The Frontierland boardwalk at Magic Kingdom is gone. Looking out from the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue, guests can now see only a few weathered wooden pillars poking out of a dirt embankment where the waterfront walkway used to run, as crews have cleared it almost entirely for Piston Peak National Park.
Only one short stretch is left standing. It sits near the spot where the Westward Ho snack kiosk used to be, with its decking still in place, a rope-net railing, red caution tape and a tall lighting tower rising behind it.
For a wider look at the project, here is bioreconstruct’s Piston Peak and Villains Land construction video, posted September 20, a few weeks before the latest demolition photos.
What You Can See From Big Thunder
If you are waiting in line for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, you have a front-row view of the work. Brown construction walls now separate the site from the rest of Frontierland, where the buildings are dressed in fall garland, and the old riverfront behind them has turned into a muddy work zone.
The big concrete walls in the foreground are retaining walls for the riverfront side of Piston Peak. BlogMickey first spotted rebar and concrete forms for the new stream in early February, a thick concrete wall stood in front of Big Thunder by April, and by June the wall was close to finished, curving along the edge where the boardwalk used to sit. Some sections still have exposed rebar, so more pours look likely.
An excavator, a wheel loader and a skid steer are moving dirt around the site, and pumps and hoses are draining standing water from the low spots.
The Boardwalk Is Coming Back
This is not the end of a waterfront walk in Frontierland. Disney plans a new boardwalk for Piston Peak, and it will run beside a winding stream that takes the place of the old Rivers of America in this corner of the land. Disney has described the land’s water as a calming waterway across from Grizzly Hall with rugged mountains along its banks.
Once Piston Peak opens, guests will be able to stroll along the water in Frontierland again. Disney has not yet said when that will be.
How We Got Here
Piston Peak National Park is the Cars-themed expansion being built on part of the former Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America, which closed in July 2025. The boardwalk started closing in stages this summer. The first section shut in early June, and the rest of the boardwalk closed to guests as construction spread through the area.
The snack and merchandise spots along the water went with it. Big Al’s closed on May 11, and Westward Ho followed on June 22 before disappearing behind construction walls in July.
For now, the pillars and that last little stub of decking are all that remain of the old walkway.
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