The Frontierland boardwalk, the walkway that wraps the land along the former Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom, is now closed to guests, the most visible change yet from Piston Peak construction, according to photos published September 3. The walkway, which runs from Liberty Square to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, stayed open through the early phases of work and has now been fenced off.
The closure follows the boardwalk’s removal from the Magic Kingdom map earlier this summer, which signaled the physical closure was coming. Guests who used the path as a shortcut between Liberty Square and the far end of Frontierland now route through the main Frontierland walkway instead.
Ichabod’s Landing Is Gone
The other change in the photo set is a demolition. Ichabod’s Landing, the small gift shop next to the entrance of The Haunted Mansion, has been torn down. The shop had been closed since the 1990s and sat unused for decades before the Piston Peak footprint reached it. Its removal clears space near the Liberty Square end of the project.
From Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, guests can now see clearly across to the Piston Peak site, including the fenced-off boardwalk from the opposite side. A large wall on the site has shown little visible progress since May. That wall is likely a retaining structure for the main Cars attraction, separating it from the water feature shown in concept art and from the rest of Frontierland, though Disney has not described its purpose.
What Is Being Built
Disney named both Piston Peak attractions at D23 in August. Cars Ridge Run Rally is the headline ride, a rally race through the scenery of America’s national parks that climbs Piston Peak itself to a snow-covered summit. Miss Fritter’s Daredevil Spin-Along is the smaller flat ride, a demolition derby themed to the school bus from Cars 3.
The land replaces the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat, all of which closed in July 2025. Since then the site has seen the river drained, the Mike Fink Keel Boat landing demolished, a retaining wall run from Big Thunder toward the mansion and a new extension built against the back of the Haunted Mansion queue building. The boardwalk closure and the Ichabod’s Landing demolition are the first changes in months to alter where guests can actually walk.
No Opening Date Yet
Disney has not announced when Piston Peak opens. Michael Hundgen, vice president of creative for Walt Disney World, and Imagineer Jason Grandt presented the two attractions during a D23 parks panel, and Disney’s own description of the land leans on how it sits against its neighbors, with trees as a natural barrier between the rally course and the rest of Frontierland and Liberty Square, and rugged peaks set along a waterway across from Grizzly Hall. The scale model on the show floor showed the land in place beside Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Country Bear Musical Jamboree. Whether the boardwalk returns in some form when the land opens has not been addressed.
The closure comes just ahead of a busy stretch for the west side of the park. The Walt Disney World Railroad closes September 28 for a refurbishment expected to run through the end of October, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure closes November 2 for its first full refurbishment since it opened in 2024, with Disney targeting a December return, which will thin out foot traffic at the boardwalk’s far end anyway.
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