Disney World is changing y’all!

At D23, we got so many new announcements of what is to come to Disney World. In Animal Kingdom, we are getting four new attractions. There will be three in Pueblo Esperanza, the Tropical Americas-themed land that is replacing DinoLand U.S.A., as well as the new Zootopia: Better Zoogether! show coming to the Tree of Life. In Hollywood Studios, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy is about to close to make way for a brand new Disney Villains stage show and, eventually, a Monsters-Inc.-themed land that will feature the highly rumored door coaster will open. Although the EPCOT Transformation is complete Test Track 3.0 will open next year along with a new Spaceship Earth lounge. And, of course, massive changes are coming to Magic Kingdom as well.
It was announced what finally is “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain.” Fans have been asking for it for years, and Magic Kingdom will finally be home to a brand new Disney Villains land. Also revealed at D23 was a new Cars expansion. This new area in Frontierland will take over the current location of the Rivers of America along with Tom Sawyer Island and will have two new Cars-themed attractions.

These two projects will significantly change Frontierland, which has already started changing with the re-theme of Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and the closing of the Frontierland Shootin Arcade to make way for a Disney Vacation Club lounge.

The addition of the Cars expansion will drive more traffic through Frontierland and Liberty Square. Disney has previous experience preparing for this. In 2018, Project Stardust started in Disneyland to prepare for the opening of Galaxy’s Edge and widened paths around the park.

We were studying the concept art of the new Cars area and noticed something that would be a total game changer. On the right side of the concept art, we saw a path that would connect Big Thunder Mountain, the new Cars area, and Liberty Square (near the Haunted Mansion).

Right now, it can be a pain to get to Big Thunder from the Haunted Mansion as you have to walk all the way through Frontierland. Now, this shortcut could save you a ton of time, especially during Rope Drop.

Concept art and the final product is known to change, but this would be a great shortcut and will help with traffic flow.

While we will miss the original Frontierland, including the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island, we are looking forward to this potential shortcut. As always, keep following along with AllEars for all the latest Disney news!
“This Is What I Was Afraid Of” — Disney Adults React to ‘Cars’ Expansion News for Magic Kingdom
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