Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent replaces DINOSAUR in 2027 at Walt Disney World

Animal Kingdom’s Indiana Jones ride finally has a name, a story, and Harrison Ford’s actual face.

At the Horizons: A Carousel of Progress showcase at D23 on August 15, Imagineers Michael Hundgen and Chris Beatty revealed the attraction is called Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent.

It’s the headliner of Tropical Americas, the 11-acre land replacing DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, opening in 2027.

The night opened with a message from Indy himself.

Harrison Ford appeared to thank fans, then dropped the detail that got the room: he is the actual model for the new Indiana Jones Audio-Animatronic. Ford confirmed it’s the first time his likeness will be the face on a Disney attraction anywhere in the world.

Hundgen and Beatty later displayed the digital model being used to build the figure.

For a character who’s had rides at Disneyland since 1995 and Tokyo DisneySea since 2001, that’s a genuinely new thing. Indy has been in Disney parks for three decades without Ford’s face attached to a figure.

The story is original, and it goes to the Maya Underworld

This is where the attraction separates itself from its older siblings.

You meet Dr. Jones as he explores a temple near a cenote, the water-filled limestone sinkholes found across the Yucatán. Local legend says the passage leads to the Maya Underworld, guarded by a serpentine creature called the Tsukán.

Then riders get pulled through a portal into the Underworld itself, where the escape involves monstrous bats, oversized scorpions, fire, and, inevitably, snakes.

Disney says it’s working with archaeologists, anthropologists, and Maya experts on accuracy, with original Maya artwork throughout. Imagineers took research trips to Honduras, drawing specifically on Copán, one of the best-preserved cities of the ancient Maya.

This is not the Disneyland ride with new paint

Worth stating clearly, because the assumption is understandable.

Disneyland has Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye, which opened in 1995 and sends riders into a Southeast Asian temple to face the deity Mara. Tokyo DisneySea has Temple of the Crystal Skull, running since 2001.

Florida’s is a third, separate story. Different setting, different mythology, different villain, different name. Disney has been emphasizing that point since the project was announced, and Saturday’s story details back it up.

DINOSAUR was built on Indiana Jones bones the whole time

Here’s the part Disney’s announcement leaves out, and it’s the best detail in the whole story.

DINOSAUR opened on April 22, 1998 as Countdown to Extinction, and it ran on the Enhanced Motion Vehicle system, a jeep-style ride vehicle that pitches and bucks along a track. That system debuted three years earlier at Disneyland, built specifically for Indiana Jones Adventure.

Animal Kingdom’s dinosaur ride was, mechanically, an Indiana Jones ride wearing a Time Rover costume. It has been for 28 years.

DINOSAUR ran its final day on February 1, 2026, and the new attraction reuses that existing ride system. So the retheme isn’t Disney forcing Indy into an unrelated building. It’s a ride finally becoming what its skeleton always was.

That reuse is also why Indiana Jones is likely further along than the land’s other headliner. The Encanto attraction, set inside the Madrigals’ Casita with Antonio’s room, is a completely new build from the ground up.

The rest of Tropical Americas

The land is set in a fictional village called Pueblo Esperanza, announced at D23 2024 by then-Disney Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro.

Beyond the two rides, it includes El Carrusel de los Animalitos, a new carousel with 22 hand-carved animals pulled from Disney and Pixar stories. Scuttle, Squirt, Pua, Pascal, Simba, Eeyore, Kuzco, and Heimlich are among them, which is a deep-cut lineup for a carousel.

There’s also a Maya-inspired play area where kids can dig for artifacts, replacing the Boneyard that closed in 2025.

Imagineers described the whole thing as part of the biggest slate of expansion projects in Walt Disney World history.

The temple facade is going up now. Somewhere under it, a set of track that spent 28 years hauling people away from an asteroid is about to start hauling them away from a snake instead.

Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.

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Hat Tips:

• Disney Parks Blog (August 15, 2026), the attraction name reveal, the Harrison Ford animatronic confirmation, the Tsukán storyline, the Maya cultural research and Copán inspiration, and the carousel details
• Blooloop and Attractions Magazine (September 2025), DINOSAUR’s February 2026 closing date, the EMV ride system connection to Indiana Jones Adventure, and the Tropical Americas timeline
• Wikipedia (retrieved August 16, 2026), DINOSAUR’s April 22, 1998 opening as Countdown to Extinction, and the opening dates for the Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea Indiana Jones attractions
• Undercover Tourist (2026), the Pueblo Esperanza setting and the Encanto attraction details