Walt Disney World has revealed a new map of the Cars miniland coming to Magic Kingdom, which offers a better idea of how the area will fit Frontierland, Liberty Square, and existing attractions. This covers a breakdown of the new concept art, while also sharing background about how Imagineers are carefully considering sightlines to preserve the atmosphere of the park.
As with our post covering the Inspiration for Cars Land in Magic Kingdom, these newly-revealed details are via a presentation we attended led by key Imagineers working on the Walt Disney World project, which is slated to kick into high gear soon. During this, they shared how they’re taking sightlines and sound into account when creating the new Piston Peak National Park area of Frontierland.
In addition to explaining this, Imagineers shared video of the Cars miniland model and a fly-through around the perimeter of the land so that we could see for ourselves how the new area would mesh with the existing Magic Kingdom. All together, this painted a picture of how the Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America replacement will take shape, bringing the land into sharper focus than previously-released details at D23 and concept art released shortly thereafter.
Before we get off to the races, let’s quickly bring you up to speed on these Magic Kingdom additions. According to Disney, these Cars attractions will be set outside of Radiator Springs, as the franchise heads west into exciting new frontiers. On this adventure, guests will be able to experience not one but two exciting new Cars-themed attractions.
The marquee attraction is not a clone of Radiator Springs from Disney California Adventure. It’s a new story and setting that goes beyond what was established in the Cars film franchise. Same goes for the secondary ride–it’s not Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree or Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters, but it is expected to be a small flat ride (so similar idea).
One of the two all-new Cars attractions will invite you on a rally race through the mountains that offers family fun and thrills, excitement and humor. Take on wild terrain as you race across the landscape climbing mountain trails, dodging geysers and — Mater’s favorite — splashing through mud holes.
With that out of the way, here’s a look at the Fun Map of Piston Peak National Park:
I don’t want to rehash what’s covered in the ‘inspiration’ post, so the salient point is that this subsection of Frontierland is called Piston Peak National Park, which is pulled from the existing Cars cinematic universe (specifically, Planes: Fire & Rescue).
The version of Piston Peak National Park in that film was inspired by Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks, per the animators. In all likelihood, they are referring to both the landscape and the architecture, as the movie features a mix of landmarks, lodges, and structures that strike me as Yellowstone meets Yosemite.
By contrast, the natural landscape of the Piston Peak National Park in Magic Kingdom is being inspired by Rocky Mountain National Park. The Imagineering project team working on the Cars area revealed that they’ve visited Rocky Mountain National Park, and it’s a good fit for the centralized location in Frontierland, tying together the land in a cohesive manner.
It probably also helps that this Piston Peak National Park will feature beautiful buttes, rushing rapids, cool canyons, and a variety of other stunning landscapes–that kind of variety can be found at Rocky Mountain National Park.
Finally, you’ll note the character in the corner–that’s Ranger J. Autobahn Woodlore, an original theme park character created for this Cars miniland at Magic Kingdom. Again, we discussed him at length in the ‘design inspiration’ post–he’s going to be an Audio Animatronics figure in the queue.
With all of that out of the way, let’s dig deeper into this ‘Fun Map’ concept art…
I want to start with the waterway that abuts the existing Frontierland waterfront promenade. As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, this boardwalk is one of my favorite places in all of Magic Kingdom, and it would be a travesty to lose it.
In fact, one of my big hangups with this whole Cars project has been losing the waterfront–paving paradise to put up a parking lot. Replacing the tranquil waters and a lush area that offered a lovely escape from the crowds and chaos of Magic Kingdom for almost the exact opposite of that.
In my commentary to the original announcement that the Rivers of America was being removed, I wrote that I would’ve been okay with shortening the Rivers of America–that happening was a foregone conclusion since the ‘Beyond Big Thunder’ project was revealed a few years ago. The big thing for me was preserving the waterfront promenade and the ambiance it added while walking past the main drag of Frontierland, as that still would’ve accomplished the same goals from a guest decompression perspective.
This doesn’t get all the way to my desired compromise, but it’s a massive improvement over the original Cars land concept art (see above), which looked like a trickle of water features and an abundance of trees.
As you can see from the new fun map, there’s a rushing river that runs between Frontierland and Piston Peak National Park, along with a number of water features throughout the land. Notably, there’s also a waterfront promenade on the existing Frontierland side of the map. This is also in the model of Piston Peak National Park.
What’s unclear is whether the current boardwalk will remain or be replaced. Based on what Walt Disney World has shared, the construction walls will not block access to this existing walkway, so it’s entirely possible that the project site is on the other side of that promenade. However, construction walls can–and often do–move over the course of projects. We wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see that boardwalk encompassed by the walls over time, and eventually replaced. So long as it’s replaced by another waterfront walkway, we’ll be happy.
During the presentation, Imagineers mentioned how important water would be to this Cars miniland in Magic Kingdom. They noted that water is an integral part of the Rocky Mountains landscape, and would likewise be highlighted in Piston Peak National Park.
One Imagineer joked that there are so many waterfalls they’d lost track of the total count–but there will be many water features throughout the land, giving a kinetic energy to the area so that it doesn’t feel like paving paradise to put up a parking lot.
Notably, the snow-capped mountain facing Liberty Square will feature a cascading waterfall down its side, as you can see in the Fun Map:
Imagineers drew specific attention to this mountain, and explained how it’s deliberately designed to preserve sightlines from Liberty Square.
To put this into perspective, the structure in the lower left corner of the concept art is what’s currently the Liberty Square Riverboat entrance. This is visible from the bridge that leads into Liberty Square from the Central Plaza by Cinderella Castle. Meaning there was the potential to see Cars zooming around from Main Street or within Liberty Square.
This is the view I’m talking about (which looks a bit different when not seen via an ultra wide lens):
Thankfully, you will not hear or see Cars from Main Street or coming over the Liberty Square Bridge.
The main mountain is being built so that it essentially blocks the Cars Rally Race attraction from Liberty Square and, by extension, everywhere else in the park. The Piston Peak Fun Map can only show one vantage so it doesn’t really convey this, but the fly-through video and model did a much better job. You cannot see the ‘Carified’ Piston Peak from this perspective.
From what we saw, the mountain looks more mound-like from the Liberty Square side. It’s much less imposing and ‘softer’ for lack of a better explanation. Rather than being reminiscent of the sharp peaks of the Rocky Mountains mixed with the cartoonish features of Piston Peak, it called to my mind those of Acadia National Park in Maine (my thought–not theirs). If you’re unfamiliar with that, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a good in-park example. This should be perfectly in keeping with the theme and tone of Liberty Square.
The example the Imagineers gave was actually Mount Prometheus at Tokyo DisneySea, which is a great case study of this in an Imagineered environment.
Mount Prometheus is the icon of Tokyo DisneySea, and this ‘active’ volcano is visible from much of the park. How it looks varies dramatically from the various ports of call, though. It’s menacing from Mysterious Island, whereas it appears much more “mound-like” from the cozy confines of Cape Cod.
Like the rest of Tokyo DisneySea, it’s actually quite remarkable how much the personality of Mount Prometheus changes with the viewing angle to match the mood of the port (photos don’t do the effect justice–it’s almost like a forced perspective remix). That the Imagineers working this project are drawing inspiration from Tokyo DisneySea and Mount Prometheus is, itself, reassuring. That’s the gold standard. We’ll see if what they can achieve is that good, but the aim is definitely accurate!
Speaking of the Liberty Square side, after much attention was given to sightlines, I asked about audible blight and whether similar care and attention is being paid to the potential noise pollution of off-road Cars zooming around a rally race right outside colonial America.
Thankfully, it is. Noise will be mitigated from Liberty Square and elsewhere via a variety of measures. This includes but is not limited to landscape buffers, the artificial audioscape of the attraction, and even little things like the pitch of track.
Imagineering has a full tool kit to help control the sound of the attraction and dampen how noise carries. The large mound on the Liberty Square side should definitely help with this. The Imagineers also shared that there are some portions of the track where the sound will be “celebrated,” but other areas where it’ll be minimized. I assume it’ll be “celebrated” from within Piston Peak National Park and perhaps over by Big Thunder, since that’s a roller coaster.
Speaking of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, that side of the Piston Peak National Park will feature a totally different landscape.
As you can see from the Fun Map, this is going to feature a newly-expanded geyser area that’s going to tie into Big Thunder Mountain. There will be new rainbow pools, and new guest pathways throughout this area so guests can get up close to the geysers–maybe enough to spot subtle tire treads in some of them.
Then there’s the big geyser called “Old Tankful,” which is obviously inspired by Old Faithful, the iconic cone geyser in Yellowstone National Park. Old Tankful will be erupting periodically throughout the day, and guests will get to race around it.
In the center of the Piston Peak Fun Map is Ranger Headquarters building that will be the queue for the family fun attraction. If you squint, this looks a bit like Fort Langhorn, leading us to wonder whether Imagineering will preserve anything from the old structure or have this be a nod to Tom Sawyer Island.
This is what we’re assuming is a flat ride (given space constraints). The attraction itself is not pictured on the Fun Map (it’s presumably roughly where there’s a circular fence) and it was also blocked out in the model and fly-through we saw. Interesting that they’re being so secretive about that–perhaps they haven’t settled on a ride system yet? (I don’t view this as cause for concern–Imagineering did something similar with the carousel in Tropical Americas; it was unclear whether or not that was Coco-inspired until the D23 Expo.)
To the left of that is the Piston Peak National Park Lodge, the A-frame structure that draws inspiration from Old Faithful Inn and other U.S. National Park Lodges, and houses the queue for the Cars Rally Race attraction. That should be the largest and most iconic structure in the Cars miniland.
The Piston Peak Fun Map should convey just how lush and dense Piston Peak National Park is going to be with trees, from the gigantic stump by the Ranger’s Station to the real ones lining the walkways. After the colossally squandered potential of World Celebration, our sincere hope is that Piston Peak National Park puts the ‘park’ back in ‘theme park.’
Hopefully with mature trees and not ones that won’t provide shade for a couple decades. On the plus side, there’s no shortage of mature trees around Tom Sawyer Island and the backside of the Rivers of America; I don’t purport to be a tree expert, but I’d assume some of those could be transplanted to Piston Peak National Park. That’s probably more efficient and cost-effective than buying new trees, and those are already grown.
The fly-through video and model further reinforced just how lush and landscaped Piston Peak National Park will be. It’s obviously not the same unspoiled natural beauty of the Rivers of America, but the mix of Imagineered environments, water, and foliage could be a winning combination. Of course, it’s still early and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves–the concept art vs. reality of World Celebration taught us that lesson. The jury is still out on all of this until we can step foot in it.
One thing about which I have zero doubts when it comes to Piston Peak National Park is the mountains.
In the last decade-plus, Imagineering has demonstrated it’s at the top of its game with rockwork. Cars Land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Pandora – World of Avatar, New Fantasyland, and Fantasy Springs all come to mind as exemplars. No matter what you think of these lands as a whole, the “natural” environments are undeniably awesome. Even Moana’s Journey of Water is surprisingly strong in this regard, and punches well above its weight when it comes to rockwork.
Most of this is attributable to Imagineer Zsolt Hormay. That’s a name more Disney fans should know–he should be a future Disney Legend. He does not miss, and if he’s helming the rockwork team behind the Cars land at Magic Kingdom, it’ll look great. It’ll obviously be different from the Cadillac Mountain Range at DCA, but it still should look fantastic. I look forward to sitting in my rocking chair near Country Bear Musical Jamboree and gazing out across the snow-capped peaks. If there’s anyone who can pull off the Mount Prometheus effect described above, it’s Zsolt Hormay. The Imagineering team for Cars already sounds strong, so here’s hoping he makes the lineup.
Seeing the new Fun Map, as well as videos of the Piston Peak National Park model and fly-through rendering and hearing from the Imagineers leading the project has me feeling better about a Cars being added to Frontierland at Magic Kingdom.
I cannot underscore enough that this is not the same as endorsing the Rivers of America removal, because it definitely isn’t. This is more about accepting the reality that this project is moving full steam ahead, and given that actuality, wanting the best possible outcome. As I wrote elsewhere, it’s a matter of being reassured by this reveal, and that the Imagineers at the helm get it, understanding the stakes and having the talent, expertise, and love of Walt Disney World necessary to make lemonade out of lemons (again).
In light of all that, I would describe my mood about Piston Peak National Park as “cautiously pessimistic.” The Imagineers delivering this presentation did a great job, checking the right boxes for me and showing that they have the deft touch to deliver. What we’ve heard so far is pretty close to my best case scenario with this project, so that alone is heartening for me.
With that said, this isn’t my first rodeo with Walt Disney World. A Fun Map isn’t the same as detailed concept art or a finished product. A model shown to media isn’t the same as one revealed to the general public. This could go shockingly, spectacularly well—and there’s reason for newfound optimism.
At the same time, the wounds from the EPCOT overhaul and the office park that is World Celebration are still fresh. Not only that, but this is going to be a lengthy project, and if there are budget cuts due to a recession or whatever future unforeseeable circumstances, water features and ‘unnecessary’ placemaking elements are often the first things to be cut. Hence the cautious pessimism.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Piston Peak Fun Map for the Cars miniland in Magic Kingdom? Pleasantly surprised by all of the water features and preservation of the peaceful promenade along the waterfront in Frontierland? Thoughts on the consideration Imagineers are giving to the sightlines and noise pollution? Cautiously optimistic that Imagineers can make lemonade out of lemons? Otherwise, what’s your reaction to Cars rides coming to Magic Kingdom? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? 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!