Earlier this year at the D23 Fan Expo, a plethora of new attractions and lands were announced for the Disney parks. One unexpected announcement was the expansion of Frontier Land to include a new Cars-themed area. During the initial announcement, fans thought this would be included in the “Beyond Thunder Mountain” expansion of Magic Kingdom. However, once the new Villians Land was announced, many speculated where the Cars expansion would fit.
Concept art quickly gave fans the answer. The expansion would take over the land and water where the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island currently sit. It is described as Phase One of the “Beyond Big Thunder” expansion. The Rivers of America is home to the 17-minute voyage of the Liberty Belle riverboat. Tom Sawyer Island, based on the stories of Mark Twain, is an adventurous playground where guests can roam through mills, caves, and across suspension bridges.
Some Disney fans were upset that these historic attractions, which opened in 1973, would be closing. However, there are a few key reasons why it makes sense for this expansion of Frontierland to take over this space.
1. Distribution of Crowds
Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Belle Riverboat are not the most popular attractions within Magic Kingdom. While some see these attractions as iconic or historic, they simply do not attract high crowd levels. Especially considering Tom Sawyer Island is only accessible via log raft.
In a park as popular as Magic Kingdom, the distribution of crowds is important. While a large portion of the land will be home to two attractions, much of the area will include more walking paths, seating, and queues. The Cars theming and attractions will attract more guests to this area of the park. An area that currently remains mostly empty a lot of the time. In turn, this will decrease crowd levels throughout other areas of the park, and decrease wait times for other popular attractions.
2. Laying the Groundwork for Larger Expansion
The area “Beyond Big Thunder” will be home to an all-new land of Villains. This is set to be one of Walt Disney World’s most anticipated and ambitious new lands. It will be the first new land since the New Fantasy Land expansion was completed in 2014. This will be hugely popular and attract guests to the park.
Currently, there is only one small pathway near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad where Villains Land may connect to the current Magic Kingdom layout. The reconfiguration and expansion of Frontierland will allow for Imagineers to lay the groundwork for what will eventually be guests’ pathways to Villians Land.
Removing the Rivers of America allows for a second entrance into Frontierland through Liberty Square, possibly near Haunted Mansion. This will decrease the possibility of crowd clusters and traffic jams when guests travel to these new park areas.
3. Tom Sawyer Island is Outdated
Die-hard Disney fans will hate to hear this, but Tom Sawyer Island is simply outdated. Much like the former attraction Splash Mountain, the story behind Tom Sawyer Island doesn’t resonate as much with children today. While adults are an important demographic for Walt Disney World, the focus has always been appealing to families. This means that as generations change, so must the attractions that do not hit the way they did decades ago. Fans of the nostalgic area to roam can check out Swiss Family Treehouse over in Adventureland!
Walt Disney himself said that Disneyland would always be changing, and the parks have maintained this principle. The new Frontierland expansion with Cars will encompass the spirit of adventure and exploration of the wilderness in a new way that appeals to families and also stays true to what Frontierland stands for. Not to mention, more thrilling attractions are never a bad thing for Magic Kingdom to attract older kids and adults as well.
We are excited about the new Frontierland expansion including the new Cars Road Rally attraction which looks similar to the widely popular Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure. Construction on this new area is set to begin in 2025.
