Lightning McQueen and Co. are coming to Magic Kingdom! In August 2024, Disney announced that Disney World’s most popular park would receive some major work, including the addition of a Cars-themed area to Frontierland. In this post, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about the new Cars land coming to Disney World!

Basics About Cars Land Coming to Disney World

We’ll start with some basics. I’m going to lead with the timeline because, as of this update, the timeline is so up in the air that it only makes sense to clarify just how “conceptual” this whole project is from a guest perspective. Plus, talking about the timeline provides an opportunity for some introduction.

What Is The Timeline for the Cars Land at Disney World?

It’ll be a while before the new Cars area at Magic Kingdom actually opens. We’re looking at a few years, at least. Disney has announced basically nothing about a potential opening timeframe for this project, so everything here is speculation. The bottom line is that you cannot plan a trip to see this land yet—you need to at least wait for Disney to give some indication of what year it’ll debut.

For some context, the Tropical Americas update to Animal Kingdom is slated for a 2027 opening. That land features two brand new attractions—but one is a carousel—plus a hefty conversion of DINOSAUR into an Indiana Jones ride. Construction started January 2025. That means that project is slated for between 2 and 3 years. Galaxy’s Edge took between 3 and 4 years to build, including two brand new rides.

The creation of the Cars land at Magic Kingdom is a larger project than Tropical Americas. It requires the creation of two brand new attractions, which is arguably the same amount of ride work, maybe more, as the new Topical Americas land. However, the bigger issue of the Cars area—look above—is that it’ll be replacing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. (That’s right, this land involves the literal creation of land where there currently is none.)

The permitting around removing Rivers of America has already caused a small headache, and we can only assume that the combination of having to fill and clear those existing areas is going to be an exhausting project in itself. It’s expected that Tom Sawyer Island and Liberty Square Riverboat will close at some point in 2025, though details have not been announced.

When Will Cars Land at Magic Kingdom Open?

When you bring this all together, a 2028 debut is a “fantasy” at this point. It would require the ground to be in a workable state by early 2025 (I’m already writing this in February 2025, so….) and the project to move at a timeline comfortably between the speeds of Tropical Americas and Galaxy’s Edge. Realistically, this is much more of a “tomorrow” thing (I’m trying too hard, sorry)—I’m looking for a 2029 or 2030 debut.

Where Will Disney World’s Cars Land Be Located?

The new Cars land will be located at Magic Kingdom in Disney World. It will replace the area currently occupied by Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. This is the area of the park between Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The above annotated concept art from Disney should have given some idea of where it was, but here’s a map:

As noted above, this means that the Liberty Square Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island will permanently close. Close dates for those have not yet been announced, but they’ll presumably close sometime in 2025. We track these things in our Disney World refurbishment and construction calendar.

Is it Going to Look like California’s Cars Land?

Okay, let’s clear some air. I know some of you have been grinding your teeth this whole time. Yes, this post refers to “Cars Land” because that’s how most people are thinking of this area. Technically, though, it’s currently being conceptualized as a part of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom, and the setting is not Radiator Springs.

Radiator Springs at Disney California Adventure

So, no, this is not going to be exactly like Disney California Adventure’s Cars Land. That is a full land with three rides alongside several stores and dining establishments. The Cars area in Frontierlnad will have two rides, neither of which currently exists at Disney California Adventure. The scope of the shopping and dining remains to be seen, but presumably there will be some of that, too.

Whatever is produced at Magic Kingdom will surely be impressive, but it will not be quite the same as the full land at California Adventure. This is decidedly not a Galaxy’s Edge situation, where the two lands on both coasts are nearly identical.

What rides will Magic Kingdom’s Cars Land Have?

Okay, let’s dig into some specifics. Well, the only real specifics we have right now. There are two new rides coming to Magic Kingdom’s Cars Land, but not much is known about them.

“Cars Road Rally”(?)

Here’s how Disney first described the main attraction:

“One attraction will invite you on a thrilling rally race through the mountains. Take on wild terrain as you race across the landscape climbing mountain trails, dodging geysers and — Mater’s favorite — splashing through mudholes.”

I’ve seen a few sources refer to this as “Cars Road Rally”, but I’m not finding official usage of that name. Subsequent to the initial announcement, though, Disney did share some really cool video of testing for the attraction design. Here’s the concept art:

This looks to be an offroad / ATV style trackless ride. Unlike the cars at Radiator Springs Racers, the vehicles seat four people and have more intense safety belt systems. With the caveat that I know next to nothing about what goes into ride design, this looks like one of the most ambitious theme park attractions yet conceived.

A Second Ride for Smaller Racers

Here’s how Disney describes the second attraction:

“But what about smaller racers? The second attraction will be geared towards them and will be fun for the whole family.”

That doesn’t tell us much, but based on concept art:

this looks to be something closer to a go-kart style ride, although the vehicles appear to seat four people. With Mater and Lightning McQueen at the finish, the design is quite reminiscent of Radiator Springs Racers. That ride has a 40-inch height requirement, something I wouldn’t expect from this “family friendly” attraction.

Here’s that land-wide concept art from earlier…zoomed in, you can see the family friendly ride…I think…:

Copyright Disney/Pixar, Fair Use Claimed

(Honestly, I’m not positive which parts of the concept art are which rides—it looks like they both use dirt tracks and the distinction isn’t totally clear.)

Truth be told, I’m a bit disappointed by this. As an initial matter, it just rubs me the wrong way to have the two rides in a land be “really cool intense racing ride” and “less cool less intense racing ride.” I think family friendly rides are a necessity, particularly at Magic Kingdom, but I wish the concept went in a different direction.

But the second issue I have is maybe actually a “pro” in the long run. You see, Magic Kingdom already has Tomorrowland Speedway. Adding another “kids drive around a track” ride makes little sense. Why would you need two such rides in a park? You wouldn’t. No, you wouldn’t need two.

So, is this positioning for the end of Tomorrowland Speedway? My 100% speculation is that it could be. Tomorrowland Speedway is an absolute blight on the design of Tomorrowland, occupying valuable real estate that connects TRON to the rest of the park. In the long run, maybe moving go karting to Frontierland won’t be such a bad thing.

Conclusion

Remember, Cars land is only one of the two major projects in the works at Magic Kingdom. The new Villains-themed land—yes, a full land this time—should follow in relatively short order. While we’re still a ways away from this new, even-more-majestical Magic Kingdom, there’s obviously a ton to be excited about.

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