In a bittersweet development, Imagineering has filed the first permit to demolish Tom Sawyer Island, ahead of construction on the ‘Piston Peak’ Cars project in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom. This details the latest news, and what we’re expecting from the Rivers of America replacement at Walt Disney World.
Rather than starting by bringing you up to speed on the Cars saga, let’s start with the news before backtracking. Walt Disney Imagineering filed a new Notice of Commencement on June 25, 2025 for “demo, infrastructure prep and utility modification” to an address that corresponds with Tom Sawyer Island in Magic Kingdom.
Disney lists NorthStar Contracting Group, Inc. as the contractor for the project. NorthStar has some impressive bona fides in the demolition world. According to the company’s website, NorthStar has been ranked in the top 10 Demolition & Wrecking Contractors in the United States since 1999. NorthStar was even ranked #1 in Wrecking & Demolition for 2020 by ENR Magazine–can you believe it?! (I don’t know what that is.)
Point being, it would seem that Walt Disney World is assembling the dream team for the Cars project, first calling on one of the world’s leading mobile modular businesses for the Imagineering field offices and now an all-star in the demo space. It’s like the Avengers, but for paving over paradise to put in a cartoon Cars race.
In any case, Walt Disney World is going to need the demolition all-stars who “bring answers” because the Notice of Commencement lists the default expiration period of one year–meaning it expires on June 25, 2026.
As we’ve mentioned in recent permit coverage, it’s never noteworthy when these Notice of Commencements go with the default, as new permits can always be filed for extensions. It is illuminating when the period is shorter or longer, as that’s often (but not always) reflective of the internal project timeline.
For those keeping score at home, this is the first substantive demolition permit that we’ve spotted for the Rivers of America replacement following the permit issued by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) in mid-February 2025, giving Imagineering until February 17, 2030 to redevelop the area. The underlying SFWMD permit is massive in scale and scope, encompassing over 300 acres around Magic Kingdom and beyond.
The project site itself is about 14-plus acres, and will begin with the removal of the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. In place of these areas, Walt Disney World announced two all-new Cars attractions and Villains Land expansion at Magic Kingdom, essentially behind Cars Land, and between/behind Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion.
As we noted when that was approved, it was not the final permit for the Villains and Cars Lands projects as a whole, but it was the one that posed the greatest degree of challenge and scrutiny from the state. The rest should mostly be rubber-stamped–including this one for the demolition Tom Sawyer Island. That SFWMD permit was the only hurdle that mattered–the last material impediment to the Cars and Villains Land projects.
Subsequent to the SFWMD permit but prior to this, Walt Disney Imagineering began laying the groundwork for this project by filing construction permits to install trailers in a backstage area behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom.
The primary permit then was assigned to McGrath RentCorp, a company specializing in construction field offices adjacent to work sites. These were very similar permits for a trailer park and staging area behind Kali River Rapids in support of the Tropical Americas project last spring. They also repurposed the former Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser behind Disney’s Hollywood Studios into field offices for the Monstropolis expansion there.
There will likely be dozens more demolition and construction permits for the Piston Peak ‘Cars’ miniland in the next few years. We don’t plan on covering the more pedestrian of those (just as we haven’t with Tropical Americas). This is only being reported on because it qualifies as a major milestone. And because there are still some fans deeply in denial about this project happening (it is).
As a reminder, Walt Disney World officially announced that the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and Liberty Square Riverboat will all close on July 7, 2025. The last day to experience any of these attractions and locations at Magic Kingdom will be July 6, 2025.
Along with that, “shuttle mode” operations of the Walt Disney World Railroad will begin on July 7, 2025. That’s also when the Frontierland Station will close on a temporary basis for Cars and Villains Land construction. This means that the last date to experience the Grand Circle Tour of the WDW Railroad (or stop at Frontierland Station) is July 6, 2025.
Once the rivers stop flowing and are filled in, they will form the foundation of the Cars land (now known as Piston Peak National Park) in Frontierland and a portion of Villains Land.
Walt Disney World has also shared that construction walls will not go up overnight on July 7, 2025 in Frontierland obstructing the project site. Rather, walls will go up gradually over the course of a couple of weeks, so expect to see them by late July–just in time for the debut of Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away.
That’s a joke. When we inquired, a Walt Disney World spokesperson advised us that construction walls will not impact viewing areas for the new Starlight Night Parade in Magic Kingdom. They also shared that construction walls will not impact crowd flow or bypasses in Frontierland for those who do not want to ‘Dream the Night Away.’
This means that the waterfront promenade in Frontierland will remain open for the foreseeable future. Presumably, construction walls will go up on the other side of the boardwalk. This is at least a small victory for those of us who appreciate this Frontierland ‘shortcut’ or were/are fearing the worst with crowdflow for Starlight.
Personally, I’m really curious to see how this will all unfold, what kind of visual blight will exist in Frontierland, and how the project site will evolve. When the Rivers of America has been drained in the past for refurbishment and repairs to the riverbed, there haven’t been walls at all (see above).
My assumption is that it was deemed to be too herculean of a task to install walls all around the perimeter of the Rivers of America in Frontierland and Liberty Square, and arguably counterproductive. Which is worse: a view of a dry riverbed with some work vehicles driving around and the natural environment of Tom Sawyer Island beyond it, or construction walls that make the land feel smaller and more claustrophobic?
Obviously, this is much different in duration, scale and scope. For one thing, it’s not just a multi-month project to repair the riverbed–this is a multi-year construction project that’ll materially alter the environment. For another, there won’t be the beautiful natural vista of Tom Sawyer Island in the distance. As this permit brings into sharp relief, that play area is being demolished.
I’ve also been wondering what’s next with the demolition of Tom Sawyer Island, razing of the Rivers of America, and Cars construction. Specifically, whether this work is going to happen in phases or be a massive all-at-once undertaking.
Prior to closing dates being announced, we speculated that Walt Disney World could potentially preserve the Frontierland-facing half of the Rivers of America for a while–potentially as long as a year–using cofferdams. That crews might start backstage and work their way to the front half over time.
That clearly is not going to happen given the closing dates (including Frontierland Station), and in light of the permits that have now been filed. It’ll nevertheless be interesting to see just how quickly the Rivers of America stops flowing and demolition begins. It looks like we probably have a couple of weeks after the attractions close on July 7, 2025 to enjoy the view, but I wouldn’t necessarily count on that. Unless the all-stars at NorthStar are consummate professionals and plan on ferrying bulldozers over on the rafts. Now that would be a sight to behold!
Suffice to say, we should start to see drainage and lots of dirt moving by Fall 2025–maybe as early as August. My guess would be there’s visible demolition of Tom Sawyer Island in the coming weeks. Whereas I was giddy about seeing the carnage in Dino-Rama, it’s going to be a gut-punch the day when Harper’s Mill comes down.
Within the last month, work has already began backstage. That’s all what’s publicly visible from Floridian Way, the section of road to the northwest of Magic Kingdom. It’s difficult to discern how far along progress is in this area closer to on-stage areas and the guest-facing side of the Rivers of America. It’s also possible that more is done backstage before work begins in earnest on infilling the Rivers of America.
Zooming out, there will be three gravel laydown yards in total around the northwestern perimeter of Magic Kingdom used for construction equipment, heavy machinery, materials staging, earth-moving, etc. Disney also needs to create a new retention pond for stormwater management that’s roughly three-quarters of a mile to the northwest of Magic Kingdom. It’s likely that the ground removed when digging the new pond will be used for filling the Rivers of America.
As heartbreaking as it’ll be to see Harper’s Mill demolished, Rivers of America drained and filled in, my hope is that Imagineering is fast-tracking all of this and plans to do as much as simultaneously as possible. We’ve been against the replacement of the Rivers of America from the start, and maintain that perspective to this day.
However, now that it’s crystal clear that this project is happening, we want it to be fast-tracked. Minimize the amount of time there’s construction blight in Magic Kingdom, avoiding a repeat of the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit fiasco. The longer any project drags on, the more likely it is that to be budget-cut or value engineered into oblivion.
That’s what makes this bittersweet. I still don’t love this idea, but it’s going to happen and there’s nothing I can do to change the course of this project. Accordingly, I would love nothing more than for the future-former Rivers of America to be unrecognizable by January 2026, and cranes appearing on site to commence vertical construction. (That’s probably way too soon–but the point stands that I want this moving full-steam ahead.) Get this done quickly to minimize the guest impact and have Piston Peak open ASAP.
As discussed in Walt Disney World’s 5-Year Construction Plan, the site prepwork alone for Cars Land and Villains Land will be a herculean undertaking that will take many months–if not more than a year. Fans will bemoan the lengthy timeline, but Cars Land debuting in 2029 actually seems fairly aggressive given the scale and scope of work.
At the very least, Walt Disney World will want to get moving on the groundwork for the walkway connecting Big Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion, running behind Piston Peak National Park and in front of Villains Land, during the current closure of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
That year-plus refurbishment is slated to wrap up sometime in the first half of 2026 (likely before spring break), and we’d expect progress on a pathway by then (it won’t be anywhere near ready to open in 2026–just started and to a point where BTMRR won’t have to close again later to accommodate construction).
As always when it comes to the topic of replacing the Rivers of America, I’ll reiterate my view that removing the Rivers of America is a mistake (my small means of ‘protesting’ this and making clear that reporting on the news should not be construed as endorsing the decisions).
While I’m very much reassured by the new concept art and what the Imagineering project team has shared about Piston Peak National Park, my view is still that it’s making lemonade out of lemons. It sounding like the best case scenario given the circumstances is still not the best case scenario, period.
This is something we covered previously at length in the commentary to our original post about Cars Land Replacing Rivers of America. If you’re struggling to understand why fans are upset about this, consider reading one of those. I’m not going to fixate or belabor the point here since it’s already been made repeatedly, but this waterway is part of the heart of Magic Kingdom and not just for the guests who actively utilize these attractions.
While Piston Peak looks lovely (assuming the finished product matches the recently-released ‘Fun Map’), it still strikes me as a mistake that Disney isn’t retaining the Rivers of America waterfront while redeveloping the back half of Tom Sawyer Island and the area that’s actually beyond Big Thunder.
I’m nevertheless hoping for the best with Piston Peak National Park. It’s going to be a tough needle to thread, but it sounds like maybe Imagineering can create a Cars area inspired by U.S. National Parks with mountains, water, and more that fit in Frontierland. I like what I’ve seen thus far, especially the number of water features and the preservation of the waterfront promenade. Here’s hoping they’re up to the task and can pull it off.
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Your Thoughts
Thoughts on Walt Disney Imagineering filing a permit to demolish Tom Sawyer Island? Even if you knew this day was coming, does it still sting–or are you ready to move on? Disappointed that the Piston Peak National Park is replacing Rivers of America? Given that this is going to happen regardless at this point, do you hope it’s full steam ahead so we don’t have to endure a repeat of the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit fiasco? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
