Aerial View of Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America Ahead of Cars Retheme

new cars land replacing rivers of america concept art

Disney announced during the recent D:23 event that Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island in Magic Kingdom will soon make way for a new cars-themed expansion. Reaction to the news has been mixed, with many Disney fans welcoming the upgrade and addition to Magic Kingdom, while others wishing the planned expansion was planned in a way that did not sacrifice two classic attractions.

updated cars land concept map with landmarks

Since construction permits have been recently filed, we can expect work in this area to begin in the coming weeks. X User bioreconstruct shared some arial photos of the area ahead of the beginning of the demo work, affording us perhaps our last glimpse of the land as it currently stands.

Aerial photo of Frontierland.
Disney recently announced that Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America will be replaced by a Cars attraction. Concept art shows a guest walkway connecting the Big Thunder area and the Haunted Mansion area. pic.twitter.com/Dfkp15FODb
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) August 18, 2024

The arial photos show the Liberty Square Riverboat making a voyage around Rivers of America, with Tom Sawyer Island in the center. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is present in the top of the photo, with Big Thunder Mountain Railrod visible to the right side. Along the left side of the photo you can see the show building for Country Bear Jamboree as well as the Frontier Trading Post. The bottom right section of the photo shows the covered outdoor queue for Haunted Mansion, with the Mansion itself not readily apparent behind the trees.

bioreconstruct rivers of america tom sawyer island — photo credit: bioreconstruct on X

What are your thoughts on the Cars expansion coming at the expense of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island? Is this a welcomed change, or are you sad to see more classic Disney attractions being sacrificed to make way for new lands? Leave us a comment to let us know!

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Chris B 1,903 Posts

Chris is a Pennsylvania native who escaped the cold and relocated to the Orlando area. Our resident Universal expert, Chris has been visiting the Universal Orlando Resort since the 1990s. Chris is a Universal and Walt Disney World Passholder, and can often be found exploring the parks taking in the sites (and finding new things to write about!).

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