Animal Kingdom Permit Reveals Sizeable Playground Coming to Tropical Americas

Written by Joshua Posted January 30th, 2026

Disney has filed another exhibit with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and this one reveals the playground planned for Animal Kingdom’s upcoming Tropical Americas land. According to the site plan, the free-play area replaces the soon-to-be-extinct Cretaceous Trail.

Tropical Americas site plan that was attached to a wastewater permit

The playground footprint appears on a site plan attached to a wastewater permit. While the line drawings don’t offer much detail on individual elements, they do show a sizable space filled with multiple structures and slides.

Tropical Americas site plan showing basic details for a playground

This is excellent news for families. Dinoland U.S.A., which closes for good this weekend, was home to one of the most immersive play areas in any theme park. The Boneyard gave kids plenty of room to burn off energy while “excavating” dinosaur bones. It wasn’t terrible for parents either, thanks to ample shade and benches.

A satellite view of Animal Kingdom's Boneyard and a line drawing of its replacement, an animal-themed carousel — The Boneyard will soon be replaced with an animal-themed carousel

The Boneyard’s former home will make way for an animal-themed carousel. Initially, that news made us a little nervous. We knew Tropical Americas would include a free play area, but we feared it might be a scaled-down replacement. Based on this latest filing, we didn’t need to worry. Tropical Americas’ playground looks fantastic, at least in two dimensions.