Construction has gone vertical on the Cars themed attractions for Magic Kingdom, as work starts to creep up above the work walls around the former Rivers of America. The first preparations are being made for the Villains land as well, while a big wall is being built to block it from Big Thunder Mountain.

Let’s dig into all of the work happening around this massive expansion, as well as what permits can tell us about capacity and opening dates, in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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Recent Cars Construction

For several weeks now, visible vertical construction has been underway within the upcoming Cars area of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom.

This work is likely for the edges of a water feature that is shown in official concept art as running from in front of Big Thunder Mountain all the way to the former riverboat dock and load building.

Looking to recent aerial views from Bioreconstruct we can see that these newly created retaining walls and winding foundations also follow the same pattern, starting in front of Big Thunder Mountain and hugging the outskirts of the area until it ends at the former riverboat station.

The poured foundations, which can be seen in progress in the middle (in the photo below), may be for the basins of a future winding stream separating the Cars rides from the rest of Frontierland.

This middle section, which is still in progress, appears to be wider than the two ends of the winding stream structure.

The tallest section of the retaining walls appears to be in front of Big Thunder Mountain, seen at top-right of next photo.

This may be the start of a stream, which may begin as waterfalls down rockwork, like as seen in official concept art.

The taller sections of retaining walls appear to contain support with connections for structural beams of some sort along the back side.

Below is a closer look at the work in progress located directly behind the former riverboat dock and structure.

The concrete base where these retaining walls site upon appear to be very thick.

The bases appear to line up with the land grade behind the retaining walls though, on the Cars rides side, opposite the rest of Frontierland.

The perimeter work walls are expected to expand outward as work continues.

A section of trees and plants on the opposite side of the boardwalk pathway in Frontierland has already been surrounded with work walls, in addition to the walls around the Cars construction.

The land under these trees looks to be receiving work to clear the area ahead of the main work site expanding out.

BlogMickey.com is reporting that the three kiosks within Frontierland will be closed as part of the Cars work zone expansion which include: Big Al’s merchandise kiosk, Westward Ho grab-and-go snack kiosk, and Frontierland churro cart.

Looking to the center of the active construction site, it appears that the middle of the Cars area is being used for the staging of materials and equipment while work is focused along the perimeter for now.

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Villains Land Construction

Behind the future Cars area, land has been cleared and is being prepared for a large Disney Villains themed area.

With Big Thunder Mountain officially opening this week, we have a new elevated view of work happening within the work zone, as seen from its queue.

Piston Peak National Park construction is fully visible from Big Thunder Mountain’s queue at Magic Kingdom! 👀 pic.twitter.com/OKccTvJ95W

— Drew Smith (@DrewDisneyDude) May 3, 2026

We will not be able to see much construction while on the ride itself though, as large walls are being constructed along the edge of the Big Thunder Mountain attraction. These walls will block the view into the active construction site from riders.

To the right of this new tall fence, in the photo below, we can spot a truck spraying water on the dirt in this area. This may help to compact it and prevent dust from being swept up into the air, affecting guests nearby in the theme park.

Drainage and water main related work is happening in the villains land first, with plenty of pipes being staged in multiple spots around the area.

The pipes seen here may be for potable water, in blue, and non-potable or recycled water, in purple.

Work can already be seen happening beneath ground level at the north-west furthest corner of the land.

The former waterway that used to connect the water of the Rivers of America to a service canal has been filled in in this area.

In the photo below we can see where the waterway suddenly stops now, with the active construction site seen on the left.

On the opposite farthest side of the area, on the north-eastern end, we can spot multiple large trees that have been transplanted here, behind Fantasyland. These trees were removed from Tom Sawyer Island prior to demolition. They are likely being saved here temporarily before being planted once again when needed.

The Haunted Mansion has been wrapped up like a mummy, complete covered in multiple types of scrims from head to toe, as exterior work continues.

There has not been any activity in the small cleared section of land behind the Mansion, which many believe could be for an extension to the attraction’s queue, and possibly new restrooms for the park.

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Free-Range Ride Vehicle Patent

A patent application was filed by Disney for a free-range ride vehicle concept that could be for the Cars off road rally race ride.

The application was first filed in 2024, but published publicly in March of this year. It was written by the same two authors who created the last patent we discussed which also could have been developed for the Cars attractions, the articulated arm patent.

This new free-range patent includes a ride track with uneven terrain, but allows vehicles to move along multiple paths, which can be random, chosen by the ride, or even chosen by the riders within the vehicle.

This technology could allow for riders to choose more tame or intense variations of a section of the ride course, or could allow some vehicles to travel on higher ground while others pass through a lower section, as examples.

One of the patent illustrations shows cars choosing to select the left side or the right side at a fork in the road, with each option encountering entirely different obstacles for their vehicles to traverse.

One function of the technology could be to allow for additional ride capacity when slower sections of a ride are included, such as going over bumpy materials. By splitting the course into two paths at the same time, the ride is able to maintain the same continuous throughput through slower paced sections as it does for the faster, open road, sections.

We don’t know for certain that this patent will be for the Cars rally race attraction, but the patent illustrations seem to suggest is may have at least been developed for it, even if it’s not used.

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Latest Permit Details

As we have seen, potable water pipes are on site and ready for installation to serve the new Cars and Villains themed areas.

The work outlined in a permit filed back in February included potable water main connections with extensions to support the theme park expansion project.

This permit was given a start date of March 2026, and work does appear to have started since that date. The permit lists an end date as well: December 2027.

Now, with the permit covering water main extensions for both the Cars area AND the Villains land, they have the rest of this year and all of next year to complete these water pipe installations for both projects, but that doesn’t mean the lands themselves will be open by that date.

But it may mean that the Cars attractions could open any time beginning January 2028, which makes sense if Walt Disney World already has Tropical Americas opening next year in 2027 at Animal Kingdom.

Rumors have both the Cars attractions and Villains land open by 2030 at the latest, with Cars rides expected to open first.

In fact, an earlier permit, related to wastewater, said that construction should be all wrapped up by December 2029.

Permits have also described this overall expansion project as adding the capacity of 10,000 more guests to the Magic Kingdom overall when completed.

The number appears in permits as an estimate for how much water consumption will be needed total for the new areas. An earlier permit used an estimate of around 9,300 guests within the area when describing possible utility utilization.

If these estimates are true, that could mean Disney may be able to sell up to 10,000 more tickets a day for their most visited theme park in the world, making this massive expansion project very important for the park.

While the new Cars and Villains areas should technically allow for more bodies to be inside of the park, we would expect to see other infrastructure changes to help accommodate the new people as well.

This could include new restrooms, like ones rumored to be built behind The Haunted Mansion, and additional transportation capacity, like the fourth ferry boat officially announced to be added to the Transportation and Ticket Center next year.

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Updates Around the Park

Of course, these massive expansion projects are not the only things happening around the Magic Kingdom.

Cinderella Castle’s new color scheme is nearly completed, as crews worked quickly to remove the 50th anniversary pink.

Big Thunder Mountain reopened this week, with its track replaced, a lower height requirement of 38″, and new thematic moments at multiple points of the ride.

In Tomorrowland, a massive refresh happened at Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, bringing huge improvements to the ride’s blasters, targeting system, a new first scene, and improved screen tunnel.

And while the company still hasn’t revealed any further details or a closing date, Carousel of Progress has been announced to be getting a makeover of its own.

A Walt Disney animatronic figure will be added to the beginning of the show, similar to one that recently debuted at Disneyland. Hopefully we hear more about that announced project soon.

That’s all for now, but be sure to see the video version of this story for additional visuals. See our latest update from Universal Orlando including the first track installed for the drifting coaster at Universal Studios Florida and demolition starting in Lost Continent at Islands of Adventure.

A big thank you to Bioreconstruct for the amazing aerial views. You can follow him on X, Bluesky, and YouTube for more theme park photos and video.

Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Original Photos: Alicia Stella | Permit Images: Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Official Images: Disney | Other Images as Captioned

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