The dinosaurs have begun to go extinct again. As of January 12th, sections of Animal Kingdom’s Dinoland, U.S.A., have officially shut down as Disney World prepares for construction on the Tropical Americas land slated for the area. While the flagship ride DINOSAUR will remain open for the rest of 2025, the family-friendly TriceraTop Spin wasn’t so lucky and has already joined the list of closed Walt Disney World attractions. The dinosaur-themed ride might not be anyone’s favorite, but it is a shame to see it completely scrapped. That's why I think the attraction should reimagined and moved elsewhere, specifically to a galaxy far, far away.
Yes, I’m talking about Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge over at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Most people agree that Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is one of the best rides in any Disney Park and that Galaxy’s Edge is beautifully done. However, the land isn’t without its faults. High up on the list of guests’ concerns is the fact that the massive area only has two attractions, both of which have height requirements, making it impossible for families with small children to enjoy the land’s offerings together. That’s where TriceraTop Spin could come in.
The former Dinoland, U.S.A. ride operated just like Magic Kingdom’s Dumbo the Flying Elephant, but instead of boarding elephants, guests boarded dinosaurs. As of now, there are no dinosaurs in the Star Wars universe, but that doesn’t mean the attraction should be scrapped altogether. Instead, Imagineers should take the basic function of the ride and simply redesign the dinosaurs into creatures that fans of the franchise will recognize.
It would be a fairly simple redesign, too, given that many Star Wars creatures share similar body shapes with the triceratops. Just imagine what it would be like to be able to ride a Bantha like the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine or even a Blurrg like Kuiil did in The Mandalorian. It might take some extra pixie dust, but Imagineers might even be able to change the shape of the triceratops into a Tauntaun.
Not only would this save TriceraTop Spin from rotting away in a warehouse or being scrapped for parts, it would also pay homage to the rumored third attraction that was originally part of initial Galaxy’s Edge planning. That ride was said to involve guests getting on the back of a massive Bantha-like creature that would take them from one part of the area to the other. Unlike that idea, which would have taken up a massive footprint in the area and created more foot traffic congestion, a retheme of TriceraTop Spin would hardly impact the land at all, aside from raising the attraction total to three.
It's also not completely unheard of for Imagineers to take a formally shuttered attraction and retool it for a different area. In fact, it’s exactly what happened at Disney’s California Adventure Park when A Bug’s Land shut down. Instead of demolishing Flik’s Flyers — another Dumbo-like, family-friendly attraction — they rethemed and moved it over to Pixar Pier nine months later, where it became Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind.
The Imagineer and construction teams at Walt Disney World have a lot on their plate with a slew of new and upcoming attractions slated to begin development this year, so it’s unlikely that a move like this would happen anytime soon. But I’m definitely going to be keeping my fingers crossed that it does happen eventually.
