Great article Brian! I'm a big fan of imagineering ideas for the various Disney Parks, particularly the US parks. I agree that DinoLand USA is probably on its way out. And while the storyline is well developed, Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama just has a different vibe compared to Asia, Africa and Pandora. Part of me thinks that just replacing that subsection would solve much of the problems within this land. And while Dinosaur is a good ride and a fun experience, but it's not a great ride and is lacking any serious WOW moments. And because the ride is so similar to Indiana Jones Adventure, it's going to inevitably always be compared to it.

The part that I disagree with in the article is the idea for the South America re-theme and changing the Dinosaur attraction to Indiana Jones Adventure. Going back to Joe Rohde's philosophy for the park, Indiana Jones as a character and an IP doesn't really fit in within Disney's Animal Kingdom. To me, Indiana Jones fits in better in Hollywood Studios than in DAK. Every time I hear people suggest South America/Indiana Jones should replace Dino Institue/Dinosaur, it sounds more like an attempt to shoehorn in a land (South America) around an attraction (Indiana Jones), when it should be the other way around. Also, I think if Dinosaur didn't have the same track layout/ride system as Indiana Jones, nobody would be pursuing the Indiana Jones re-theme idea. Another concern I have is that there aren't any memorable animals within the Indiana Jones franchise. I googled "Indiana Jones animals" and I saw a picture of a monkey, a horse, and an elephant from the movies, plus various cats and dogs playing Indiana Jones dress up. While cute, they don't speak to the biodiversity of South America. To me that just shoudn't fit within Animal Kingdom, no matter how fun the ride is. Finally and most importantly, Animal Kingdom was meant to showcase animals of "past, present, and future." Removing the dinosaur elements altogether means you remove the animals of the past. Unless Indiana Jones goes on an adventure where he has to face dinosaurs, a key component of the park would entirely disappear.

My ideas for this area would be to find a way to keep the dinosaur element in this area of the park, replace the cheesy carnival area with attraction(s) that focus more on the discovery of prehistoric creatures, make the Dinosaur attraction more relevant and/or replace it with a more appropriate storyline/IP, and of course tie everything together.
1-Replace the entire area where C&H's Dino-Rama currently exists with the original thrill ride coaster, The Excavator! Based on the concept art I discovered on this very website, it looked super awesome, and it would fit into the whole "fossil dig site" theme that is the Dino Institute and Restaurantosaurus. Plus, Animal Kingdom as a whole could use another E-ticket attraction in the park. There is definitely room for a coaster the size of Seven Dwarves Mine Train or Slinky Dog Dash.
2-If you take a look at another re-theme that Disney did really well was the Tower of Terror in DCA that became GOTG: Mission Breakout! There they de-emphasized the scares and focused on the fun energy that the movie/characters have to make an entirely different experience using the same ride system. Although the comparisons still exist, it stands on it's own a a great attraction. If Disney chose to take a similar route with Dinosaur, they should consider using the new Ice Age IP and make the ride more fun and silly. While it may not be current, it is the third highest grossing animated movie franchise of all time (even outperforming all of Disney/Pixar's animated franchises!), and there are talks of Disney reviving the franchise for a series on Disney+. Using a more fun franchise might help take away from the comparisons to Indiana Jones Adventure, plus there are many elements within the ride that wouldn't have to change: the time travel vehicles/concept, re-skinning some of the dinosaurs, and even re-utilizing the meteor finale.
3-The overall theme of a fossil dig site works well on its own, but if they wanted to add a little more exotic element to compare to Africa and Asia, I would consider Australia. Doing a little research, a lot of interesting dinosaurs fossils have been discovered on that continent within the last ten years, and it's quickly becoming an area of interest amongst paleontologists. The architecture of Australia wouldn't be too different than the current DinoLand USA theme, but having that as a baseline could allow the imagineers to go back and add some more authentic touches to really emphasize the Australian outback atmosphere. The Boneyard, The Excavator and Dino Institute/Ice Age attractions could easily fit within an Australian setting, and even the area currently known as the Cretaceous Trail could be re-themed to the Marsupial Trail.

Thanks again for the article and allowing me to share my ideas!