Joe Rohde Tried to Get Tropical Americas Built at Disney's Animal Kingdom for 15 Years

Joe Rohde, the former Imagineer who led the creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, revealed on Instagram that prior to his retirement, he had spent 15 years trying to get a Tropical Americas land added to the park. And even some of his plans included replacing DinoLand.

Joe Rohde Approves of Tropical Americas

Tropical Americas concept art for Disney's Animal Kingdom

Since DinoLand’s permanent closure this past weekend, Rohde has been sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the land’s creation. But he said in an Instagram post today, “For all my posting about the late great DinoLand, I do want to make something clear. Up until the day of my retirement, my team and I tried for fifteen years to get a Tropical America land into this park and many such design attempts involved gutting DinoLand to do it.”

The Tropical Americas land that has been announced and is now under construction “continues certain of those motivations” although was developed after Rohde left The Walt Disney Company. He did say he has been invited to consult on the project “now and again”.

“I congratulate the team on finally being able to lock a deal, which I was not,” Rohde said. “The underlying business has changed in all those years so this version is a response to those new realities, just as the previous versions were responding to theirs.”

Rohde said he can vouch for the team creating the new land and that their level of research is “excellent.”

“The sophistication of the detail is excellent,” he continued. “Their commitment to the vision of the park is unwavering. And just as it always is…the work is hard. The path to excellence is neither smooth nor straight nor level. But these Imagineers are devoted to the task.”

A detailed diorama of an ancient temple surrounded by dense forest known to the locals as Pueblo Esperanza. The temple has a red pyramid structure with stairs leading up to it, and small figures can be seen on the pathways leading to this sacred site.

A group of people observe and take photos of a vibrant red and yellow structure in a lush, jungle-like setting with surrounding greenery and ancient ruins.

Rohde concluded, “Parks exist to create memories. Dinoland created memories. Those memories still exist and they are the true product, not the property itself. The new land will create more memories and they too will be treasured. It may have to find its own audience and that audience may be distinct from Dino-aficionados. But, as for depth and quality…it is there…for example, if you take one look at even the impressionistic early representation of the Maya pyramid on the D23 model or the marketing rendering, and you are a fan of precolumbian cultures…well…if ya know, ya know.”

How do you feel about the new Tropical Americas land? Let us know on social media.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.