Personally, not a fan of Zootopia at Animal Kingdom, but I don’t have a lot of skin in the game. ITTBAB…we did it for the very first time EVER this past September. It was better than I expected…but not sure we would have ever done it if it wasn’t for the fact that it is going away. (Sad, but true.) It wasn’t something we were terribly inclined to want to see. And…while it is likely we’ll watch the Zootopia version…I don’t really care two-hoots about Zootopia either.
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If it has to be at AK, I’m glad it’s there and not taking over a whole land. I like Zootopia, but feel like anthropomorphic animals are not what I want to see at AK.
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True. I would like to see the attraction more conservation education based likes Bugs Life was. If they stick to that I think the Zootopia characters can do a nice job conveying that message. But if they go all IP and just try to play off of the story line I agree, not the best fit.
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My almost 12 yr old is devastated. Well, maybe not devastated, but definitely sad. I am sad for her, and sad that the very last vestiges of a bug’s life are leaving Disney parks, but the show itself is not a favorite of mine.
In fact, the show has been one of my very least favorite things in a Disney park. I hate hate hated the 4D shows, especially Honey I Shrunk the Audience (everything about it but especially the rat tails), but It’s ITTBAB with the bugs crawling along the seats was right up there with it. I knew both of those from trips to DLR as a kid/teen with family in the 90’s/00’s.
Fast forward to being a young mom in 2014-2015 taking my then tots/preschoolers to many a DLR trip and somewhere in there we tried out ITTBAB only so we could say we did everything. And my then 2 or 3 yr old daughter fell in LOVE. She thought the show was great, even Hopper was hilarious to her. And at DLR they had a giant Hopper figure outside the attraction that we got her photo of next to a few times.
My feelings of a bug’s land in DLR were much better than the one 4D attraction. It was amazing ambiance and many trips were spent on all the little fair-mimicking bug-themed shruken-to-scale land that was perfect their ages. And eventually, I learned to appreciate how much my DD loved ITTBAB and not hate it so much (at least it wasn’t the rat tails swiping the back of my legs, I will never be over the trauma I have from that one).
Then in 2018 a bug’s land in DLR was axed for building the Avengers Campus. We are a Marvel loving family and before this, DD had a bit of a thing for Spider-Man and loved meeting him in the parks any chance we could. When she found out Spider-Man’s ride was taking over the exact footprint of her beloved ITTBAB, a grudge was formed and she was anti-Marvel, but especially Spider-Man. When you’re 5 betrayal hits hard like that.
And from the announcement in the middle of 2018 until at least 2020, any mention of a bug’s land caused her to be emotional and usually invovled a lot of tears. I have a series of photos of her randomly in late summer 2020 remembering that a bug’s land was gone and her total devastation and tears streaming were just as strong that day as the day she first learned a bug’s life was going away.
But the one thing we had in our pocket to comfort her was that we promised her, every time we can make it to AK, we’d make sure to prioritize ITTBAB for as long as Disney would keep it. We first made good on that promise when we went to WDW in spring 2023, making sure we fit in ITTBAB even though it meant having to choose either dinner from Satu’li or getting into line to ride NRJ at the end of our AK day.
When the D23 Blue Skey announcements later that year talked of a replacement for ITTBAB, we softly broke the news to DD that while nothing was certain, it looked like it would be going away soon. We re-iterated to her that anytime we were in the vicinity of AK, we would consider it and prioritize seeing ITTBAB. As it happens, we had a cruise in Feb 2024 with one partial day between getting off the ship and our flight the next day and we had thought we’d do Epcot, but then decided, to get a park-hopper instead & start at AK to prioritize ITTBAB and have the kids experience Dino-land (we’d totally missed it in our Spring 2023 trip & it was also on the chopping block). So last year in Feb we thought we’d said our goodbyes to both Dino-land and ITTBAB.
We’re cruising again (THIS WEEK) out of Florida & we’ll have 2.5 days between getting off the ship & our flight after and wouldn’t you know it, the day we get off the ship, we’ll be on our way to AK to swan song ITTBAB (and Dinosaur & Boneyard). So we’re very very very grateful to have these chances, and I’m hopeful DD gets her fill of all the music & characters that she loves. And I’ll gladly sit with her and enjoy her enjoyment (but maybe lean forward or half stand-up when the bags pass by, if they even work). 
So all that to say, my DD11 has loved ITTBAB since she was a tot who got a good giggle of how horrified her mom was of all the effects and has ‘lost’ it once with the removal from DLR, and is losing it again now for good, when it leaves AK, so we’ll be sad.
But hopeful that the re-imagination will be something we can continue to make such good memories that always feature on a Disney family vacation.
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Personally I’m indifferent to the closure. Over it’s tenure I probably saw it 3 or 4 times. It was never a must-do; it was a filler if I had time (kind of like the train out to the Conservation Station). Does Zootopia really fit with the “conservation message” - not really, but the current leadership is more interested in putting popular IPs in the parks than any philosophical message.
As for animals in the new Tropical Americas section, I don’t know. There’s been no mention of any kind of a major walk-through exhibit, so I’m pretty sure that’s out. I guessing there may be some small enclosures for some smaller animals and birds, but probably not any larger mammals, and certainly no big cats.
One of the kids in Encanto has a magical power to talk with animals, and there are a lot of animals in that sequence, and that’s what they’ve hinted as a tie-in. The Indiana Jones retread is not going to be a clone of the DL version (which is FAR superior to Dinosaur in every regard); the plot is supposed to be about traveling through the South American jungle looking for an animal that was thought to be extinct; if that’s the case we may get some AA animals along the way.
It’s not what I would have wanted to represent the “tropical Americas”, but I’m not going to judge it too harshly until I see it in person.
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Oh, I’m so, so glad for you and your daughter!!! I hope you enjoy this last trip. Don’t sit in the second row!!! That was the row that wasn’t working for me last December.
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Last time i was there, the exhibit was empty. I figured it was taken backstage. But it was such a small enclosure. Be nice if it had a nicer habitat.
And that’s a great suggestion, I’ll add it to the list.
I think if they build the Madrigal Casita on top of the Theatre in the Wild, they’ll probably have a hell of a lot of room to put in a rainforest trail. The only new structure going in is the carousel, everything else is just getting a remodel
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From any of the posted pictures I’ve seen, the new land will be completely contained in what was Dinoland - well away from the theater.
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Agreed. The layout identified in the TP blog shows this.
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Thats good to know
Awesome link. Thank you.
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The TP blog has some really fun things on there.
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As opposed to anthropomorphic insects?
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Zootopia is different because they are substituting animals for humans, rather than simply giving animals human characteristics. So the insects remain insects and act like insects, but talk and walk more like humans.
The characters in Zootopia are animals filling in for humans (much like Monsters in Monsters Inc.).
But it ain’t my decision, so. . . .
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Well, yes, but they’re still acting like insects. They are not living in a city in buildings, wearing clothes, and having jobs at the DMV or as a police officer. There’s a significant difference IMO.
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