Credit: Inside The MagicDisney World has revealed that the former Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America will return, in part, in 2027 after the areas become part of the new Piston Peak National Park at Magic Kingdom.
Tom Sawyer Island, Rivers of America Returning in 2027 at Disney World (Kind Of)
Walt Disney Imagineering has pulled back the curtain on Piston Peak National Park, giving fans their clearest look yet at the Cars-themed replacement for the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island at Magic Kingdom. A large scale model displayed at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026 shows that while the former Frontierland landmarks are gone, pieces of their visual identity appear to be returning in new forms.
Disney confirmed in 2024 that the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island would be transformed into rugged terrain for the Cars expansion. The attractions closed permanently in July 2025, clearing the way for construction.
Piston Peak Brings Cars Into a Rebuilt Frontierland
Disney first announced the Cars project at D23 in August 2024, describing two original attractions rather than a copy of Radiator Springs Racers from Disney California Adventure. One will send guests on a rally race through mountainous terrain, while the other is designed as a family experience.
Disney later named the setting Piston Peak National Park and explained that its landscape draws from the American West. Disney’s official Piston Peak overview also showed a waterway, waterfalls, geysers, forests and substantial rockwork intended to connect visually with the surrounding Frontierland.
The new D23 model makes that transition more tangible. It also gives longtime Magic Kingdom visitors a detailed look at how pieces of the old river-and-island environment may echo through the replacement.
Four Tom Sawyer Island Homages Stand Out
Four elements in the model closely recall structures or experiences associated with Tom Sawyer Island and the former Rivers of America area.
The clearest is a barrel bridge. Tom Sawyer Island’s floating barrel bridge was one of its signature interactive features, moving beneath guests as they crossed. Disney had already placed a barrel-style bridge in earlier Piston Peak artwork, and Inside the Magic previously highlighted its planned survival, so its appearance in the physical model indicates that the idea remains part of the design.
A second structure appears to draw from Fort Langhorn, the rustic fort that once occupied part of Tom Sawyer Island. Its frontier architecture fits naturally into Piston Peak’s national-park vocabulary, allowing Imagineering to reference the island without rebuilding the fort as the same attraction.
The model also contains a structure strongly reminiscent of Harper’s Mill. The former Tom Sawyer Island mill featured a prominent water wheel; in Piston Peak, the comparable visual element has been adapted with automotive styling, including what appears to be a brake-rotor-like wheel.
Finally, a new building near the Haunted Mansion side of the project recalls the architecture of the former Mike Fink Keel Boats landing, including its timber detailing, roof form and cupola. Disney has not publicly identified that resemblance as an official tribute, so it is best understood as a visual parallel rather than a confirmed backstory.
The Rivers of America Are Gone, but Water Is Not
Piston Peak will not restore the Rivers of America as they existed before July 2025. The former waterway, Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat closed to make room for the development, and subsequent construction removed the landscape guests knew. Inside the Magic later documented the draining of the Rivers of America and the eventual demolition of Tom Sawyer Island.
Still, Disney’s plans have retained water as part of the new environment. Imagineering’s official description says trees will form a natural barrier around the off-road rally and describes a “calming waterway” opposite Grizzly Hall, along with geysers extending into the rally trails.
That distinction is important. Piston Peak is not a resurrection of the Rivers of America, but the combination of water, bridges and rustic structures suggests Disney is carrying portions of Frontierland’s former visual language into its replacement.
Why These Details Matter for Magic Kingdom
The removal of the river changed more than the attraction lineup. It altered a major visual corridor between Liberty Square and Frontierland.
Inside the Magic has documented the progression from the attractions’ permanent closure to demolition and the expanding Piston Peak construction footprint across Frontierland. The D23 model now provides a clearer picture of what guests may eventually see when those construction walls come down.
For Disney, the challenge is thematic as much as operational. Cars brings animated vehicles into a land historically rooted in stories of the American frontier. Imagineering has said Piston Peak will use natural scenery and architecture to create a transition, with more overt “car-itecture” appearing deeper inside the land.
The apparent homages fit that strategy. They cannot replace boarding a raft, exploring the island or watching the Liberty Belle circle the waterway, but they can preserve recognizable design DNA within a fundamentally different environment.
What Happens Next for Piston Peak National Park
Construction on Piston Peak National Park is underway at Walt Disney World, but Disney has not announced an opening date. The company’s current Walt Disney World fact sheet confirms that the project will bring two Cars attractions to Magic Kingdom, including the mountain rally experience.
The D23 model should therefore be read as the latest design preview, not a guarantee that every miniature detail will appear exactly as shown when the land opens. Theme-park projects can evolve during development, and Disney has not separately confirmed official names or narratives for each apparent legacy reference.
For now, the model offers a notable answer to a major question surrounding the Frontierland overhaul. Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America are not coming back as attractions, but pieces of their look and atmosphere appear positioned to survive inside Piston Peak’s new frontier.
