Walt Disney World is in the middle of a period of unprecedented, self-proclaimed “turbocharged” growth. The company is investing $17 billion in major new attractions and property-wide updates over the course of 10 years.
Large construction sites currently populate three of Disney World's four theme parks, and the rides in the works for Magic Kingdom just went vertical. There are also new rides coming to Disneyland in California. Keep reading to see current construction photos from this milestone and all the details about what this means for the future of Magic Kingdom. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including massive new rides opening and Disney World hotel refurbishments coming in 2026 and 2027.
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Disney World's Cars Rides Go Vertical
Piston Peak National Park is the name of a new subsection of Frontierland coming to Magic Kingdom and themed to Pixar's Cars movies.
As the area's name implies, Disney will emulate a national park aesthetic, going for a rugged atmosphere with lots of trees, rocks, a river, and mountainous terrain.
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Piston Peak National Park will comprise a portion of Magic Kingdom previously home to the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. Tom Sawyer Island closed and the Liberty Belle Riverboat was decommissioned from the Rivers of America in July 2025. Since then, nearly all traces of what was there have been completely destroyed. The area is now nearly unrecognizable, especially as Disney just reached a big milestone in the project's construction.
Progress on Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom has officially gone vertical! After nearly a year of demolition and site prep work, the transition to physical construction is a significant step forward.
The vertical portion of the construction site, seen near the middle of the photo above, just looks like a wall for now, but one day, it may be the backbone to a fabricated mountain, rock, tree, or water feature.
Above is another view of the vertical construction from an opposite angle. Here, the vertical portion is near the middle left of the photo.
We're excited to see the structural components of Piston Peak National Park continue to take shape in the months and years ahead. Mickey Visit predicts Piston Peak National Park will open in 2029 at Magic Kingdom.
Piston Peak National Peak's construction site is one component of an even larger parcel of land under development at Magic Kingdom. Right next to the future home of Piston Peak, Disney is building Villains Land, which is likewise in its very early construction phase.
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What's Coming to Piston Peak at Magic Kingdom
Piston Peak National Park will be home to two new rides based on Pixar's Cars franchise. One of the rides will be an “off-road” thrill ride and the other will be family-friendly.
Other than these basic descriptions, Disney hasn't shared many other details about what to expect with the two new “Cars” rides. To be clear, this is not a duplicate of Cars Land from Disney California Adventure. Radiator Springs is not coming to Magic Kingdom.
Disney has, however, shared a look at some concept drawings for some of the ride vehicles for the off-road attraction, as well as general artwork for what to expect from that ride, seen throughout this story.
Huge Construction Projects Ongoing at Disney World
Even despite the massive scale of Magic Kingdom's Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land, there are several other huge attractions under construction elsewhere in Walt Disney World.
Opening in 2027 at Disney's Animal Kingdom is a new land called Tropical Americas, pictured above as of March 2026. This area replaces the former DinoLand, U.S.A., with new rides based on Encanto and Indiana Jones. See more construction photos of Tropical Americas plus our commentary on its progress in our separate coverage.
Monsters, Inc. is coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios with a new land called Monstropolis, complete with a roller coaster themed after the climactic door chase from the movie. The photo above shows the current progress of the Monsters, Inc. roller coaster. You can see more Monstropolis photos, including changes at the former Muppet*Vision 3D theater, in our separate coverage.
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