Frontierland's boardwalk is gone at Magic Kingdom, with a new one planned along Piston Peak's stream
Crews have all but finished demolishing the Frontierland boardwalk at Magic Kingdom, leaving a few wooden pillars and one short stub near the former Westward Ho kiosk. Disney says a rebuilt boardwalk will follow a winding stream through Piston Peak National Park.
The Frontierland boardwalk at Magic Kingdom has been almost entirely torn out. From the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue, only a few wooden pillars and one short stretch of decking remain, and Disney says a new boardwalk will run along a winding stream in Piston Peak National Park.
Key Details
- Where: Frontierland, Magic Kingdom
- Project: Piston Peak National Park, the Cars-themed expansion
- Best view: The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue
The Buzz
The walkway that lined the Rivers of America waterfront is now gone, and anyone waiting for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad can watch the Piston Peak riverfront take its place.
What is left of the Frontierland boardwalk
Demolition is effectively complete, with only pillars and a single stub of decking still standing.
- Pillars only. A few weathered wooden pillars rise from a dirt embankment where the walkway stood, behind brown construction walls.
- Westward Ho stub. A short section of decking with a rope-net railing and red caution tape remains over the former Westward Ho kiosk site.
- Westward Ho closed. The Westward Ho snack kiosk closed June 22 and went behind construction walls in July, when the churro and popcorn carts relocated.
- Big Al's gone. The Big Al's merchandise kiosk closed May 11 and went behind construction walls the next day.
- First closure. The first section of the boardwalk closed to guests in early June, alongside a new paved walkway.
Retaining walls for Piston Peak's riverfront
Concrete retaining walls now trace the new waterfront, and heavy equipment is still shaping the ground around them.
- Walls since February. Rebar and concrete forms for the stream appeared in early February, and a thick concrete wall stood in front of Big Thunder by April.
- Nearly done by June. Aerial photos in June showed the retaining wall almost complete, following the winding edge of the old boardwalk.
- A busy site. An excavator, a wheel loader and a skid steer move dirt, pumps drain standing water, and some wall sections still show exposed rebar.
- Visible from the queue. At the D23 Expo panel on Piston Peak, Walt Disney Imagineering's Jason Grandt noted that guests can see the site from the Big Thunder queue.
A rebuilt boardwalk will return along Piston Peak's stream
The boardwalk is coming back in a new form as part of the Piston Peak section of Frontierland.
- Rebuilt, not refreshed. Disney says the boardwalk will be rebuilt to run along a winding stream, answering whether it would be replaced or simply refreshed.
- A calming waterway. Disney describes the water along that edge of the land as a "calming waterway."
- On the D23 model. The boardwalk was visible on the Piston Peak model displayed at this summer's D23 Expo.
- Off the map. The boardwalk vanished from Disney's digital map in mid-July while most of it was still open, and Disney said a boardwalk feature would return.
- What Piston Peak replaces. Piston Peak National Park takes over part of Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America.
Our take. Guests curious about Piston Peak should treat the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue as a viewing platform, since it looks straight across the site where the new stream and boardwalk are taking shape.