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Mike Fink Keel Boat Landing Has Vanished as Piston Peak Construction Reshapes Magic Kingdom
The wildest construction project in the wilderness continues to steam ahead at Magic Kingdom, and new aerial photos reveal another major piece of Disney history has officially disappeared from the landscape.
Related: Disney CFO Expects Park Attendance & Pricing to Grow With Expansions
Fresh images from bioreconstruct show the former Mike Fink Keel Boat Landing has now been completely demolished as work ramps up on the massive Cars-themed Piston Peak National Park expansion replacing Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.
The latest aerial views showcase just how quickly this corner of Frontierland is transforming. What was once peaceful waterfront scenery is now a sprawling maze of dirt grading, retaining walls, heavy equipment, and expanding infrastructure stretching from Haunted Mansion all the way toward Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Perhaps the biggest visible change is the complete removal of the Mike Fink keel boats dock near Liberty Square. Earlier this month, demolition began around the area, but the newest aerial photos confirm the old landing has now been wiped from the map entirely.
For longtime Disney fans, this marks another emotional milestone in the ongoing transformation of Frontierland. The Mike Fink Keel Boats were an original Magic Kingdom opening day attraction inspired by Disney’s Davy Crockett television series. The small boats offered guests a scenic trip around the Rivers of America until the attraction permanently closed in 2001. In more recent years, portions of the dock had been repurposed as overflow queue space for Haunted Mansion before construction walls moved in earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the construction zone itself is beginning to evolve from simple land clearing into something much more permanent. New retaining walls now snake through the site in large stepped formations, particularly near the former riverbank areas beside Big Thunder Mountain. Ground crews also appear to be leveling a massive dirt mound north of Haunted Mansion as Disney prepares new pathways and waterways for the reimagined land.
Related: New Magic Kingdom Ferry Boat Spotted Under Construction in Disney World Dry Dock
One major upcoming feature of Piston Peak National Park will be a newly created river separating the Cars-themed area from Frontierland and Liberty Square. The new waterway is intended to help preserve thematic transitions between the lands while still introducing the high-energy world inspired by Pixar’s Cars franchise.
The aerial photos also provide a closer look at ongoing refurbishment work on Haunted Mansion itself. Roofing materials have been stripped down to the underlayment while scaffolding remains visible behind guest-facing scrims.
From above, the sheer scale of the project is honestly staggering. The construction footprint now stretches across an enormous section of Magic Kingdom and gives a much clearer sense of Disney’s plans to dramatically reshape the northwest side of the park over the next several years.
Piston Peak National Park is just one half of Disney’s enormous expansion plans beyond Big Thunder Mountain. On the opposite side of the project site, Disney is also preparing for the future Villains Land expansion, which will feature two major attractions, dining, shopping, and heavily stylized “conjured architecture” inspired by classic Disney villains.
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