Walt Disney World is shaking off the “Disney is slow” accusations of the past few years, speeding ahead on their Cars theme park land project, Piston Peak National Park. In just a few months, Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom Park has gone from rivers, bridges and trees to a prepped project site. With a 2028 potential timeline, this project is well on its way to radically changing the landscape of Frontierland.
This article isn’t possible without the incredible photography efforts of Bioreconstruct. His work, documenting the theme parks around Central Florida, has made it possible for so many to see the behind-the-scenes magic of themed entertainment.
Piston Peak National Park, an area not a land
Piston Peak National Park will be a portion of Frontierland, not an entirely new land in and of itself. Disney has done this before, separating a land into key areas. Think of Fantasyland and the “New Fantasyland” area or Dinoland U.S.A. with Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama. In the entirety of Frontierland, there will be distinct stories and timelines in that land. This is different from some other new lands at Walt Disney World, like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or Pandora – The World of Avatar. Those lands have set storylines placed within a fully immersive area.
Earlier this year, Walt Disney World revealed a new look at what’s to come in this space. Concept art was revealed showcasing waterfalls, a river and lots of areas to explore. This came after there was some backlash from the 2024 D23 Expo in Anaheim, where fans claim Disney did a bait-and-switch revealing the Cars expansion without explaining it came at the destruction of Tom Sawyer Island.
Draining the Rivers of America
The work began with backstage prep for the monstrosity of construction equipment needed for this project. But the first major noticeable change at the park was the closing of Tom Sawyer Island and the draining of the Rivers of America. July 6, 2025 was the last chance guests had to experience the Rivers of America. Work began almost immediately after that on the Cars Piston Peak National Park project.
On July 12, 2025, Bioreconstuct captured photographic evidence that the Liberty Belle, a Magic Kingdom original attraction, had been moved backstage at the park. Bioreconstruct reconfirmed that the ship still stands on November 7, 2025. Disney has not yet announced what the future holds for this boat. But seeing it stay nearby offer some hope that it may get a new future elsewhere at Walt Disney World.
With the river draining, this wasn’t expected to be an overnight project. Not only was the Rivers of America huge, it was sitting on land that had been soaking for 50+ years. This required major land moving efforts for Disney, all which had to be within compliance of Governor Ron Desantis’ Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. If you have ever dealt with an HOA or an EPA checkup on land, imagine how difficult it is to explain why you need to move a million gallons of water and the Florida wildlife to bring in a humanistic vehicle voiced by Owen Wilson.
Goodbye Tom Sawyer Island
That brings us to where we are now, with the photo seen above shared by Bioreconstruct on November 30, 2025. Disney has turned a river into a highway, an island into a mound and a small forest into a construction super center. There will need to be a lot of work to turn this area back into a national park feel. But creating new worlds out of dirt is kind of the Imagineers’ whole deal. Just about half-a-century ago, all of Walt Disney World was a monstrous swamp. In comparison, this single area will be “much easier.”
Seeing the above photo genuinely shocked me when Bioreconstruct posted it. Many Disney fans said their goodbyes to Tom Sawyer Island. I have visited the park a few times since the river draining began. But this, this is wild to see. Tom Sawyer Island has become nothing but a mound of dark dirt. We knew this was coming, but it is a bit jarring to see it.
Progress can’t happen instantly. And yes, I agree with fans that want to expand instead of replace when it comes to our theme parks. But, we all knew that this would eventually happen when Tom Sawyer Island got its demolition announcement. Personally, I didn’t visit Tom Sawyer Island that often, but I know fans had memories in this place.
From dirt to family friendly attractions
This nearly top-down view gives us an idea of the approximate size of Piston Peak National Park. The stylized concept art released by Disney gives us an idea of the layout of the land. Water features are abundant here, which was an early complaint about the initial concept art. Inside of this area we will be receiving two new rides.
The Disney Parks Blog states, “One attraction will invite you on a thrilling rally race through the mountains. Take on wild terrain as you race across the landscape climbing mountain trails, dodging geysers and — Mater’s favorite — splashing through mudholes. But what about smaller racers? The second attraction will be geared towards them and will be fun for the whole family.”
Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure is one of my all-time favorite Disney rides. To me, it totally encapsulates the feeling of the film. It is immersive, thrilling and adds an incredible rockwork backdrop to the land. It is for that reason that I am also excited for Piston Peak National Park’s big ride. Utilizing off road rally racer style vehicles to take us through a National Park themed to the highlights of America’s western frontier sounds amazing.
I know some fans are upset about the Rivers of America change and nervous about this large-scale project taking from Frontierland’s story. To that, I have a few points to mention.
The Frontierland you knew in 2015 is radically changing
Frontierland is not longer focused on just cowboys and the 1800’s. We saw that with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the update to the Country Bear Jamboree and now with Piston Peak National Park. If your main reason for loving Frontierland was the timeline, then you may not love this new change. Instead, I believe this change is taking us from “discovering America’s frontier” to “exploring America’s frontier.” The one word difference matters.
It appears Disney is getting rid of the timeline altogether, putting emphasis more-so on the idea of the wild frontier instead of a specific timeline in a specific place. Other Disney theme park lands already do this, such as Sunset Boulevard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios which has the idea of old Hollywood without all rides being set in a specific timeline. It has only been in more recent years that we have heard the word “immersion” used non-stop in theme park marketing. Many vocal voices online actually seem to be against single property lands. See if these sound familiar:
“Why would they make an entire land based on Monsters Inc. didn’t that come out over 20 years ago?” “I wish Disney would stop making every land a single IP, you could just make a land with a ride on Moana, Lion King and Tarzan all at once.” “They could just leave Dinosaur, it fits better with Encanto than Indiana Jones.”
Disney in 2025 and beyond
Walt Disney World is in a very special spot right now, where they are sort of giving an answer to every person’s complaints all at once. (This is the part of the article where I get blamed for being a Disney shill, but read on to see why I think they are listening).
We want original rides, no more copies
Walt Disney World is building an original ride based on Encanto. Villains Land is expected to have two all new ride experiences. The Monsters Inc roller coaster is a Disney first. The new Zootopia: Better Zoogether show features brand new animation and a storyline that builds on the Zootopia lore. Maybe both, but at least one of the rides coming to Piston Peak National Park is an original, complete with animatronics and full handcrafted rockwork.
Disney should just update their older attractions
Disney is updating older rides. The Carousel of Progress is getting a refurbishment, adding in a Walt Disney animatronic. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is getting a massive refurbishment so it lasts for decades to come. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin is getting (in my opinion) a necessary tech upgrade to its blasters. We also saw this with Test Track 3.0 at EPCOT, where Disney throwbacks to the older version of the ride while adding in more modern, current car technology.
Disney should use their older properties
Villains Land, from the initial announcement, appears to be focused on Disney’s classic villains. The Muppets are getting a new home at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, keeping their wild energy in the park. And while you may not think of them as “old Disney,” technically the Monsters Inc characters are older than any of the kids in the park. Disney is also looking back, using an MGM Studios original idea for the redo of Animation Courtyard into The Magic of Disney Animation.
Why don’t they just put a bunch of stories in one land
Tropical Americas, opening 2027, will combine numerous Disney-branded stories in one location, from Indiana Jones to Encanto, and even some smaller references in the upcoming carousel. Piston Peak National Park at Frontierland is another answer, adding in more Disney stories to a single space, but this does change up the original land’s storyline.
Walt Disney World needs more capacity
Piston Peak National Park replaces two attractions for two attractions, sort of. The Liberty Belle and Tom Sawyer Island could each hold a few hundred guests and provided picturesque experiences, but capacity wise, they weren’t heavy hitters. Combine the new offerings in Villains Land with the Cars update and this major change for Magic Kingdom adds a ton of rider capacity. The same can be said for the Monsters Inc roller coaster, adding in a high capacity coaster to the park while keeping the theater space that used to house The Muppets. Smaller additions, but this year Walt Disney World has also added in two lounges with The Beak & Barrel and GEO-82.
What is coming to Magic Kingdom and when
As you can see, Disney is giving themselves a lot of room for what is expected to be four new attractions, all opening by the end of 2029. Above, you can see three key attractions near the construction. Blue for it’s a small world, purple for The Haunted Mansion and yellow for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This gives you an idea of the space and what type of offerings could fit in both Piston Peak National Park and the Villains Land.
Walt Disney World has a schedule setup, with at least one major park change each year for the next four years. The Cars expansion of Frontierland is expected to open sometime in 2028. Whereas Villains Land should debut in 2029. If all goes according to plan, Magic Kingdom will have updated rides, new attractions and a full-fledged new area well before its 60th anniversary.
