End of an Era: Two Frontierland Icons Permanently Closing to Make Way for Magic Kingdom’s Massive Overhaul

End of an Era: Two Frontierland Icons Permanently Closing to Make Way for Magic Kingdom’s Massive Overhaul

The landscape of the Magic Kingdom is shifting. For over fifty years, Frontierland has served as a dusty, nostalgic tribute to the American West, a place where the spirit of the pioneers lived on through wooden boardwalks, the smell of smoked turkey legs, and the distant whistle of the Walt Disney World Railroad. But as the “Beyond Big Thunder” project moves from concept art to concrete reality, the first casualties of progress have been identif…

Frontierland Demolished: Why Disney is Permanently Removing Two Iconic Locations for the ‘Cars’ Expansion

The dusty trails of Frontierland are about to face their biggest transformation since the Magic Kingdom opened its gates in 1971. While the “Beyond Big Thunder” expansion has been touted as a massive win for fans, the first physical steps of this project come with a heavy dose of nostalgia and loss. Credit: Michael Gray, Flickr To clear the path for Piston Peak National Park—the high-octane Cars expansion that will replace a portion of the River…