Walt Disney Imagineering has unveiled a detailed scale model of Piston Peak National Park at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026, offering a close look at the Cars-themed expansion rising at Magic Kingdom. Beyond the new land itself, four design details appear to carry pieces of Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America into their replacement.
Disney permanently closed Tom Sawyer Island, the Rivers of America, and the Liberty Square Riverboat on July 7, 2025. Inside the Magic covered the final closure as work began to remake this section of Frontierland.
Piston Peak National Park Replaces a Major Piece of Magic Kingdom History
Disney announced the Cars expansion at D23 in 2024, explaining that the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island would become rugged terrain for two new attractions. In June 2025, Disney named the project Piston Peak National Park and said the fictional setting would draw from the Rocky Mountains and America's national parks.
The company also confirmed a visitor lodge, Ranger HQ, trails, waterways, waterfalls, and geysers. Disney calls the project part of the largest expansion in Magic Kingdom history, with a separate Disney Villains land planned beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
By summer 2026, construction had dramatically altered the old river-and-island landscape. Recent Inside the Magic coverage of the Piston Peak site documented how extensively the park's western side is changing.
Four Tom Sawyer Island Homages Appear in the Piston Peak Model
The D23 model suggests Imagineering isn't severing every visual connection to what came before. Four details stand out as apparent callbacks, although Disney has not publicly identified all four as official tributes.
First is a structure behind the new family attraction that echoes Fort Langhorn, Tom Sawyer Island's frontier fort. Its rustic massing and design language recall the fort that once anchored the island.
A second building near the Haunted Mansion side resembles the former Mike Fink Keel Boats landing, including familiar roof and timber details. The reference would be fitting because the landing survived long after the keel boats stopped operating. Inside the Magic reported on the landing's 2026 demolition as construction pushed toward Liberty Square.
The third apparent homage is a mill-like structure reminiscent of Harper's Mill. In the model, its water-wheel concept appears reinterpreted with automotive styling, translating a Tom Sawyer Island silhouette into the visual language of Cars.
Then there is the barrel bridge.
Disney Had Already Signaled That the Barrel Bridge Would Survive in Spirit
Unlike some architectural similarities, the barrel bridge connection has stronger official footing. Disney's concept material for Piston Peak previously showed a barrel-style bridge, while official plans established that waterways and rugged national-park scenery would remain central to the design.
That matters because the old barrel bridge was one of Tom Sawyer Island's most tactile features: guests had to cross its moving surface. Inside the Magic previously noted the planned barrel-bridge element while covering the transition to Piston Peak.
The D23 model gives that idea more physical context. Rather than recreating Tom Sawyer Island, Imagineering appears to be borrowing recognizable forms and folding them into an entirely different environment.
Piston Peak Is Not a Restoration of Rivers of America
For longtime fans, the distinction is important. Piston Peak National Park does not restore Tom Sawyer Island, the Liberty Belle, or the full Rivers of America experience. Those attractions are permanently closed, and the Cars area is a replacement rather than a reopening under another name.
Disney's official description makes the new direction clear. Piston Peak is a Cars story built around wilderness exploration, an off-road rally attraction, and a second family-focused ride, framed by national-park-inspired architecture and landscaping. Disney has specifically referenced “Parkitecture,” the rustic architectural approach associated with American national parks.
Still, carrying forward physical motifs can soften what otherwise would be a total thematic break. The removal of the Rivers of America erased a defining body of water, while Tom Sawyer Island removed a self-guided exploration space. A river, bridges, timber architecture, and mill or fort-inspired forms won't reproduce that experience, but they can preserve visual memory.
What the D23 Model Changes — and What Disney Still Hasn't Confirmed
The model gives Walt Disney World fans their clearest physical preview yet of how Piston Peak National Park may sit between Frontierland and Liberty Square. It also reinforces Disney's earlier promise that trees, water, rockwork, and rustic architecture will help the Cars property fit into Frontierland.
There are limits to what can be concluded from a model. Disney has not officially named the Fort Langhorn-, Mike Fink-, or Harper's Mill-like structures as tributes, so those comparisons should remain observations rather than confirmed Imagineering intent. Disney also has not announced an opening date for Piston Peak National Park.
What is confirmed is the broader strategy: Disney is replacing the former riverfront with a new Cars wilderness while retaining selected visual ideas from the landscape that disappeared. As construction continues across Frontierland, the next Imagineering details should show whether these four callbacks are isolated Easter eggs or part of a deeper effort to keep old Magic Kingdom storytelling embedded in its new frontier.
