DinoLand U.S.A., Dinosaur theme park area in Disney's Animal Kingdom, Florida.
DinoLand U.S.A. is a themed land in Disney's Animal Kingdom built around a roadside-attraction story: a gas station and parking lot turned into a dinosaur dig site and small amusement park. It holds the Dino Institute, the Boneyard fossil play area, Cretaceous Trail, and the Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama subsection with TriceraTop Spin and Fossil Fun Games.
DinoLand U.S.A. opened with Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1998. In 2002 it gained Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama, a mini-area staged as a roadside gas station and parking lot turned dinosaur-themed amusement park, modelled on 1970s American roadside attractions. Imagineer Joe Rohde designed the land with advice from paleontologists Phil Currie and Bob Bakker. Disney announced its replacement by a Tropical Americas land, Pueblo Esperanza, in August 2024, with phased closures from January 2025 and completion expected in 2027.
Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama, opened in 2002, is themed as a roadside carnival run by a couple who struck it rich on dinosaur fossils; Imagineer Joe Rohde based the land's design on advice from paleontologists Phil Currie and Bob Bakker. The Theater in the Wild stages Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond!, a musical drawn from Finding Dory that opened in 2022 for the resort's 50th anniversary.
The land is easy to navigate with clear paths and shaded spots to rest during hot or rainy weather. Wait times for attractions vary throughout the day, so planning ahead helps manage expectations.
DINOSAUR opened as Countdown to Extinction and was renamed in 2000 to promote the Disney film Dinosaur. Its ride system is the same type used by the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. The attraction is scheduled to close on February 2, 2026.
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