The Boneyard at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom closed this week, bringing an end to one of Disney’s best themed playgrounds for kids.
Walt Disney World was originally built with the entire family in mind. Because of this idea each park at the resort has had designated play areas specifically designed for kids 12 years of age and younger. Some of these have come and gone over the years. The “Honey I Shrunk The Kids” play area in Hollywood Studios comes to mind: a family favorite where upon entering with the giant blades of grass and massively oversized toy props, the kiddos would feel shrunk down to the size of an ant! It was a blast, but it closed April 2nd, 2016 to make way for Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge construction.
Concept Art for the Tropical Americas Land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Credit: Disney Parks Blog
In this writer’s opinion, the absolute best kid’s play area in all of Walt Disney World was the Boneyard in the Dinoland section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park. The last day of operation for the Boneyard play area was September 1st, 2025 and as of September 2nd, it had been shuttered to make way for the new “Tropical Americas” retheme of what was Dinoland. Disney seems pretty pleased with their decision to eliminate Dinoland and all things “dinosaur” related at Animal Kingdom as soon the entire area will become extinct.
Why The Boneyard Was the Best Themed Kid’s Playground
The Boneyard play area opened in DinoLand, USA on April 22, 1998 as an opening day attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park. It was so large in scope it actually covered two distinct sections: a discovery play area of slides, caves, fossils, and dinos to play on, as well as a second area you’d cross over a bridge walking through a life sized dinosaur skeleton to get to: a dig site.
In the dig site kids could use plastic implements provided at the site do dig through sand and discover fossils! With oversight provided by cast members, the littles could get in their playtime under this well shaded area while parents could sit and relax and enjoy a moment of downtime in their long, theme park day.
From beginner (ages 2 – 7) up to experienced (ages 5 – 12) the Boneyard touted six slides of various sizes, shapes and lengths. They were so well themed, with a scaffolding design that mimicked an archeological dig area, and provided fun walkways and bridges. One could play on a stationary 4 wheel drive vehicle, or explore underground tunnels almost like a maze. In my own experience, we’ve personally spent countless hours there as a family, having first experienced the Playground in 2006. As of this writing, the entryway to that area of Animal Kingdom is now fully blocked, and all signs of it ever having existed have been erased from the official Animal Kingdom Park maps.
Half Day Park; Full Day Price
With the elimination of the Boneyard, the majority of what was Dinoland, USA is now shuttered.
Dinosaur, the ride itself is still available until February 1st of 2026, but is now inconvenient to access. Once that’s gone, this massive section of the park will be completely walled off to guests for an, as of yet, undetermined period of time as the area is rethemed to “Pueblo Esperanza,” aka the “Tropical Americas.”
Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Concept Art. Credit: Disney Parks Blog
That may seem a bit confusing as the other continental themed areas are named only after the continents they represent: Asia and Africa.
Even with all this construction Disney has raised prices. The price of a one day single adult admission in 2023 with everything operating was as low as $109. Today, you will pay $139 – $169 for a single day adult admission and have far less available for you to do. And while the other parks are open up to 11 p.m. (and sometimes later with after hours events and late admission for deluxe resort guests), Animal Kingdom closes at 6 p.m. most days.
Of course, you may have already done all there is to do long before that with only six major ride attractions currently operating. The value proposition makes little sense for most families to return to Animal Kingdom until whatever year Tropical Americas finally opens. And based on Disney’s past construction record, that could be as late as 2028 or even 2029.
Anything For The Little Ones In The Future?
One small spot of hope is on the horizon. A kids play area is planned for “Pueblo Esperanza,” along with a carousel that should accommodate the whole family.
While Disney has yet to reveal a name for the new kids playground, concept art shows that it will be more near the new Indiana Jones themed ride that will replace the current Dinosaur ride, meaning everything from the beloved Boneyard will be completely gone, forever.
Myan Pyramid Indiana Jones Attraction in Tropical Americas at Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Disney Parks Blog
While one can always hold out hope this will be just as good as Boneyard once was, at the moment, Disney’s current track record may not inspire such faith. Regardless, many of the children old enough to experience Boneyard today will have aged out of this area by the time it finally does see the light of day.
Have you enjoyed the Boneyard at Animal Kingdom with your little ones? Are you sad to see it go? Are you looking forward to Tropical Americas? Sound off in the comments below!
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