What is Going ON With These Two Magic Kingdom Spots?!

We’ve got some pretty big news out of Magic Kingdom, where construction is practically everywhere as the park prepares to welcome two new lands.

Westward Ho

One of those lands is Piston Peak, which is taking the place of where Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat used to be, but it’s looking more and more like other areas of Frontierland will be extinct along with the change. We recently checked the My Disney Experience App and noticed that while two Frontierland spots are still showing hours, their physical buildings on the map are GONE!

Both Westward Ho, a dining location in Frontierland, and Big Al’s, the outdoor merchandise spot that often sells raccoon hats, bubble wands, and more, no longer have physical buildings represented on the My Disney Experience App. When we asked a Big Al’s Cast Member about this change, we were told that there’s no closing date set, but they do know it is happening, as they’ve started moving merchandise out of the spot and into Frontier Trading Co. This Cast Member in particular told us that he’s pretty sad, as even though he’s outside without air conditioning, he really loves getting to work in an outdoor merchandise location.

©My Disney Experience App

Then, we headed over to Westward Ho, and that Cast Member said something similar — while there’s no date set officially, they can feel that the countdown has begun. Recently, they heard that the list of locations for trainers was updated, and Westward Ho was no longer on the list. The Cast Member we spoke to did tell us that she heard a rumor they could be moved to Liberty Square, but there’s no confirmation of that at this time.

©My Disney Experience App

We’ll be sad to see these spots go, that’s for sure, but we hope similar Piston Peak-themed spots will take their place when the land opens. We’d hate to be down a merchandise location AND a dining spot for good. It also has us a little concerned about other spots in the land — we hope they won’t close for good, but it’s possible they may need to close periodically to be rethemed to Piston Peak, or just repainted to fit in more with the new land. However, it’s important to remember that while Piston Peak is being added, it hasn’t been announced that Frontierland is not going away or being replaced, but it will be MUCH smaller than before (and in a bit of a weird shape).

Piston Peak display in Walt Disney Presents

Piston Peak is a new Cars-themed land coming to Magic Kingdom that will include two new attractions — a rally race-themed ride, as well as a family-friendly ride for smaller racers. The area is themed around National Parks, which will hopefully help it blend in with the nearby Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (also under a lengthy refurbishment) and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

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We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest Disney World news ahead of your next trip, so stay tuned to DFB!

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