Crews are adding to the Piston Peak National Park retaining wall every day. The wall runs along the edge of the future Cars area near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom.

Piston Peak National Park Retaining Wall

White forms have been added to the side of the wall closest to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This has created a large gap between the forms and the recently built wall, where workers are actively filling the gap with concrete.

From the ground, only the tallest section of the wall is visible. Since we first noticed this peeking over construction walls, crews have added to the white concrete forms.

In the distance, behind some trees, several large blue pipes were staged for installation, though it appears these have been installed or moved further up the construction site.

Here, the workers can be seen assisting the concrete boom arm as it pumps fresh concrete into the gap. Once this large gap is filled, it will significantly increase the thickness of the retaining wall.

Rather than being a new land, Piston Peak is an extension of Frontierland, replacing Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.

On the other side of the construction site, closer to the Haunted Mansion queue, some green pipes are visible. From our vantage points, the work efforts were more focused on the side of the site closest to Big Thunder.

Meanwhile, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad prepares for its big reopening after having been closed for over a year. The wall that will separate the guest areas from the construction once the attraction reopens appears to be nearly complete.

Magic Kingdom Expansions

The sizable park expansions coming to Magic Kingdom are purported to be the “largest ever” based on various comments since the expansions were first teased in 2022 and 2023. The first official details around the new land themes emerged from the 2024 D23 event, confirming the major additions would be themed to Pixar’s Cars and to classic animated Disney Villains.

Piston Peak, or “Piston Peak National Park” in full, is a Cars-themed area that will feature in the same plot of land formerly occupied by Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America. The “National Park” draws visual inspiration from the Rocky Mountains, frontier-era park architecture, and the broader storytelling tradition of Frontierland rather than simply recreating Radiator Springs, as in the case of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. The project is expected to include two attractions, with Disney previously indicating one will be a more family-oriented ride while the other will be a more thrilling off-road experience.

Villains Land is the next, highly anticipated and much-rumored Magic Kingdom expansion that Disney announced for a new area of land beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Disney has said the area will center on its classic animated villains and will include two major attractions, dining locations, and new park shops. Later creative updates described the project’s design language as drawing from Art Nouveau influences and what Imagineers called “conjured architecture,” with former Disney animator Andreas Deja consulting on the look and feel.

Take a look at the construction from up in the air from our friend @biorecontruct here.

Which of the two upcoming lands are you most excited for? Let us know on social media.

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