NEWS: CHANGES Revealed for the Walt Disney World Railroad

It’s no secret that a lot is changing at Magic Kingdom.

Tom Sawyer Island, the Liberty Square Riverboat, and the Rivers of America are officially closing on July 7th (with July 6th being the last day to experience them) to make way for a new Cars area in Frontierland. While Disney builds two new rides there and works on the Villains Land expansion nearby, another existing ride is changing during construction. It’s the Walt Disney World Railroad!

Don’t worry, you’re not having deja vu. The Walt Disney World Railroad closed entirely when Disney built TRON Lightcycle / Run in Tomorrowland, and due to delays, it didn’t reopen for YEARS. So with the Magic Kingdom expansion news, fans were worried, but you don’t need to be!

Disney has revealed that the Walt Disney World Railroad will remain OPEN even during construction. The catch? Only part of the track will be running starting July 7th, 2025.

Let’s take a look at the map, shall we? As you can see, the Frontierland station is between Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The problem is that the track goes around the backside of what will be a construction zone.

Here’s a closer look at where the new Cars area will be. Now, Disney shares plenty of construction updates, but they don’t want visitors passing through it all day, every day. That would ruin the magic! You may be wondering, how will it stay open?

The Railroad will go into “shuttle mode,” running between the Main Street station and the Fantasyland station. While it’s not the full attraction, it can save you quite a few steps if you’re trying to get to the front of the park from the Fantasyland area. This change will begin, and the Frontierland station will be closed as of July 7th.

Another interesting tidbit is that Disney is turning some of the benches around. That means you have the option to sit forward or backward, no matter which direction you are going. Pretty neat if you ask us!

We’re expecting this will be the case until construction is complete on this Cars area and the new Villains land (since it is also set to be near the Railroad tracks), but this has not been confirmed by Disney. We’ll be on the lookout for the latest updates!

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