Theme Park Report
The temple facade for Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent is beginning to take shape at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with new aerial photos showing detailed rockwork installed across the structure’s upper tiers.
BlogMickey reports that the photos, provided by photographer Bioreconstruct, show carved and colorfully painted panels forming the top portion of the temple. The facade uses red and tan stone patterns with turquoise detailing, while individual carved blocks and recessed, window-like openings are visible across the finished sections.
The upper tiers currently have a weathered appearance that follows concept art and a scale model previously released by Disney. However, the work remains incomplete. A steel superstructure and multiple levels of framing are still exposed below the finished portion, with some sections covered in gray mesh. Stacks of additional panels are positioned near the base of a tall mobile crane, indicating that installation is continuing down the temple’s remaining tiers.
The surrounding area remains an active construction zone, with scaffolding, generators and other equipment visible near the structure. Disney has not announced a specific completion date for the temple’s exterior, although the retheme of the former DINOSAUR building is continuing toward a 2027 opening.
Disney officially revealed the attraction’s name, Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, during D23 Expo 2026. The ride is part of the Tropical Americas-themed land being developed at Animal Kingdom.
At the expo, Walt Disney Imagineering and project consultants also provided details about the temple’s design. Imagineer and Tropical Americas project lead Joan Hartwig said the model represented the structure as it would have appeared while still in active use, rather than with the layered, buried appearance seen at many real Maya archaeological sites.
The design includes a Witz monster figure associated with an entrance to the underworld, along with corner figures depicting Chaac, the Maya rain god. According to the source, the glyphs across the temple were developed by Tulane University epigrapher Dr. Marc Zender rather than invented for the attraction. The project’s development follows earlier 2026 milestones, including the clearing of the area in February and the beginning of facade work in March, before the temple’s steel framing rose above the former attraction’s building in subsequent months.
