When talking about the upcoming “Cars”-themed expansion of Frontierland, Imagineers discussed their approach to ensuring the sightlines and storytelling of the existing Magic Kingdom won’t be disrupted by the new residents and their surroundings.
‘Cars’ Expansion Sightlines
The Rivers of America area is set to become Piston Peak National Park, with the car-inspired architecture and theming expected from the franchise. However, Imagineers assured that guests approaching from Main Street, U.S.A. or walking through Colonial America in Liberty Square won’t be staring at piston-shaped mountain tops.
They compared the techniques being used to hide the Pixar “Cars” world are similar to those on Mount Prometheus at Tokyo DisneySea. From certain angles, the theming will be disguised. For example, the active volcano becomes a rolling, green hillside in the Cape Cod port of the park. For the Magic Kingdom project, the view from Liberty Square will be appropriate rock work and a large waterfall, which can be seen in the “Fun Map” of Piston Peak released by Disney.
In addition to sightlines, Imagineers are actively working on plans to mitigate the sound pollution, particularly from the main attraction, where guests will join an off-road rally race. They assured that guests will hear the attraction where intended, and won’ from places where it would make little sense. To achieve this, they’ll employing techniques such as a certain trail pitch for the ride path, landscape buffers, adjusting audio mixes, and more.
Imagineers also took inspiration from Camp Woodchuck at Tokyo Disneyland, Grizzly Peak Airfield in Disney California Adventure, and the defunct Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland at Disneyland for creating the area’s animated wilderness. It’s directly inspired by the Rocky Mountains, which Imagineers visited on a research trip. Though Rivers of America will be gone, the area will have water features like a river and geysers, which Disney says will add a lush environment they feel is missing from Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom.
Imagineers described the design of the buildings in the new area as “parkitecture meets car-itecture” with log cabins that have wider walkways and lower windows that a car could use. A visitor lodge and a ranger room will be part of the queue for the off-road rally race ride.
Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and Liberty Square Riverboat will close permanently in July to make room for the Frontierland expansion, and the Walt Disney World Railroad will operate in shuttle mode until the project near completion.
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