Approximately two months after getting the green light to demolish Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island, Walt Disney World has filed a flurry of permits pertaining to an Imagineering field offices in the Cars and Villains Land project site in Magic Kingdom. This details the latest in this multi-month saga, what this could mean for closing dates and construction, and why we (still) believe this is a mistake.
By way of recap, this follows the previous permit issued by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) in mid-February 2025, giving Imagineering until February 17, 2030 to redevelop the area and modify utilities, make updates to the drainage system, facility renovations, stormwater management enhancements, and more. The underlying SFWMD permit is massive in scale and scope, encompassing over 300 acres around Magic Kingdom and beyond the park.
The project site itself is about 14-plus acres, and will begin with the removal of the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. In place of these areas, Walt Disney World announced two all-new Cars attractions in a reimagined area of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom and Villains Land expansion at Magic Kingdom, essentially behind Cars Land, and between/behind Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion.
Shortly after all of that was announced at last summer’s D23 Expo, Walt Disney Imagineering got to work filing permits for the expansive project. That involved back and forth between Walt Disney World, Imagineering, Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (on behalf of Walt Disney World), and the SFWMD for a stretch between August and December.
This was finally resolved, as noted above, in Disney’s favor with the issuance of the project approval almost exactly two months ago. As we noted when that was approved, it was not the final permit for the Villains and Cars Lands projects as a whole (not by a long shot), but it was the one that posed the greatest degree of challenge and scrutiny from the state. The rest should mostly be rubber-stamped–including the 6 permits that were just filed. That SFWMD permit was the hurdle that mattered–the only material impediment to the Cars and Villains Land projects.
Which brings us to mid-April 2025, with Disney now filing much more pedestrian permits that lay the groundwork for the substantive work on the project to begin. Walt Disney Imagineering filed new construction permits to “install trailers” with an address corresponding to a backstage area behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in Magic Kingdom.
The most significant of these permits is assigned to McGrath RentCorp, a company with a ‘Mobile Modular’ segment that rents and sells modular buildings designed for use as temporary offices adjacent to existing facilities, construction field offices, and various other purposes. The other 5 permits all relate to this–offering fire suppression, HVAC, plumbing, and other unexciting stuff to these trailers.
If all of this sounds familiar, it’s because there were very similar permits for a trailer park and staging area behind Kali River Rapids in support of the Tropical Americas project last spring. I’m sure Walt Disney World would prefer this called a “construction project compound” or “field offices” or maybe something flowery like “Magical Mobile Modules of Magic.” But this is, in essence, a trailer park. A trailer park through which a billion-plus dollar project will flow, but a trailer park, nevertheless.
This trailer park joins the aforementioned one in Tropical Americas, as well as a recent expansion at the STOL Port field office and repurposing of the former Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser behind Disney’s Hollywood Studios into field offices for the Monstropolis expansion there.
All of these are expansions to Imagineering’s presence at Walt Disney World in the last year, above and beyond longstanding field offices in Florida. This follows the cancellation of the Lake Nona Creative Campus, which would’ve relocated Imagineering’s headquarters to Florida (or at least made Lake Nona their largest location).
Despite that, Imagineering currently has its largest presence ever at Walt Disney World. This is significant–and very important, in our opinion–as it means these projects are being helmed by Floridians with decisions being made on the ground in Florida instead of from the comfort of Burbank. I don’t say this to disparage Californians, but as a guest who has often been perplexed by dubious design decisions at Walt Disney World that made me wonder: “was the choice to not have shade or shelter from rain made by a Californian?!”
This is just one of many, many reasons why it’s great to hear that Imagineering has been staffing up in Central Florida. And it’s a process that should be happening fairly organically, especially with development on Universal’s Epic Universe being done and freeing up those creative resources (talent bounces back and forth between Universal Creative and Imagineering on a project-by-project basis). Much better than Chapek’s forced relocation plan. But I digress.
In terms of what’s next, establishment of the trailer park, obviously. That should be a fairly quick and painless process, especially as compared with Animal Kingdom. It probably can be finished in short order, allowing for substantive work to start this summer.
That will begin with drainage, demolition, and lots of dirt moving–not necessarily in that order. There are low-lying areas to the northwest of the Rivers of America, requiring additional work to establish the aforementioned gravel laydown yards. These are a necessary prerequisite to demolishing and filling in the Rivers of America.
There will be three gravel laydown yards in total around the northwestern perimeter of Magic Kingdom. Two will be located beyond the berm, meaning outside of Magic Kingdom guest areas, with the third laydown yard that should be visible from within Magic Kingdom along the northwestern banks of the Rivers of America. These gravel laydown yards will be used for construction equipment, heavy machinery, materials staging, earth-moving, etc.
In addition to the laydown yards, Disney needs somewhere for the displaced stormwater capacity lost from infilling the Rivers of America. Such is the nature of construction in the swamps. This involves creating a new retention pond for water management that’s roughly three-quarters of a mile to the northwest of Magic Kingdom. It’s likely that the ground removed when digging the new pond will be used for filling the Rivers of America. Circle of life and all that.
Once filled in, the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island will form the foundation of Cars Land and a portion of Villains Land. The laydown yards will then themselves eventually be used for future development, including a portion of Villains Land. The water management permits are the first step ahead of beginning substantive construction due to waterways being rerouted and displaced.
As discussed in our latest edition of Walt Disney World’s 5-Year Construction Plan, the site prepwork alone for Cars Land and Villains Land will be a herculean undertaking that will take many months–if not more than a year. Fans will bemoan the lengthy timeline, but Cars Land debuting in 2029 actually seems fairly aggressive given the scale and scope of work. I’d be surprised if we see anything go vertical until late 2026 at the earliest.
As you’re likely aware, Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America have no closing date at present. Walt Disney World did indicate that “guests will have plenty of time to experience the charm and nostalgia of Frontierland as it is today” before construction kicks into high gear. But that statement was last August, and plenty of time has already passed since then.
As for when construction could start, any time after Easter would not surprise me. This is what we’ve been saying for months (since the first permits were filed last August). Now that Easter is almost here, I still think this is more or less accurate.
As we’ve also been saying since then, Magic Kingdom might try to get through Summer 2025 before closing Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America. Disney Starlight Parade is going to be hugely popular upon debut and will need ample viewing space during its opening summer along the promenade in Frontierland. Construction walls up on one side of the walkway would reduce viewing capacity.
Starting the guest-facing portion of the project shortly after Labor Day 2025 is thus what strikes me as most plausible. That gives Walt Disney World all summer with the Rivers of America operating as normal, which might be necessary at a time when a lot will be down in Magic Kingdom. Park leadership may want to push off the project as long as possible given that.
As suggested above, there’s a lot of backstage prep and site work that could be undertaken to establish the laydown yards and new retention ponds. All of this could take months, meaning a long runway before the Rivers of America is drained or Tom Sawyer Island is demolished.
Disney could even install a cofferdam to preserve access to Tom Sawyer Island and the view of the Rivers of America for the entirety of 2025. They’ve done this with cofferdams before–and it could prolong the amount of time fans have to say goodbye to these areas while also reducing visual blight until it’s absolutely necessary. (See photo above of the last time a coffer dam was used during a refurbishment a few years ago.)
In such a scenario, the Liberty Square Riverboat would be first to close, and that would probably happen by Fall 2025. At the very least, Walt Disney World will want to get moving on the back half of the Rivers of America while Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed for refurbishment until 2026. But it could mean that the front half of the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and the pretty vista is preserved through the holiday season and into early 2026. I wouldn’t bet on that, but I wouldn’t bet against it, either.
On a different note, this sends yet another signal that Walt Disney World is not pumping the brakes on the Cars Land project. There has been a lot of speculation, wishful thinking, and “rumors” (heavy air quotes) that this project is being reconsidered due to fan backlash.
I have yet to hear anything credible to corroborate this. Everything I have heard suggests the exact opposite. The final plans might differ slightly from the concept art at the top of the post, but this project is happening. I’m not trying to be a debbie downer or whatever to fans still holding out hope that their campaigns to save the Rivers of America will prove fruitful. Just a realist.
The only time I’ve had any pessimism about this project moving forward came when Bob Iger Warned of Tariffs’ Impact on Disney’s $60 Billion Expansion Plans. But as I noted there, it was (and is!) a “be careful what you wish for” scenario. The much more likely outcome is that Disney would proceed with its planned investments, but cut corners due to rising costs or stretch the projects into even more fiscal years. Meaning that the most likely outcome in such a scenario is the worst of all and a repeat of something we just endured at Walt Disney World’s second gate–the creation of a Giant Magic Kingdom Dirt Pit for the next ~5 years.
I’ll wrap this all up by once again reiterating that removing the Rivers of America is a mistake. This is despite the reality that very few guests go to Tom Sawyer Island or ride the Liberty Square Riverboat. Old school attractions are not the irreplaceable value being lost here. It’s not about the admittedly low hourly capacity being lost–it’s the serenity, charming, and distinct sense of atmosphere.
This is something we covered previously in Truly Terrible Decisions Made by Walt Disney World and at length in the commentary to our original post about Cars Land Replacing Rivers of America. If you’re struggling to understand why fans are upset about this, consider reading one of those. I’m not going to fixate or belabor the point here since it’s already been made repeatedly, but this waterway is part of the heart of Magic Kingdom and not just for the guests who actively utilize these attractions.
I will miss this peaceful promenade and still think it’s a mistake that Disney isn’t retaining the waterfront while redeveloping the back half of Tom Sawyer Island and the area that’s actually beyond Big Thunder. But with the green light to proceed with the project and it being clear that Disney intends to do so as planned, I’m nevertheless hoping for the best with Cars Land. It’s going to be a tough needle to thread, but Imagineering can create a National Parks-inspired Cars area with mountains, water, and more that fit in Frontierland. Here’s hoping they can pull it off.
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Your Thoughts
Thoughts on yet another Imagineering trailer park being built at Walt Disney World? Happy that WDI already has its largest-ever presence in Florida and what that means for future project decisions? Disappointed that the Cars Land is still replacing Rivers of America? Given that this is going to happen regardless at this point, do you hope it’s full steam ahead so we don’t have to endure a repeat of the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit fiasco? Excited or underwhelmed by the plan to replace Rivers of America with Cars land? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!