Dinosaur's countdown to extinction atDisney World's Animal Kingdom theme park is finally over.

The iconic opening-day ride closed Sunday after 28 years in operation at the Orlando-based resort, where it first opened on April 22, 1998, and closed nearly three decades later tomake way for a newIndiana Jones-themed ride.

Drawing inspiration from Disney's 2000 animated filmDinosaur, the ride remained a popular attraction at Animal Kingdom throughout most of its life cycle, though its permanent closure was announced at the D23 convention in 2024. There, Disney Parks head Josh D'Amaro revealed that anIndiana Jones ride would take Dinosaur's place, with the Dinoland, U.S.A. area of the park being demolished in favor of a new Tropical Americas land additionally set to include a ride based on theEncanto movie.

The attraction was the second in Disney parks history to utilize the company's EMV — enhanced motion vehicle — technology, which first debuted, coincidentally, in 1995 on the Indiana Jones Adventure ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Disney officials have said that the newIndiana Jonesride coming to Animal Kingdom will not be a copy-and-paste recreation of the ride at Disneyland, with the upcoming attraction set to feature a new storyline and thematic details, which have yet to be announced. There is no word yet on whether actorHarrison Ford will reprise his role in the Animal Kingdom version.

In a2023 interview withEntertainment Weekly at the grand opening of Hong Kong Disneyland's newFrozen-themed land (another of which is set to open at Disneyland Paris in March), D'Amaro previewed the Indiana Jonesride set to replace Dinosaur in the coming months.

"We've got so many stories to tell, we have so many things we want to make even better in the theme parks. My plan is to continue to share that with the guests. I know people are like, 'My gosh, I can't believe he's saying this. Is he serious, is he not?' The answer is, we are absolutely serious," he said at the time, pointing to Disney's prior announcement that it would spend $60 billion on its parks over the next decade.

Shocking stories behind how Walt Disney built Disneyland in 1 year: 'Out of his mind'

Disney World unveils Rock 'n' Roller Coaster closing date, final day to ride

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.

D'Amaro added, "We know what this business is capable of, we know what our fans expect of us, and we're going all in. You're going to see more and more of that. As we make our way through some of these ideas, some of them will become real, and we'll say that's specifically what we're going to do, but I want our guests to be on the journey with us."

Dinosaur initially debuted with a different name, however, opening alongside the Animal Kingdom park under the title Countdown to Extinction. The ride took guests on a time-traveling journey aboard Time Rover vehicles, beginning at the fictional Dino Institute, where Dr. Helen Marsh (played byPhylicia Rashad in a pre-ride video) attempted to send riders back in time on a tour of a dinosaur-heavy locale.

However, her associate, Dr. Grant Seeker (actor Wallace Langham), went on to hijack Dr. Marsh's plans, hacking into the Time Rover system to reroute guests on a mission to save an iguanodon (known as Aladar in theDinosaur film) moments before an asteroid impacted the planet and wiped out the dinosaurs.

Along the way, guests dodged incoming attacks from velociraptors, pteranodons, and a giant carnotaurus — a giant animatronic figure of which lunged at the Time Rovers in the final scene of the attraction's main story.

Animal Kingdom's closure of Dinosaur and transformation of Dinoland U.S.A. into the Tropical Americas section marks the latest in a long line of improvements Disney has either already made or additionally announced for its line of global parks.

Elsewhere at Disney World,Disney's Hollywood Studios park is set to close its storied Rock 'n' Roller Coaster attraction on March 2, to make way for aMuppets-themed transformation of the existing ride following the closure of Jim Henson's legendaryMuppetVision 3D show that closed at the park in mid-2025. In the multi-sensory show's place, the former Muppets Courtyard will also transform into aMonsters, Inc.-themed land complete with an indoor inverted roller coaster.

Other planned additions across Disney World include theheavily anticipated Villains Land heading to Magic Kingdom in the distant future, as well as theCars-adjacent Piston Peak area currently under construction atop the former Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island region at the same park.

Watch a POV of Disney World's extinct Dinosaur ride in the video above.