The Boneyard — Former Ride · History & Timeline

Former Ride · the memorial record

⚰ Permanently closed · Sep 1, 2025operated 27 years · 1998–2025

This ride is gone, but its history stays documented — the full lifetime log is below.

Ride history

the lifetime record

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2025

UpdateSep 23, 2025#

Aerial photos showed The Boneyard's playground structures and the Oldengate Bridge demolished, with the site set to become the previously announced carousel of hand-carved wooden animals in the Tropical Americas town of Pueblo Esperanza.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
◆ Latest milestone

RefurbishmentSep 1, 2025#

The Boneyard operated its final day on September 1, 2025 and closed permanently, with a construction wall maze rerouting guests to the remaining DinoLand U.S.A. offerings at Restaurantosaurus and DINOSAUR.

Blog Mickey, publishing September 2, 2025, reports that the previous day was the final day for guests to experience The Boneyard. Attractions Magazine lists the same event as "permanently closed, Sept. 2, 2025" - the first day shut rather than the last day open. This record uses the last operating day.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
UpdateJun 16, 2025#

Disney announced that The Boneyard's final day of operation would be September 1, 2025, with the area permanently closed to guests starting September 2 and a new themed play area planned for the Tropical Americas land in 2027.

The June 16, 2025 report attributes the moved-up timeline to construction progress on the new land, and separately names the previously announced character carousel as what takes The Boneyard's site.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
UpdateJan 13, 2025#

Phase one of DinoLand U.S.A.'s closure took TriceraTop Spin, Fossil Fun Games and Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures, while Walt Disney World said The Boneyard would remain open with no announced closure date.

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2023

Quality of LifeJun 2023#

The Boneyard reopened after a little more than a month of refurbishment that replaced cracked padded flooring and updated the shade tarps and safety netting, with no other changes to the area.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
2021

Back OnlineAug 15, 2021#

The Boneyard playground had reopened by August 15, 2021, operating from 9 a.m. to park close.

Disarms the COVID trap: the playground was in service again by August 2021 and kept operating for four more years, so the March 2020 park-wide shutdown was not its end. The cited article is dated August 15, 2021 and reports the reopening as already complete, without naming the exact day, how long it had been closed, or why.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes
1998

NewApr 22, 1998#

The Boneyard opened with Disney's Animal Kingdom as part of the park's original DinoLand U.S.A. land, a multi-leveled playground with a Columbian mammoth fossil to uncover and a cast Brachiosaurus skeleton.

Wikipedia's Animal Kingdom article gives the park's April 22, 1998 opening and describes The Boneyard as a multi-leveled playground area with a Columbian mammoth fossil to be uncovered and a cast skeleton of a Brachiosaurus.

Tracked byTheme Park Patch Notes

Questions & answers

When did The Boneyard open?

Per the documented record, The Boneyard at Animal Kingdom opened on Apr 22, 1998.

When did The Boneyard last close for refurbishment?

The most recent closure/refurbishment documented for The Boneyard is dated Sep 1, 2025: The Boneyard operated its final day on September 1, 2025 and closed permanently, with a construction wall maze rerouting guests to the remaining DinoLand U.S.A. offerings at Restaurantosaurus and DINOSAUR.

What changed recently on The Boneyard?

The latest documented change (documented Sep 23, 2025): Aerial photos showed The Boneyard's playground structures and the Oldengate Bridge demolished, with the site set to become the previously announced carousel of hand-carved wooden animals in the Tropical Americas town of Pueblo Esperanza.

How many changes are on record for The Boneyard?

7 documented changes, dating back to 1998 — the fan-kept ride changelog nobody else keeps.

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