Something STRANGE Is Happening in Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland

A LOT is happening in Magic Kingdom right now. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be closed for a lengthy refurbishment, and we’ve seen LOTS of construction happening in that area.

Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America is going away to become a new Cars expansion in Frontierland, while a Villains land is also coming to the park. In Tomorrowland, Astro Orbiter is getting a bit of a facelift, but now, as a result, things are looking VERY different in that land.

So we visit Magic Kingdom nearly every day, and the last time we visited Astro Orbiter was still there and there were construction walls up around it while it’s under refurbishment. There was also a crane behind the walls.

Well, now, the construction walls and crane are gone, but much of the ride is MISSING. Yep, Disney has been dismantling parts of the ride and taking those pieces away. What’s going on? Well, we spoke to a Cast Member who explained that this is something Disney does about every 10 years. They take Astro Orbiter apart and take those pieces to a different site, where they are refurbished. The walls are gone because the crane is no longer needed.

We also noticed the trees in the planters in the Tomorrowland plaza have been removed and fully lined with flowers. We’re not sure if this is a permanent change or not.

The Astro Orbiter is set to reopen this summer, so we can imagine that once the pieces of the ride are refurbished, they’ll be put back together in Tomorrowland, meaning we might see the construction walls go back up at some point.

We’ll be keeping an eye out for more updates, so check back with AllEars again soon for more.