Credit: DisneyIt’s been a big year of announced changes coming to Magic Kingdom. It started with last year’s D23 Expo and continued through this year’s event with a multitude of changes coming to the Park. With all of the changes coming, by 2030, Magic Kingdom will be unrecognizable to today’s guests.
It started with last year’s D23 Expo. Chairman of Disney Parks Josh D’Amaro announced that Magic Kingdom was getting two new lands: Cars Land and Villains Land. However, it wasn’t until after the fan event that Disney diehards realized that they would be losing a beloved aspect of the park.
Days after last year’s D23 Expo, Disney announced that to make room for the new Cars Land, Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island would permanently close, leaving a gaping hole in the aesthetic of the park.
As a part of the revamped Frontierland, Disney closed the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for nearly all of 2025. The updated ride will include some new flashes and a new storyline and is expected to reopen sometime in early 2026.
Over in Tomorrowland, Disney is completely redesigning Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, with new cars and lasers. However, that is more of a redesign than a complete overhaul. A little further into Tomorrowland, there is a complete overhaul coming.
At this year’s D23 Expo, Disney announced that the Carousel of Progress was getting a complete overhaul with new scenes coming and a Walt Disney animatronic introducing the attraction to guests. With Walt’s fingerprints all over the Carousel of Progress, Disney fans are leery of what’s coming with the beloved attraction.
Disney also gave some minor updates on the upcoming Villains Land, but the big announcement was that Cinderella Castle was getting a paint job. The new coloring will feature grays, creams, blues, and touches of gold, aiming to enhance the castle’s architecture.
While most of the large-scale changes are years away, the changes coming to Magic Kingdom are sweeping and will define the park for decades to come. Some of the scars from these changes are already visible in the park, but soon enough, they’ll be gone to make way for the updates.
So, within the next five years and beyond, Magic Kingdom will be unrecognizable from today. Like Walt Disney said, EPCOT is always “in a state of becoming.” Now, the same can be said for Magic Kingdom as well.
What do you think of the changes coming to Magic Kingdom over the next few years? Let us know in the comments.