Indy's Temple Gets Real: First Look Inside the DINOSAUR Reimagining Has Animal Kingdom Fans Buzzing

By entgrove · August 15, 2026

A detailed model of the Maya temple facade for the Indiana Jones attraction replacing DINOSAUR debuted at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, alongside construction footage from inside the Animal Kingdom show building. The ride keeps DINOSAUR's vehicles and track while rebuilding every scene around a new story of Indy chasing a mythical creature.

The temple is real, and Animal Kingdom fans finally have proof. A detailed model of the Maya temple facade for the Indiana Jones attraction replacing DINOSAUR went on display at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, alongside construction photos and the first glimpses inside the show building itself. For a project that has lived mostly in concept art since it was announced, this is the moment it started to look like an actual ride.

A closer look at the temple

The model gives fans a far more detailed read on the Maya temple than the concept art Disney released when the project was announced. Carved creature heads line the structure, and much of the stonework carries colorful painted elements rather than the bare weathered gray many expected. It is a livelier, more ornamented building than the early renderings suggested.

One practical detail stands out for future riders: the grand staircase running up the front of the temple is scenery, not a queue. Guests will enter through the side of the building instead of climbing the steps, which keeps the facade as a pure photo moment at the heart of the new land.

The story Indy is chasing

Disney also clarified the attraction's premise. In the ride's story, Indiana Jones has gone into the temple to investigate legends of a mythical creature. That framing matters for longtime fans of the original: DINOSAUR sent riders back in time to grab a live dinosaur before an asteroid hit, and the new version trades that setup for a classic Indy expedition while keeping the same white-knuckle vehicle underneath.

From the Imagineering shop to the show building

A screen at the Imagineering pavilion cycled through clips of Imagineers sculpting the real temple facade. Most of the pieces in the footage are shaped but unpainted, though one clip showed a more finished section with yellow and pink paint layered over weathered carving. The facade is being fabricated in pieces, which will then be shipped to Disney's Animal Kingdom and mounted on the steel framework that has already risen outside the show building.

That framework is visible from the ground in the park today, with the old Dino Institute sitting behind it, now stripped of its dinosaur theming. A few clips even went inside the attraction itself. There is not much to see yet beyond steel work and scaffolding, but sculpted rock walls are starting to appear, the first hints of finished show scenery inside a building that has been gutted.

What carries over from DINOSAUR

The ride system and track will remain the same. That means the Enhanced Motion Vehicles, the same rough-and-tumble simulator trucks that powered DINOSAUR since its 1998 debut as Countdown to Extinction, are staying put, along with the track path they follow through the building. Everything riders actually look at is being replaced. It is the same approach Disneyland took decades ago, where the Indiana Jones Adventure runs on that identical vehicle platform, and it has long fueled fan speculation that Animal Kingdom's version could feel like a cousin of that beloved ride.

The attraction anchors Tropical Americas, the multi-year transformation of DinoLand U.S.A. that also brings an Encanto-themed attraction and a new Casita-inspired area to the land. DINOSAUR has already closed to make way for the work.

Why fans are buzzing

DINOSAUR's closure left a hole in Animal Kingdom's thrill lineup, and until now the replacement has been an abstraction. A painted temple model, sculpted facade pieces in a shop, and rock walls rising inside the show building change that. The open questions are the ones Disney has not answered yet: an opening date and how far the Disneyland comparison will hold once riders board. For guests visiting Animal Kingdom in the meantime, the temple framework looming over the former DinoLand is the most visible sign that the park's biggest expansion in years is moving.