Piston Peak is coming to Magic Kingdom!
This Cars-themed area will be replacing Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America, as Frontierland welcomes this new area with two new attractions. We’ve been poring over all the details along with the new map that Disney released. Here are five announcements Disney has made for Piston Peak and the new area.
First up, there will be TONS of trees and waterfalls! What does that mean? Shade! New areas in theme parks often come without shade because the trees in the areas haven’t grown enough to beat the heat.
Lucky for us, Tom Sawyer Island is already filled with trees that Disney can use for Piston Peak.
While it may not be the Rivers of America, there will be a river and lots of water elements. We were told Disney Imagineers lost count of the number of water features being added. From geysers to waterfalls and more, Disney is bringing in water to make the space feel open and hopefully help mitigate the heat.
Next, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will undergo some subtle updates to blend in with the area. Big Thunder will be closed all year, and we’ve seen them changing out the track, but we didn’t know they were working on making it a little bit more Cars-like!
Don’t worry, Super Fans, they’re not changing too much. Disney is working on adding rainbow geyser pools around the base of the mountain and possibly some tire tracks in the dirt. These small elements add up to create a more unified whole space.
Disney also announced that Piston Peak is based on Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, which is filled with red rocks, mountains, rivers, and a variety of different landscapes.
They’re also bringing in elements from other areas around Disney Parks. They’ve mentioned Disney’s Wilderness Lodge at Disney World and Grizzly Peak in Disney California Adventure as sources of inspiration.
The fourth part we’ve learned is that the queue for the family-friendly ride will be in the Ranger Lodge, and the queue for the rally race will be through the Visitors’ Lodge. We love a queue that loads inside, especially when Florida weather is, well, Florida weather.
The last detail Disney has talked about is the “car-ified” elements. Piston Peak is home to different cars, just like Radiator Springs, so the town needs to be built for cars. There will be lower windows for cars to look out of, as well as entrances and buildings that are large enough to accommodate cars.
We’re particularly excited about this because that also sounds like an incredibly accessible space, which is a big deal since Tom Sawyer Island is not. They also mentioned that the architecture through Piston Peak will be “found materials” like old wagon wheels. The cars must be pretty resourceful!
We’re pretty excited for Piston Peak to come to Magic Kingdom, even if we’re sad to lose Tom Sawyer Island, the Rivers of America, and the Liberty Square Riverboat. We’ll be on the hunt for more details as Disney releases them, so make sure you’re following AllEars for more!
EVERY HIDDEN DETAIL WE NOTICED IN DISNEY’S NEW ‘CARS’ AREA MAP
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If trees are listed as a selling point, Disney might be in trouble. They’re really going to need to make this good to compete with Epic Universe, which is amazing!