New Piston Peak National Park construction photos from Magic Kingdom show the old Frontierland boardwalk is nearly gone, tall concrete walls now line the former Rivers of America, and a blue tower crane stands over the spot where Cars Ridge Run Rally is taking shape. We walked the edge of the site Wednesday evening, October 21, and took these from around Frontierland and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
A lot has changed since our last Piston Peak construction update in July. Here is a simple photo tour of what you can see right now.
This is the big picture. The water is long gone. In its place is a dirt work zone full of excavators, loaders and orange safety fence, with Liberty Square right behind it.
Florida groundwater is not making this easy. Pumps and hoses were running in several spots, and parts of the site were sitting under standing water.
Aerial photos from bioreconstruct on X shared this week showed fresh concrete behind the wall near the former Liberty Square Riverboat landing. That is where the tallest parts of Piston Peak will go. Disney says trees will block the view of the rally race from Liberty Square.
The Frontierland Boardwalk Is Gone
The biggest change on this walk was the boardwalk. The wooden walkway that wrapped around the old Rivers of America is gone from almost the whole edge of the site. Where people used to stroll, you now see bare dirt, new concrete and brown construction walls.
The good news is the boardwalk is coming back. Disney has said a new boardwalk will run along a stream between Frontierland and Piston Peak, and you could spot it on the big model Imagineering brought to D23 in August. For now, there is no waterfront walk between Liberty Square and Big Thunder.
The newest permit is a Notice of Commencement filed October 15 to install set elements at 4995 Caribbean Way. Disney used that same address on the first Piston Peak construction permit. Icarus Exhibits is the contractor, and the permit runs for one year. The site barely has buildings yet, so this may be Imagineering filing early.
A month earlier, Imagineering filed for general construction at 1610 Magic Kingdom Drive, a brand new address next to the Haunted Mansion, with PCL Construction listed. As of this morning, we did not find any Piston Peak permit newer than October 15.
It is a busy fall for construction all over Walt Disney World. Monstropolis keeps moving at Hollywood Studios, and Tropical Americas keeps rising at Animal Kingdom.
What’s Coming to Piston Peak
Piston Peak National Park is an expansion of Frontierland, not a separate land. It is a made-up national park from the Cars universe, inspired by Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. Two rides are coming.
Cars Ridge Run Rally is the big one. It uses a brand new six-seat vehicle that actually drives over rocks and bumps instead of faking it. The race climbs to a snowy summit, drops down a camelback hill, runs through a geyser field around a geyser called Old Tankfull, and finishes with Lightning McQueen and Mater calling the race.
Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin-Along is the family ride. Miss Fritter, the demolition derby school bus from Cars 3, will be a giant animatronic the size of a school bus, hosting a spinning demolition derby.
The area will also have a visitor lodge, a Ranger HQ and trails, built in the rustic Parkitecture style used at real national parks. We covered that style in our recap of Imagineering’s Parkitecture episode. A new character, Ranger J. Autobahn Woodlore, is a nod to Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore from the classic Humphrey the Bear cartoons. Disney has not announced an opening date.
The Imagineers Behind Piston Peak
Jason Grandt, Executive Creative Director, and Chelsea Whikehart, Senior Show Producer, led the Piston Peak design panel at D23 this summer. Michael Hundgen, Vice President Creative for Walt Disney World, helped reveal both rides on the main stage and called the work guests can see from the Big Thunder queue “Imagineering in the round.”
Chris Beatty, Walt Disney World’s portfolio executive creative director, oversees the bigger picture at Magic Kingdom. Wyatt Winter, an executive producer for the Walt Disney World portfolio, started his Disney career as a cast member at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, right next door to this site. For more on the leaders above them, see our look at Bruce Vaughn’s role in the Disney parks expansion.
