Brace yourself, Magic Kingdom purists. Our Piston Peak construction update is going to be hard on those who loved the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. When we previously checked in November, Disney was removing trees from the old Tom Sawyer Island. Now, there’s basically nothing left of both the island and the Rivers of America.
A small mound of dirt is nearly all that remains of Tom Sawyer Island. Meanwhile, the Rivers of America looks more like a dirt road used for construction than a beautiful waterway. Below is an aerial view from @bioreconstruct.
Zooming out a bit further, we can see Disney has cleared a ton of land beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This land will be used for the announced Villains Land and as a construction staging area.
We’re still not sure exactly how big Villains Land will be, but it’s clear Disney has prepared a lot of space for these projects. We’ll have to wait and see just how far back the Villains Land boundaries will sit.
The Piston Peak project is quickly leaving the demolishment and clearing stage, and is moving into the much-more-fun construction phase. Soon, we should start seeing the land reshaped to form Piston Peak’s layout and attractions.
As a quick refresher, here’s the cartoon concept art for Piston Peak.
The cartoon artwork above is the most recent concept from Disney, but it’s worth highlighting the original art below. Fans of natural landscapes and prominent water features are rooting for the art above to be the more accurate version.
Disney hasn’t revealed too many details about Piston Peak. We know the star of the land will be an off-road rally race, but Disney hasn’t said much about the announced second attraction. Specifics about dining and shopping also haven’t been revealed.
Piston Peak doesn’t have an opening date at this time. We’ve seen some guesses predicting a 2027 opening, though that seems way too optimistic. We think a 2028 or 2029 opening is realistic based on the incredible amount of work Disney has in front of them.
