Piston Peak ‘Cars’ rides construction update at Magic Kingdom
Construction for upcoming “Cars” rides as part of the Piston Peak project is underway in Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland following the permanent closures of Tom Sawyer Island, the Liberty Square Riverboat, and the Rivers of America.
Piston Peak artwork courtesy of Disney
Graphics by Attractions Magazine
Construction teams are hard at work in the beginning phases of building two new rides themed to Pixar’s “Cars” at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., for an area to be known as Piston Peak National Park.
Artwork courtesy of Disney
The “Cars” construction at Magic Kingdom is one of several projects happening within the same general area. Nearby, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed until spring 2026 for refurbishment and Villains Land is under construction.
March 2026: Piston Peak goes vertical:
As seen in photos by @bioreconstruct, in Piston Peak National Park, a retainer wall has been erected along the path of where the new river will be. The “Cars” themed land is seeing a lot of development in all areas of the plot, with staging happening in the center.
In the image above, you can see the station from the former Liberty Square Riverboat attraction and from there, along the far perimeter is the retaining wall.
It was theorized on social media that the foundation for this retainer was for a ride route. While we don’t know what will be on the other side of the wall, this will separate the new land’s water feature from Piston Peak and will border Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as well.
Toward the top right of the image, paving work continues along the path leading toward Liberty Square. This section sits at a higher elevation than the central area where the attraction is being built.
Here’s a look at the work happening on the retainer wall from guest view, behind the construction walls that border Frontierland
Previous updates below
February 2026: Foundation work starts
That framework for Piston Peak’s first set of concrete forms that was spotted last update? Boy have those progressed fast! It’s no surprise this portion of the former Rivers of America is seeing work first, as Piston Peak is a much smaller plot of land than Villains Land above it! This will definitely be done earlier than that project.
This set of concrete forms may be for the foundation work of the Piston Peak National Park ride route or for a new river. It’s still too early in the project’s lifespan to tell what *exactly* this concrete form could be for! What we do know, is that it spans across a good portion of Frontierland’s boardwalk (parallel with the parade route), then bends all the way down toward Big Thunder Mountain.
This foundation work, which already has some vertical rebar, is significantly lower than the terrain work above it relating to Big Thunder Mountain. Below the concrete forms is a roped-off area being used for beam staging.
Here’s a better look at that elevation difference. The ride route (or new river!) seems to be very sunken in. Theoretically, you could watch the logs of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure AND the vehicles of the new “Cars” ride go by from the same bridge to the left of the image below.
January 2026: Construction begins!
Piston Peak has seen lots of work since we last checked in on the land themed to the “Cars” films. It might appear to just be a dirt pile, but as we look closer there’s a lot of interesting developments happening around the site.
Site prep and excavation continues near the former Liberty Square Riverboat dock and tented portion of the queue for Haunted Mansion.
One of the most interesting developments is the land clearing behind the crypt portion of the aforementioned queue. This clearance borders on the sites of both Piston Peak AND Villains Land, so one has to wonder which project will end up making the most use of this space.
Concrete forms have started popping up near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as part of the Piston Peak construction project. Utilities are being staged in the center dirt pile where Tom Sawyer Island once sat.
When seen at this angle, the plot of land Piston Peak and Villains Land will take up is nothing short of gigantic. See our separate coverage for a thorough look at Villains Land construction.
November 2025: Tom Sawyer Island fully demolished
The Rivers of America have completely dried up. Tom Sawyer Island is no longer, as any remaining structures, caves, etc. are completely demolished.
Aerials photos reveal that Tom Sawyer Island has nothing left to destroy, leaving only trees and mountains of dirt in the way as construction begins on Piston Peak National Park.
It remains to be seen how crews will divide the land of Tom Sawyer Island’s previous footprint between Piston Peak and Villains Land.
October 2025: Tom Sawyer Island demolition
Most visible buildings and structures on Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom are now demolished. These include Aunt Polly’s Dockside Inn, the windmill, the “old mill,” the raft loading station.
Elsewhere on the island, caves are being torn apart and Fort Langhorn is now rubble.
The Liberty Belle Riverboat still remains in tact, floating in a backstage service marina north of Magic Kingdom.
Late August 2025: Views from inside the park
The Rivers of America is completely drained at Magic Kingdom, as we saw during a visit to the park on Aug. 29, 2025.
Construction walls are up, but they don’t extend the entire boardwalk promenade. They’re only in place near the former raft loading station for Tom Sawyer Island, then abruptly stop, at which point guests get an unobstructed view of the empty Rivers of America.
Themed signage on construction walls in place reference Country Bear Jamboree, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn & Café, and even the Hoop-Dee-Doo River from over at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.
As a reminder, Big Thunder Mountain remains closed for a major refurbishment. It will reopen sometime in 2026 (opening date TBA).
Mid-August 2025: Rivers of America drained, Liberty Belle relocated
As of August 2025, the Rivers of America is mostly drained following the July 7 closure of Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Belle Riverboat, as seen in aerial photography by bioreconstruct.
Most of Tom Sawyer Island, including themed buildings, remains in place for now.
bioreconstruct spotted the Liberty Belle Riverboat in Disney’s backstage marina northeast of Bay Lake. This means at some point over the past few weeks, Disney quietly transported the Liberty Belle from backstage at Magic Kingdom, across the Seven Seas Lagoon (in front of the park), across Bay Lake (near Disney’s Contemporary Resort), and into this backstage marina area.
July 2025: Removed from Magic Kingdom’s park map
As construction commenced, the entirety of the project area was removed from the Magic Kingdom map overnight — both in the digital version within the My Disney Experience app and on the physical maps available for free inside the park.
Here’s the before and after. Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat are now permanently closed. (Note also the removal of the Walt Disney World Railroad track. This portion of the track is temporarily closed to accommodate construction. For now, the train travels back and forth between the Main Street and Fantasyland stations. Eventually, the train will return to its full-circle route, though that will be several years from now.)
When we visited Magic Kingdom on the morning of July 7 — the first day of park operations without Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat open — signs of construction were already in place.
The dock where guests boarded the riverboat is lined with planters at its main entrance, and a locked door at its side entrance.
Construction workers were already onsite on Tom Sawyer Island as Magic Kingdom opened the morning of July 7. We suspect some of them may be scouring the island for archival purposes, preserving some of the longstanding attraction’s more historical fixtures.
Since much of the Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom is already blocked off from guest access by the fencing lining the shore, there aren’t as many construction walls as usual for a project of this scope. For now, there are only walls at former points of guest entry, such as the aforementioned Liberty Square Riverboat dock and at the landing for rafts to Tom Sawyer Island, pictured below.
Stay tuned to Attractions Magazine for daily coverage of theme park news, trip reports from parks around the world, and exclusive interviews. We recently spoke with Imagineers about their big-picture vision behind the Frontierland makeover.
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