If Frontierland looks different during your next Magic Kingdom visit, there's a good reason.
Disney has removed another longtime piece of the land as construction continues to spread through this side of the park.
Westward Ho is no longer standing.
A new update from inside Magic Kingdom shows the former location completely removed. The park visitor who shared the update said the boardwalk now looks different without Westward Ho, the churro cart, and Big Al's.
Westward ho has been completely removed. Looks different on boardwalk without it, the churro cart, and big Als pic.twitter.com/w0DVKbK7WQ
— RockNstardust🎸✨ (@CoasterK24) August 23, 2026
Those may sound like relatively small changes compared to a new attraction, but together they're creating a noticeably different Frontierland.
And this area of Magic Kingdom is still in the early stages of its transformation.
Another Piece of Frontierland History Is Gone
Westward Ho carried a name with roots stretching back to Magic Kingdom's opening era.
The original Westward Ho debuted in December 1971 as a Frontierland gift shop. That shop didn't remain open for decades, and the Westward Ho Refreshments guests knew more recently wasn't the same operation.
Still, Disney eventually brought the Westward Ho name back to Frontierland, allowing it to remain associated with this section of Magic Kingdom across multiple generations.
Now that connection has ended.
Westward Ho Refreshments closed as Disney expanded construction around Frontierland. The structure was eventually surrounded by walls, stripped down, and demolished.
Guests can now see the result.
The familiar building has disappeared, leaving another gap along a stretch of Magic Kingdom that has already experienced several major closures.
Frontierland Is Losing Its Familiar Look
Westward Ho isn't the only reason the area feels different.
Disney is clearing and rebuilding a significant portion of Frontierland to create Piston Peak National Park.
The Cars-inspired expansion will occupy the area previously associated with the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island, both of which permanently closed in 2025.
For generations of Magic Kingdom guests, the river served as one of Frontierland's defining features. It separated the main pathways from Tom Sawyer Island and gave this section of the park a slower, more open atmosphere.
That landscape is now being replaced.
Disney plans to fill the area with a mountainous wilderness inspired by America's national parks. Concept art has shown trees, water features, rocky terrain, trails, buildings, and other elements surrounding the Cars-themed experiences.
The goal is to make Piston Peak feel like another stop on Frontierland's journey through the American West.
Getting there, however, requires Disney to tear apart much of what previously occupied the space.
Smaller Closures Are Starting to Add Up
That's why the removal of Westward Ho matters.
On its own, losing a small refreshment location might not dramatically change Magic Kingdom.
Combine it with the loss of Big Al's, relocated food carts, expanding construction walls, the Rivers of America, and Tom Sawyer Island, and the difference becomes much larger.
Guests are watching an entire section of the park transition from the Frontierland they knew into something new.
Disney has changed Frontierland before.
Splash Mountain closed in 2023 before reopening as Tiana's Bayou Adventure in 2024. Country Bear Jamboree also gave way to Country Bear Musical Jamboree.
Those projects changed individual experiences while leaving much of the surrounding landscape intact.
The current project goes considerably further.
A Very Different Frontierland Is Coming
Piston Peak National Park won't simply replace one ride.
Disney is rebuilding the environment around it.
The new setting will eventually sit alongside existing Frontierland attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Tiana's Bayou Adventure. Disney has indicated that landscaping, mountains, trees, and waterways will help the different sections flow together.
Until then, guests will continue watching the old landscape disappear.
The latest update provides one of the clearest examples.
Where Westward Ho once stood, guests now see construction walls and a Frontierland boardwalk without several of its familiar features.
For longtime Disney World visitors, these changes can carry mixed emotions. New attractions give families another reason to return, but building them sometimes means saying goodbye to places that became part of countless vacations.
That's exactly what's happening in Frontierland.
The Cars expansion will eventually give this side of Magic Kingdom a new identity. Before Disney can finish building that future, however, more pieces of the past have to come down.
After carrying a Frontierland name with roots dating back roughly 54 years, Westward Ho has officially become one of them.
