To make way for a new Cars themed area in Magic Kingdom, the iconic Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island will be closing this summer. That includes the Liberty Square Riverboat, which coasts along the river. While the Cars area is still years away, (most of) the river will need to be filled in for construction to begin. In this post, we’ll share the brief details of the closure before turning to our commentary.

The Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat will close beginning July 7. The Walt Disney World Railroad will also undergo an operational change, running between Main Street Station and Fantasyland instead of doing the full loop around the park. This is all to make way Piston Peak National Park, a new Cars themed land coming to Magic Kingdom. Villains Land construction will also be in the works, meaning the train changes will last for years to come.

I’ll start with the bit of good news here before climbing atop my soapbox. Keeping the Walt Disney World Railroad operational for what will turn into an extended construction project is a win. Obviously, it’s unfortunate that the train won’t do the full circle but that’s not feasible with all of the work about to take place. Instead of just closing down the train, like they did for Tron construction, the train will keep running.

With Tom Sawyer Island and the Riverboat leaving the park, keeping a slow-paced ride around is important. There won’t be as many places to relax inside of Magic Kingdom now and it would have been even less if the train closed down. When all of this news was announced at D23 Expo last summer, I expected a railroad closure as a cost-cutting measure. Disney World deserves some praise for avoiding that and keeping an important part of the park operational.

Moving to the meatier news, my opinion hasn’t changed about closing Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. I’m optimistic about the Cars project and think the concept art looks interesting. But taking away an integral part of Magic Kingdom is a frustrating choice that I don’t agree with. Offering a closing date that is basically a month after the announcement is ripping off the band-aid and taking the scab with it.

I didn’t expect the closing date of the river to be so soon. Of course, you can be of two minds about this. It is good news that Disney seems to be moving quickly on construction, something we always ask for. This should lead to not only the Cars area opening sooner but also Villains Land. Both are still years away, as they are massive undertakings. But getting a quick start on the work is good news when looking at those projects singularly.

My objection to the closing date is that Disney only gave a month’s notice for a place that is beloved. MuppetVision received 5 months notice for fans to make one more visit. Dinosaur was practically given a full year! For those that want to visit Tom Sawyer Island or ride the Riverboat one last time, it’s now or never.

Some of this is sour grapes, as I’ll be in Disney World 5 days after the closure and assumed I’d get to experience both one last time. I imagine others are in the same (no pun intended) boat, coming down for the debut of Disney Starlight. This is a minor issue, as people likely won’t remember the lack of closing date notice in a few years. But I have appreciated the prolonged notice of other announcements prior to this one.

Perhaps my frustration with the closing date comes from hoping that this project would be canceled at the last second. I do think the Piston Peak National Park art looks fun and has a chance to be beautiful (more on that in an upcoming post). Pretending that these new Cars attractions won’t be as popular as what they’re replacing is a fool’s game, as well. But it’s taking the ‘park’ aspect out of this theme park. That’s ironic, now that we know the new area is leaning so heavily into being inspired by national parks.

Tom Sawyer Island is unique at Magic Kingdom because it’s exploratory. The area feels like a park, where guests can run around and view things at their own pace. Liberty Square Riverboat added to that feeling and offered a leisurely ride to the area, something that Magic Kingdom is a little low on. On top of that, this is one of very few areas in the castle park that is lovely to just hang around in. I can’t count the number of times I’ve spent walking along the bridges and docks in Frontierland.

Maybe that will still exist when the new area comes to be. Magic Kingdom is already a little too concrete centric, so here’s hoping they put an emphasis on water. I don’t know if a new land could capture the aesthetic and magic that Rivers of America has now. That ends up being my biggest problem with this change.

Spending a late night or a sunset along the river, with the riverboat in the foreground and the castle peeking out over the top of buildings is glorious. Walking across a barrel bridge or exploring caves has a charm that is hard to replicate. I’ll miss that in Magic Kingdom, regardless of how great new attractions will be.

What do you think of the Rivers of America closing date? 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!