When Is Tom Sawyer's Island Permanently Closing in Magic Kingdom?

Disney World as a whole has a lot of construction coming in 2025, but we anticipate Magic Kingdom specifically will have a lot of construction walls soon.

We know that a new Villains Land is coming to the currently unused area behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and we’re also getting a new Pirates Tavern in Adventureland, which is set to open in 2025. But there’s ANOTHER entirely new area, a Car-themed land, and Disney announced that construction will begin in 2025. Here’s the thing: Disney will need to close some BIG areas to make way for this new land. Let’s talk about when those closures could take place.

Before we really get into it, let’s go over what we know about this new Cars-themed land. For one, it’s currently unnamed, so we’ve been referring to it as the “Cars-themed land” since its debut announcement. This new land will sit where Tom Sawyer Island (and potentially the Liberty Square Riverboat) is currently located, meaning that Tom Sawyer Island will close permanently in 2025 to make way for the land.

So far, we know that this Cars-themed land will include two new attractions. One will be a “thrilling rally race through the mountains. Take on wild terrain as you race across the landscape, climbing mountain trails, dodging geysers, and — Mater’s favorite — splashing through mudholes.” The other will be a family attraction so that smaller racers can also enjoy it.

Coming Coming to Frontierland at Magic Kingdom, a new area themed to Pixar Animation Studios’ “Cars” will leave Radiator Springs and head to the wilderness with two new attractions including an off-road race.

The new Cars-themed land will be totally different from its West Coast counterpart. From the concept art, it also looks as if there will be a walking path connecting Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to the Cars Land to the Haunted Mansion.

Coming to Frontierland at Magic Kingdom, a new area themed to Pixar Animation Studios’ “Cars” will leave Radiator Springs and head to the wilderness with two new attractions including an off-road race.

Beyond that, we know that construction on this new land will begin in early 2025, but that’s all Disney has shared so far. So, what does that mean for Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat? Well, to get a better idea, let’s take a look at another construction project coming to Animal Kingdom. Tropical Americas is taking the place of DinoLand U.S.A. Disney announced that some sections of DinoLand U.S.A. will close permanently on January 13th, 2025 to begin the land’s transformation.

With this in mind, we’re speculating (key word being speculating; Disney has not confirmed anything) that Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat could close for good sometime within the first few months of 2025, which would mean that Disney would still hit its current construction “timeline” beginning in early 2025.

We know that work has already started on Villains Land, and we’ve seen large curtains around Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to keep people from seeing the construction. Big Thunder Mountain is also closing on January 6th, 2025 for over a YEAR to undergo refurbishment.