Walt Disney World Railroad Downtime Expected as New Cars-Themed Attractions Begin Construction

Aug 14, 2024 in "Cars Land Magic Kingdom"

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Frontierland Concept Art Aerial View

Posted: Wednesday August 14, 2024 11:55am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Walt Disney World Railroad at Magic Kingdom may once again experience a significant period of downtime in the coming years, as major changes are planned for the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island areas, including the construction of two new Cars-themed attractions.

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

Similar to the extended closure during the construction of TRON Lightcycle Run, the railroad is likely to be impacted by the extensive construction zone that will emerge as the new attractions take shape.

Walt Disney World Railroad track work during the TRON construction period

Earlier this week, Disney confirmed that the new Cars-themed area will be built directly on top of Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America - both of which are inside the railroad track.

In the short term, starting in 2025, according to newly submitted permits, the railroad's tracks will be positioned between the construction staging area and the actual construction site on Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America. The railroad is expected to be taken out of service to allow for the movement of vehicles and materials across the tracks.

Looking further ahead, the development of Villains Land will also affect the railroad's operations. As with the Cars-themed attractions, construction access and potential rerouting of the tracks may be necessary to accommodate the new land. However, details about the location and layout of Villains Land are not yet available, so it remains unclear how the railroad's path might be altered.

The Walt Disney World Railroad was closed for four years during the TRON Lightcycle Run construction project. During that time, the trains were available to board as a static exhibit, first at the Main Street U.S.A. station and then later at the Fantasyland station.

Walt Disney World Railway static exhibit

We do not yet have any confirmed construction timelines for either Cars or the new Villains Land, but we expect both projects to be completed by 2030, with Cars opening first.

Disney has yet to announce any operational changes to the Walt Disney World railroad due to upcoming construction.

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celluloid7 hours ago

And ironically, Tom Sayer's Island was the most involved he was very all other Dusney theme park creations. So what is being removed now is the most Walt Connected aspect left of Frontierland.

lazyboy97o7 hours ago

The Rivers of America is shown because they used Disneyland as a placeholder for Disneyland East. Walt was dead before any design work actually began on the Magic Kingdom. This also means the story of him having an apartment in Cinderella Castle is not true.

DarkMetroid5677 hours ago

I just rode the Mark Twain at TDL last week and it really is lovely, but much much better than it’s MK equivalent. Even then, the back half of their RoA kinda sucks and is easily bested by DL. That being said, I also visited Hong Kong and really loved how their RoA is basically Jungle Cruise.

Disgruntled Walt7 hours ago

I disagree. I get why you're correcting that post, but Walt was alive when early planning was taking place, and a "Rivers of America" is visible in the concept art behind him in the EPCOT film.

MickMinn228 hours ago

Will the response to this be made public similar to the permit? Would you expect it to reveal much more about the project or just minimum to answer the questions/requests?

HMF8 hours ago

Uh, Walt was not involved in planning or constructing Magic Kingdom. He was dead by then.

jeanericuser0018 hours ago

Very true. The magic kingdom park has gone through so many changes that its hardly the park that was there when walt first started it up. Its a very different park and the consistent evolution of the park over the years has ensured that little by little the magic kingdom from that time period is slowly and deliberately being buried. When you also look at some of the original ideas they had planned for the park it seems almost entirely different from what was once there. Besides I think walt already is doing enough turning in his grave to power a small city so whats it matter if he does a few extra rotations a little faster.

lazyboy97o8 hours ago

At least one round of permit comments is included in the schedule.

ToTBellHop8 hours ago

Shouldn’t mean much.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost8 hours ago

So does the recent news mean anything for the rivers, or is it just pushing back construction a bit?

DisneyHead1239 hours ago

I don’t know. I’m a parent, and I say to shove this attraction in the big greige bin the way I do with all the non wooden toys (that bin being HS, of course. 😂)

UNCgolf9 hours ago

I'm not a huge fan of this move, but let's be fair, the main demographic they are going for with Cars isn't really on social media. They're not targeting Instagram influencers. And if the attraction etc. is a hit with kids, that'll show up on social media via their parents.

DisneyHead1239 hours ago

(Randomly careens by for weekly objection to this project.) I think what perplexes me about this is that Disney has seemingly grown its brand by being so social media savvy / friendly / aware this past decade. Social media today is not my wheelhouse, but I come across the trends from time to time. Cottagecore. Sad beige. Tomato girl summer. Christian Girl Autumn (which doesn’t, strangely, have anything to do with Christianity that I can tell.) And you know what one never sees on those Pinterest inspiration boards? A bunch of cartoon cars with googly eyes. I mean I think I’m actually the target demographic for this area with my vehicle obsessed preschooler, and endless amounts of my time are spent trying to clean up the plastic vehicles covering every inch of my floor space so that I can shove them into felt greige bins. And now they’re tearing out the riverboat to put them in MK? Why?! Ok, will drive by again same time next week…

Quietmouse10 hours ago

From what I understand from cast members that have spoken of, they said there are a lot of issues with the general operation of Tom Sawyer island and the logistics behind the operation. A lot of cast members are very supportive about the closure and have been voicing their complaints about the operations for years. Also, the island itself is not ADA compliant, and if god forbid a medical emergency occurred the island is very much one of the worst places to be in magic kingdom. So, I think this is definitely a layered situation that goes beyond oh well Disney is just trying to cut costs and throw in cars.