The 2024 D23 Expo brought many announcements, including the Cars franchise coming to Magic Kingdom. Two new attractions are on the way, finding dirt in Frontierland. Since the initial news broke, Disney has now revealed that these two rides will eliminate Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America. In this post, we’ll share the news before adding our reaction and commentary. First, the news:

One is a quicker-than-quick racecar who eats losers for breakfast, and one is a tow truck with a heart of gold. Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater are racing into Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort!

At Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, with the help of Tow Mater via video call, announced that a new area inspired by the Pixar Animation Studios film “Cars” will be coming to a reimagined section of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom. “The American West has always been about keeping your eyes on the horizon … believing in yourself, carving your own path, and striving toward success. That goes for miners in the mountains, bears from the country, a princess from the bayou … or a racecar from the big city,” Josh told the crowd.

Don’t get too comfortable in Radiator Springs because it’s time to leave the pit stop and head west into exciting new frontiers. On this adventure, guests will be able to experience not one but two exciting new “Cars”-themed attractions.

One attraction will invite you on a thrilling rally race through the mountains. Take on wild terrain as you race across the landscape climbing mountain trails, dodging geysers and — Mater’s favorite — splashing through mudholes. 

But what about smaller racers? The second attraction will be geared towards them and will be fun for the whole family.

Since the initial news, Disney has added:

It’s time to leave Radiator Springs and head west into exciting new locations. To make way for this completely new frontier, the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island will be transformed into vast and rugged terrains for a rally race with some of the world’s most iconic racers. 

“We are thrilled to create this original Cars adventure and put our guests in the driver’s seat as we—quite literally—explore a new frontier in Frontierland,” shared Michael Hundgen, Walt Disney World Portfolio Executive Producer at Walt Disney Imagineering. “Part of pioneering this new story includes tapping into the themes of exploration and adventure that inspire so many of us to keep propelling forward. Anytime we touch Magic Kingdom, we recognize the massive responsibility that exists to get it right and tell stories that connect with our guests.”

The new area will bring you along for the ride (pun intended) with a brand-new thrilling rally race through the mountains, climbing trails, and dodging geysers, in addition to a second attraction geared towards fun for the whole family.

As of February 2025, Disney has received the permits needed for this project to take place. It appears all systems are go. I do expect a lengthy sendoff to Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. Even though the permits have been granted, it could be a while before the in park effects take place.

Update from SXSW

Now at The Future of World-Building at Disney panel at SXSW, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, and Imagineer Michael Hundgen teased that guests will need to strap in because they’re in the process of creating a new type of ride vehicle for this experience.

@disneyparks Real-world engineering meets Disney magic. 🚙✨ Off-road testing is underway for the new Cars attraction coming to Magic Kingdom at Disney World. #SXSW#Cars#Disney#DisneyParks#MagicKingdom#DisneyNews♬ original sound – Disney Parks

“Our primary goal is creating an emotional experience for our guests,” Hundgen told the crowd. “For this Cars attraction, we need to invent a new type of ride vehicle. No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another. We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it.”

The team took a trip out to the Arizona desert to jump in a real off-road vehicle to see what it felt like driving over the rocky terrain. These are all things Lightning McQueen and Mater haven’t experienced before, like racing over rocky terrain, ascending to mountain peaks, and dodging around geysers — how do you take these real-world elements and put a Cars spin on it?

From there, the Imagineers worked with a motocross company to build a real dirt track to race around on and took that data back to begin work on creating how the ride vehicles will eventually move and race.

“We’re using a customized production vehicle,” Hundgen continued. “It has sensors all over it, and we’re taking it for test drives on our dirt track to gather data on how the vehicle responds to different terrain. This is where we turn that feeling we want into real-world engineering,” Michael explained.

But all this talk about cars, what do they look like?

That’s where the Pixar team steps in. For some show and tell to get the crowd revved up, Docter shared some early concept sketches with the audience, teasing that they’re creating “new race car personalities for this attraction. Each vehicle in the ride will have its own name and number, just like a real race.”

Commentary

Unlike some other announcements, there’s so much information to digest here. Before we get to the details and their possible repercussions, I’ll talk about my reaction to the news. I was initially positive about the majority of the D23 announcements but this one did leave me confused. Cars was not a franchise I expected to see coming to Magic Kingdom, much less Frontierland. Perhaps I should have. But having racecars intermingling with a train pulled by ghosts from the 1800’s is a little puzzling. Maybe even jarring.

This is one of those cases where IP being attached to everything is a little frustrating to me. There’s so much story to discover within Big Thunder that jumping from there straight into a Pixar franchise left me with a sour taste in my mouth upon the announcement.

I think my initial reaction carries some water. Magic Kingdom was crafted to care about the timelines each land has. Fantasyland flows to Liberty Square which flows to Frontierland and so on. Despite a few frustrations I have with WDW’s castle park, I’ve always admired the sensical timeline ambition. Cars will have a hard time fitting into that.

Now that we know these new rides will be replacing Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America, I’m only more frustrated. Yes, these attractions will be immensely popular. There is no doubt that more people will ride these than the river boat or the guests visiting Tom Sawyer Island. I believe these attractions will be successful and there’s no reason to think they won’t be great, as I mention below.

But there’s far more at stake with replacing the iconic waterway and island. I won’t go off about the history involved, although that’s certainly a fair critique. Other people can make that argument and we may address it over time. What stands out to me is just how much Magic Kingdom needs Rivers of America. That flowing water through Liberty Square and Frontierland is one of the most beautiful parts of the park! Walking along the docks and bridges is what keeps me in the land after enjoying Big Thunder.

I’m sure that kinetic energy will still come in once the new attractions are built but not in the same way. I just don’t know who is happily making that trade off? Magic Kingdom could use more attractions and, as I said in my initial commentary, I was fine with trading a shorter Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. But this step has gone too far for me. There’s an innocence and natural beauty that came with this section of the park, even if it was crafted. It was truly Frontierland in that it felt freeing. I don’t see how that feeling will be replicated with these new attractions.

On the other side of the (race)track, Big Thunder Mountain’s exquisite rockwork is inspired by Utah’s national parks. Cars shares a similar aesthetic. If you picked Big Thunder up and set it right next to Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure, the colors and mountains would flow right into each other. On paper, going from a Disney classic mountain to a Tow Mater filled Cars mini land might seem like Larry the Cable Guy visiting an art museum. Visually though, it does make sense.

As for the attraction announcements, they seem like cool rides! It’s a surprise that Radiator Springs Racers isn’t just being duplicated. But the outdoorsy idea they’ve come up with looks to have some of the same principles as the beloved California Adventure ride, while fitting into Frontierland better. I’ll be anxious to see what ride system they will use.

The second attraction being a family-friendly ride is great news! Walt Disney World needs more of those rides. My reaction to that bit of news had less to do with Cars and more to do with a certain old and ugly attraction in Tomorrowland. Judging by the description, Tomorrowland Speedway could become redundant soon. If adding this Cars area means that the old gas-smelling speedway will be gone, forget any trepidation I had! Just kidding. Well, only sort of kidding.

My last thought on this news is wondering how much this space will turn into a mini-land. We have the news about the attractions but that’s it. With the success of Cars Land in DCA and the way the movie lends itself to theme parks, I wouldn’t be surprised if this area is built out a little more than just 2 rides. Personally, I don’t think that’s necessary and would like to see them get creative with the story in Frontierland. But, I fully realize that I’m in the minority when it comes to that.

The bigger issue is that these rides are taking something already great away. But the old thing, no matter how beautiful, isn’t as grabby in the Disney company’s eyes. I think the park will suffer because of this. Don’t get me wrong, the attraction roster at Magic Kingdom will be better. That’s exciting. But the aesthetic, energy, space, story and more might become worse because of this move. They’re paving over theme and park story on this one, and I’m disappointed in that.

Are you excited for Cars attractions at Magic Kingdom? Let us know, along with any thoughts you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Disney World, then check out our planning guide. Looking for discount Walt Disney World tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!