Villains Land construction update at Magic Kingdom | November 2025
Villains Land construction is underway at Magic Kingdom as Imagineers expand the theme park, as seen below in aerial photography by bioreconstruct.
By Mateo Osorio and Blake Taylor
Villains Land will be located in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., specifically “beyond Big Thunder Mountain,” as execs teased.
Disney has not yet revealed which types of attractions will be found in Villains Land, but concept art depicts what appears to be a roller coaster track. Also to be determined is the roster of bad guys who will star in the land’s attractions. The concept art reveals is Maleficent in dragon form, but no one else.
Artwork courtesy of Disney
November 2025: Tom Sawyer Island cleared
The footprint Villains Land will take up can now be seen, altering the shape of Magic Kingdom as trees have been fully cleared for the expansion’s site prep.
Fort Langhorn, a hideout on the former Tom Sawyer’s Island, has been full demolished. This blurs the imaginary land between where the Rivers of America ended and where the expansion pad for Villains Land started, joining the two plots together.
Tom Sawyer Island was a massive obstacle in the way for both the Piston Peak and Villains Land projects. With this out of the way, the coming months will likely see lots of infrastructure installation, as well as site prep for the foundation of the future home of the Disney Villains.
Out with the old in with the new. Fort Langhorn is nothing but a memory now. The Rivers of America is completely dried up, leaving behind the faint trail the riverboat once sailed along. Some trees are still yet to be cleared, possibly being left behind to draw a temporary line between Piston Peak and Villains Land.
September 2025: Trees cleared, trailers onsite
As seen below in aerial photography by bioreconstruct, construction continues in earnest for Villains Land at Magic Kingdom.
Construction crews continue to clear trees in the forested area north of Magic Kingdom’s previous berm.
Trailers are also now onsite (top of photo below), assumedly to accommodate a staging area for what will be a multi-year-long construction project.
Zooming out, you can get your bearings for where Villains Land will be positioned in relation to the rest of Magic Kingdom.
Nearby, the Rivers of America is drained and Tom Sawyer Island remains in tact (though not for long) as Disney preps this area for the construction of another huge project, a “Cars”-themed locale called Piston Peak.
See the photos below to compare the September progress from that of one month ago in August.
August 2025: Construction begins
Following the July 2025 permanent closure of Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America, Disney soon got to work clearing nearby land.
The below aerial view of the entire Magic Kingdom puts into perspective the size of Villains Land (top left corner) in comparison to the rest of the park.
bioreconstruct speculates an additional parcel of land nearby backstage will be used as a staging area for the various ongoing construction projects nearby: Villains Land, “Cars,” and the refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (reopening in 2026).
July 2025: Before construction
Here’s what the area looked like just prior to Villains Land construction, with the Rivers of America still filled with water and the nearby trees still in place.
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