First Permits Filed for Disney World's New Cars-Themed Area, Replacing Tom Sawyer Island

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Cars Land Permits

Posted: Monday August 12, 2024 4:35pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Walt Disney Imagineering is moving quickly following the recent announcement of plans to redevelop Magic Kingdom's Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America into a new Cars-themed experience.

The first permits for the project have been filed with the South Florida Water Management District today, specifically for modifications to the stormwater basin located behind Tom Sawyer Island and Big Thunder Mountain.

Cars Land Permits

As is common with major projects at Walt Disney World, extensive preliminary work related to water management must be completed before new construction can begin.

Wide view of the new Frontierland, with two Cars-themed attractions replacing Tom Sawyer Island

Disney has announced that construction on the new Cars-themed area is slated to start in 2025.

It was confirmed today that the Cars-themed land will directly replace Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America, though no closing date has been set. Disney assures guests, 'You will have plenty of time to experience the charm and nostalgia of Frontierland as it is today.'

Describing the upcoming area, Disney stated, 'Soon, you'll be able to explore the uncharted territory of the great outdoors with an expansion in Frontierland themed around Pixar Animation Studios' Cars. It's time to leave Radiator Springs and head west into exciting new locations. To make way for this completely new frontier, the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island will be transformed into vast and rugged terrains for a rally race with some of the world's most iconic racers.'

Cars Concept Art

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LittleBuford3 hours ago

Did you hear this from an insider? Very sad if true.

JustInTime3 hours ago

I’ve heard ROA will not be open for MNSSHP season. I was hoping for one more party but that’s not looking good.

Disstevefan15 hours ago

You would think Disney would give advance notice as it might influence folks to plan a visit WDW to get a last visit to TSI, the fort and one last ride of the riverboat. Having said that, we keep trying to apply logic in Disney's decisions when many of their decisions do not follow logic.

MJL925 hours ago

Curious if they'll try to time the closure around Big Thunder's reopening. If all of that was down at once Frontierland would be an actual ghost town. I'm sure there's still a ton of backstage work to do before they start filling the rivers. If you check the permits, there are several tree filled plots that are going to get cleared as staging, probably before any work starts in the parks.

Gusey8 hours ago

When it comes to closures, Disney determines how popular they think an attraction is to give fans enough time to say goodbye. There is not pattern unfortunately. Country Bears had 18 days notice. Triceratop Spin had 2 months notice. It's Tough to Be a Bug had 1 month and a half notice. Muppet Vision had 6 months notice

Agent H14 hours ago

Scrap starlight or cars? Cause those 2 different questions would get 2 very different answers.

Disgruntled Walt14 hours ago

Good point. Maybe they should just scrap the whole thing! It could ruin Starlight to have to dodge construction walls!

Agent H14 hours ago

I don’t believe they will want to clog up the pathways more while Disney starlight is still brand new.

Animaniac93-9820 hours ago

Disney doesn't always give significant notice on attraction closures. They could easily just give a date 2 weeks out And there's a lot of things Disney has not given dates for this summer at WDW.