the latest entry on that list.
What’s Coming To Tropical Americas
Tropical Americas is replacing DinoLand U.S.A. with three new attractions: Antonio’s Fiesta de Encanto, Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, and the carousel El Carrusel de los Animalitos. Construction is well underway, and our recent look at the site showed the land’s restaurant getting a greenhouse wing and roofs as the shops follow.
Disney World is still targeting a 2027 opening for Tropical Americas, even after the year was taken off one of its webpages in September. With this extension, Imagineering has its paperwork in place to keep building at 500 DinoLand Drive well past the May 19, 2027 date on the Encanto ride permit.
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