One week after remaining, the Rivers of The usa, Tom Sawyer Island, Liberty Sq. Riverboat, and Walt Disney Global Railroad’s Frontierland Station, paintings is underway and development partitions are up at Magic Kingdom. There are a a couple of new notable adjustments price sharing as Imagineering gears as much as get started on Piston Height and Villains Land, and we’re going to temporarily quilt the ones right here.
As we prior to now reported, allows have already been filed for the demolition of Tom Sawyer Island. Within the days since that space closed, numerous employees were noticed at the island, with boats transporting pieces away. As is typically the case, a number of groups from Operations, Imagineering, and the Walt Disney Archives tag more than a few pieces for reuse, preservation, or resale to creditors.
So John Stamos and Neil Patrick Harris would possibly finally end up coming into a bidding conflict over all the windmill (kidding however handiest kinda), iconic signage will finally end up within the Archives, and trash cans may just see 2d lifestyles at Lakeshore Resort or Castle Desolate tract. As soon as Tom Sawyer Island is totally picked over via all of those more than a few teams, the remaining shall be demolished. (Smartly, except what intrepid contractors can sneak out.) Despite the fact that we don’t have any on-the-ground intel, that procedure is most probably finished via now.
Differently, we’ve noticed paintings over the past couple of months already beginning behind the curtain. From the bottom, it’s been tricky to discern simply how some distance alongside growth is on this space nearer to on-stage spaces and the guest-facing aspect of the Rivers of The usa. That is one thing we lined just lately in Huge Magic Kingdom Land Clearing Past Large Thunder, which gives an aerial view of the paintings to turn its complete scope and scale. We’re stunned at simply how a lot land has been cleared already.
Now, we have now some other batch of eye within the sky footage courtesy of friend-of-the-site bioreconstruct, the go-to supply for aerial theme park images (a extremely beneficial observe who graciously supplied the helicopter pictures right here)…
Let’s get started with a high-level organising shot, which gives an replace on growth from our remaining glance a few weeks in the past.
To orient your self, that is of Magic Kingdom (Large Thunder is decrease left) and the realm to the northwest of the park. The Magic Kingdom aspect of the picture presentations Frontierland and the Rivers of The usa, making the remainder of the picture the realm that’s (in reality!) ‘Past Large Thunder.’
There’s a large number of land cleared within the footage. The spaces closer the parks shall be laydown yards supporting the development of Automobiles and Villains Lands. The some distance proper is a brand new retention pond that’s being created for displaced stormwater capability misplaced because of the infill of the Rivers of The usa. The highest heart presentations the brand new routing of Floridian Means, which is a significant multi-year undertaking aimed toward easing congestion. It possibly additionally opens the door for some other Seven Seas Lagoon lodge.
Taking a more in-depth and extra overhead aerial view, we will see one complete gravel laydown backyard and a portion of some other that shall be adjoining to the undertaking website. Those are in low-lying spaces to the northwest of the Rivers of The usa, necessitating further paintings to ascertain usable gravel laydown yards within the first position.
There shall be 3 gravel laydown yards in overall across the northwestern perimeter of Magic Kingdom. Two shall be situated past the berm, which means out of doors of Magic Kingdom visitor spaces, with the 3rd laydown backyard inside of Magic Kingdom alongside the northwestern banks of what’s lately the Rivers of The usa (decrease left–all bushes lately).
Those gravel laydown yards shall be used for development apparatus, heavy equipment, fabrics staging, earth-moving, and many others. One will develop into a car park for development employees and box place of work for Walt Disney Imagineering. The laydown yards themselves will ultimately develop into appropriate for destiny building, too.
Zooming in even additional and we have now the primary ‘newsy’ picture, which finds two primary traits.
2nd, development crews have got rid of parts of the railroad monitor in the back of BTMRR and different sections of the closed portion of the Walt Disney Global Railroad. I’m a bit stunned this actual segment of monitor was once got rid of, except crews want direct get admission to to Large Thunder?
As a reminder, “travel mode” operations of the Walt Disney Global Railroad have now begun as of July 7, 2025. That is because of the brief closure of the Frontierland Station, which is happening to deal with Automobiles and Villains Land development. The staging spaces and the development websites are on reverse aspects of the railroad tracks, therefore the closure.
This implies you’ll be able to now not enjoy the Grand Circle Excursion of the Walt Disney Global Railroad till 2030 at minimal. We’re simply glad the WDW Railroad isn’t closed utterly (once more). What’s additionally unknown is that if the monitor shall be re-routed round Villains Land, a brand new tunnel shall be added, or perhaps a new station. We’ve prior to now instructed that in all probability there shall be a brand new in-park resort again right here adjoining to a brand new railroad station. However none of this is related to this monitor removing, which is up to now closed to BTMRR and Tiana’s Bayou Journey.
The opposite large building is that the Liberty Sq. Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island rafts at the moment are docked within the Magic Kingdom carrier canal. That is situated subsequent to the development website in the back of Large Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Walt Disney Global has a right kind dry dock space situated at the northwest nook of Bay Lake, however there’s additionally this small secondary marina that the Liberty Belle occasionally makes use of inside of Magic Kingdom. This isn’t visual to visitors from within the park, if you happen to’re questioning.
Any possible destiny plans for the Liberty Sq. Riverboat have now not but been published, however groups at Imagineering and Walt Disney Global are running in combination to guage and resolve what’s conceivable in line with the corporate. In a super international, it might’ve been completely docked in entrance of Tiana’s Bayou Journey, however since that’s now not taking place, right here’s hoping for Port Orleans or Disney Springs.
I’m now not preserving my breath at this level, although. There were a large number of “rumors” about the way forward for the Liberty Belle, however I haven’t heard the rest credible. One suggests it’s going to be relocated to the Grand Floridian. Some other that it’s going for use within the finale of Fantasmic. After all, that that is the general resting position of the riverboat, and it’ll be demolished right here.
Whilst I’d like to be incorrect, I’m prone to consider that the Liberty Belle has no destiny at Walt Disney Global. Its use circumstances are restricted, because it’s now not a watercraft within the conventional sense of the time period. It wishes the information monitor to navigate waterways, so it’s both a question of discovering a house someplace with a monitor or docking it someplace and the use of it as a cafe or aesthetic function.
I’m skeptical any of that occurs, particularly given the related repairs prices. Absolute best case situation is most probably it being disassembled and shipped off to a maritime museum. Possibly it finally ends up on the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut–a spot I actually simply realized about when Googling “very best boat museum.” Once more, would like to be incorrect and feature the Liberty Belle survive at Port Orleans or somewhere else at Walt Disney Global. With a bit of luck the beancounters are boaties!
The general building is that development partitions at the moment are up across the Rivers of The usa:
They’re tricky to discern from the primary couple of high-level footage, however the ultimate two display them higher.
Mainly, there are partitions up all over the place however the waterfront walkway that provides a “shortcut” alongside the parade direction between Liberty Sq. and Frontierland. They’re up just about all over the place else at this level, and that walkway most probably isn’t some distance in the back of.
Walkways now prolong from Haunted Mansion to the Liberty Sq. Riverboat touchdown, and once more from the bypass bridge via the Tiana’s Bayou Journey splashdown loop over to Large Thunder. For now, there are nonetheless various in-park perspectives of the Rivers of The usa, and we in reality hope that lasts till Starlight debuts, however it kind of feels much less most probably via the day. Disney is shifting quick in this one.
The excellent news is that a Walt Disney Global spokesperson suggested us that development partitions is not going to have an effect on viewing spaces for the brand new Starlight Evening Parade in Magic Kingdom. In addition they shared that development partitions is not going to have an effect on crowd go with the flow or bypasses in Frontierland for individuals who do now not need to see Starlight.
Which means the waterfront prom in Frontierland will stay open for the foreseeable destiny. Possibly, development partitions will pass up at the different aspect of the boardwalk, identical to they’ve at the adjoining bridge heading against Tiana’s Bayou Journey and BTMRR. That is a minimum of a small victory for the ones people who respect this Frontierland ‘shortcut’ or had been/are fearing the worst with crowdflow for Starlight.
Those partitions are going up quicker than we anticipated, suggesting Walt Disney Global goes to waste no time in draining the Rivers of The usa and demolishing Tom Sawyer Island. The partitions will block maximum visitor perspectives into that, which means we’ll both want helicopters or Lightning Lanes for Tiana’s Bayou Journey for destiny updates!
That is all somewhat bittersweet. At the one hand, I’m preserving out hope that this view nonetheless exists in 5 days so I will see–and {photograph}–it in individual one remaining time. Alternatively, it’s heartening to look Imagineering shifting quick on all of this, and now not simply remaining the whole thing “early” and letting issues stagnate.
I don’t need to sound like a damaged report, however now that it’s crystal transparent that this Piston Height undertaking is going on, we would like it to be fast-tracked. Reduce the period of time there’s development blight in Magic Kingdom, heading off a repeat of the Large EPCOT Filth Pit fiasco. The longer any undertaking drags on, the much more likely it’s that to be budget-cut or worth engineered into oblivion.
I nonetheless don’t love this concept (see Why the Rivers of The usa is Price Saving), but it surely’s going to occur and there’s not anything we lovers can do to modify the process this Piston Height undertaking with the exception of on the margins. Accordingly, I would like not anything greater than for the future-former Rivers of The usa to be unrecognizable via January 2026, and cranes showing on website to start vertical development. Get this finished temporarily to attenuate the visitor have an effect on and feature Piston Height open ASAP.
Making plans a Walt Disney Global go back and forth? Know about accommodations on our Walt Disney Global Lodges Opinions web page. For the place to consume, learn our Walt Disney Global Eating place Opinions. To economize on tickets or resolve which kind to shop for, learn our Pointers for Saving Cash on Walt Disney Global Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a novel have a look at suave pieces to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney Global Journey Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most efficient position to start out is our Walt Disney Global Travel Making plans Information for the whole thing you want to understand!
Your Ideas
Ideas on the way forward for the Liberty Belle or why Walt Disney Global is ripping up the railroad tracks? What about how temporarily partitions have long gone up, blockading maximum perspectives of the water and island? Mourning the closure of Tom Sawyer Island, Rivers of The usa, and the Liberty Sq. Riverboat? Did you could have a possibility to mention your goodbyes? Do you settle or disagree with our review? Any questions we will allow you to resolution? Listening to your comments—even while you disagree with us—is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please percentage your ideas under within the feedback!
One week after remaining, the Rivers of The usa, Tom Sawyer Island, Liberty Sq. Riverboat, and Walt Disney Global Railroad’s Frontierland Station, paintings is underway and development partitions are up at Magic Kingdom. There are a a couple of new notable adjustments price sharing as Imagineering gears as much as get started on Piston Height and Villains Land, and we’re going to temporarily quilt the ones right here.
As we prior to now reported, allows have already been filed for the demolition of Tom Sawyer Island. Within the days since that space closed, numerous employees were noticed at the island, with boats transporting pieces away. As is typically the case, a number of groups from Operations, Imagineering, and the Walt Disney Archives tag more than a few pieces for reuse, preservation, or resale to creditors.
So John Stamos and Neil Patrick Harris would possibly finally end up coming into a bidding conflict over all the windmill (kidding however handiest kinda), iconic signage will finally end up within the Archives, and trash cans may just see 2d lifestyles at Lakeshore Resort or Castle Desolate tract. As soon as Tom Sawyer Island is totally picked over via all of those more than a few teams, the remaining shall be demolished. (Smartly, except what intrepid contractors can sneak out.) Despite the fact that we don’t have any on-the-ground intel, that procedure is most probably finished via now.
Differently, we’ve noticed paintings over the past couple of months already beginning behind the curtain. From the bottom, it’s been tricky to discern simply how some distance alongside growth is on this space nearer to on-stage spaces and the guest-facing aspect of the Rivers of The usa. That is one thing we lined just lately in Huge Magic Kingdom Land Clearing Past Large Thunder, which gives an aerial view of the paintings to turn its complete scope and scale. We’re stunned at simply how a lot land has been cleared already.
Now, we have now some other batch of eye within the sky footage courtesy of friend-of-the-site bioreconstruct, the go-to supply for aerial theme park images (a extremely beneficial observe who graciously supplied the helicopter pictures right here)…
Let’s get started with a high-level organising shot, which gives an replace on growth from our remaining glance a few weeks in the past.
To orient your self, that is of Magic Kingdom (Large Thunder is decrease left) and the realm to the northwest of the park. The Magic Kingdom aspect of the picture presentations Frontierland and the Rivers of The usa, making the remainder of the picture the realm that’s (in reality!) ‘Past Large Thunder.’
There’s a large number of land cleared within the footage. The spaces closer the parks shall be laydown yards supporting the development of Automobiles and Villains Lands. The some distance proper is a brand new retention pond that’s being created for displaced stormwater capability misplaced because of the infill of the Rivers of The usa. The highest heart presentations the brand new routing of Floridian Means, which is a significant multi-year undertaking aimed toward easing congestion. It possibly additionally opens the door for some other Seven Seas Lagoon lodge.
Taking a more in-depth and extra overhead aerial view, we will see one complete gravel laydown backyard and a portion of some other that shall be adjoining to the undertaking website. Those are in low-lying spaces to the northwest of the Rivers of The usa, necessitating further paintings to ascertain usable gravel laydown yards within the first position.
There shall be 3 gravel laydown yards in overall across the northwestern perimeter of Magic Kingdom. Two shall be situated past the berm, which means out of doors of Magic Kingdom visitor spaces, with the 3rd laydown backyard inside of Magic Kingdom alongside the northwestern banks of what’s lately the Rivers of The usa (decrease left–all bushes lately).
Those gravel laydown yards shall be used for development apparatus, heavy equipment, fabrics staging, earth-moving, and many others. One will develop into a car park for development employees and box place of work for Walt Disney Imagineering. The laydown yards themselves will ultimately develop into appropriate for destiny building, too.
Zooming in even additional and we have now the primary ‘newsy’ picture, which finds two primary traits.
2nd, development crews have got rid of parts of the railroad monitor in the back of BTMRR and different sections of the closed portion of the Walt Disney Global Railroad. I’m a bit stunned this actual segment of monitor was once got rid of, except crews want direct get admission to to Large Thunder?
As a reminder, “travel mode” operations of the Walt Disney Global Railroad have now begun as of July 7, 2025. That is because of the brief closure of the Frontierland Station, which is happening to deal with Automobiles and Villains Land development. The staging spaces and the development websites are on reverse aspects of the railroad tracks, therefore the closure.
This implies you’ll be able to now not enjoy the Grand Circle Excursion of the Walt Disney Global Railroad till 2030 at minimal. We’re simply glad the WDW Railroad isn’t closed utterly (once more). What’s additionally unknown is that if the monitor shall be re-routed round Villains Land, a brand new tunnel shall be added, or perhaps a new station. We’ve prior to now instructed that in all probability there shall be a brand new in-park resort again right here adjoining to a brand new railroad station. However none of this is related to this monitor removing, which is up to now closed to BTMRR and Tiana’s Bayou Journey.
The opposite large building is that the Liberty Sq. Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island rafts at the moment are docked within the Magic Kingdom carrier canal. That is situated subsequent to the development website in the back of Large Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Walt Disney Global has a right kind dry dock space situated at the northwest nook of Bay Lake, however there’s additionally this small secondary marina that the Liberty Belle occasionally makes use of inside of Magic Kingdom. This isn’t visual to visitors from within the park, if you happen to’re questioning.
Any possible destiny plans for the Liberty Sq. Riverboat have now not but been published, however groups at Imagineering and Walt Disney Global are running in combination to guage and resolve what’s conceivable in line with the corporate. In a super international, it might’ve been completely docked in entrance of Tiana’s Bayou Journey, however since that’s now not taking place, right here’s hoping for Port Orleans or Disney Springs.
I’m now not preserving my breath at this level, although. There were a large number of “rumors” about the way forward for the Liberty Belle, however I haven’t heard the rest credible. One suggests it’s going to be relocated to the Grand Floridian. Some other that it’s going for use within the finale of Fantasmic. After all, that that is the general resting position of the riverboat, and it’ll be demolished right here.
Whilst I’d like to be incorrect, I’m prone to consider that the Liberty Belle has no destiny at Walt Disney Global. Its use circumstances are restricted, because it’s now not a watercraft within the conventional sense of the time period. It wishes the information monitor to navigate waterways, so it’s both a question of discovering a house someplace with a monitor or docking it someplace and the use of it as a cafe or aesthetic function.
I’m skeptical any of that occurs, particularly given the related repairs prices. Absolute best case situation is most probably it being disassembled and shipped off to a maritime museum. Possibly it finally ends up on the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut–a spot I actually simply realized about when Googling “very best boat museum.” Once more, would like to be incorrect and feature the Liberty Belle survive at Port Orleans or somewhere else at Walt Disney Global. With a bit of luck the beancounters are boaties!
The general building is that development partitions at the moment are up across the Rivers of The usa:
They’re tricky to discern from the primary couple of high-level footage, however the ultimate two display them higher.
Mainly, there are partitions up all over the place however the waterfront walkway that provides a “shortcut” alongside the parade direction between Liberty Sq. and Frontierland. They’re up just about all over the place else at this level, and that walkway most probably isn’t some distance in the back of.
Walkways now prolong from Haunted Mansion to the Liberty Sq. Riverboat touchdown, and once more from the bypass bridge via the Tiana’s Bayou Journey splashdown loop over to Large Thunder. For now, there are nonetheless various in-park perspectives of the Rivers of The usa, and we in reality hope that lasts till Starlight debuts, however it kind of feels much less most probably via the day. Disney is shifting quick in this one.
The excellent news is that a Walt Disney Global spokesperson suggested us that development partitions is not going to have an effect on viewing spaces for the brand new Starlight Evening Parade in Magic Kingdom. In addition they shared that development partitions is not going to have an effect on crowd go with the flow or bypasses in Frontierland for individuals who do now not need to see Starlight.
Which means the waterfront prom in Frontierland will stay open for the foreseeable destiny. Possibly, development partitions will pass up at the different aspect of the boardwalk, identical to they’ve at the adjoining bridge heading against Tiana’s Bayou Journey and BTMRR. That is a minimum of a small victory for the ones people who respect this Frontierland ‘shortcut’ or had been/are fearing the worst with crowdflow for Starlight.
Those partitions are going up quicker than we anticipated, suggesting Walt Disney Global goes to waste no time in draining the Rivers of The usa and demolishing Tom Sawyer Island. The partitions will block maximum visitor perspectives into that, which means we’ll both want helicopters or Lightning Lanes for Tiana’s Bayou Journey for destiny updates!
That is all somewhat bittersweet. At the one hand, I’m preserving out hope that this view nonetheless exists in 5 days so I will see–and {photograph}–it in individual one remaining time. Alternatively, it’s heartening to look Imagineering shifting quick on all of this, and now not simply remaining the whole thing “early” and letting issues stagnate.
I don’t need to sound like a damaged report, however now that it’s crystal transparent that this Piston Height undertaking is going on, we would like it to be fast-tracked. Reduce the period of time there’s development blight in Magic Kingdom, heading off a repeat of the Large EPCOT Filth Pit fiasco. The longer any undertaking drags on, the much more likely it’s that to be budget-cut or worth engineered into oblivion.
I nonetheless don’t love this concept (see Why the Rivers of The usa is Price Saving), but it surely’s going to occur and there’s not anything we lovers can do to modify the process this Piston Height undertaking with the exception of on the margins. Accordingly, I would like not anything greater than for the future-former Rivers of The usa to be unrecognizable via January 2026, and cranes showing on website to start vertical development. Get this finished temporarily to attenuate the visitor have an effect on and feature Piston Height open ASAP.
Making plans a Walt Disney Global go back and forth? Know about accommodations on our Walt Disney Global Lodges Opinions web page. For the place to consume, learn our Walt Disney Global Eating place Opinions. To economize on tickets or resolve which kind to shop for, learn our Pointers for Saving Cash on Walt Disney Global Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a novel have a look at suave pieces to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney Global Journey Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the most efficient position to start out is our Walt Disney Global Travel Making plans Information for the whole thing you want to understand!
Your Ideas
Ideas on the way forward for the Liberty Belle or why Walt Disney Global is ripping up the railroad tracks? What about how temporarily partitions have long gone up, blockading maximum perspectives of the water and island? Mourning the closure of Tom Sawyer Island, Rivers of The usa, and the Liberty Sq. Riverboat? Did you could have a possibility to mention your goodbyes? Do you settle or disagree with our review? Any questions we will allow you to resolution? Listening to your comments—even while you disagree with us—is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please percentage your ideas under within the feedback!
