Just days after the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island permanently closed, Walt Disney World has begun land clearing. The land clearing is taking place in a previously permitted area near the north side of the Rivers of America. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what’s new and why we think that this is the first step of Walt Disney World creating a Villains Land at Magic Kingdom.
Land Clearing for Villains Land
We’ll start with the facts, and then move into speculation a bit. Today, there is land clearing taking place near the north end of the Rivers of America. Using the October 2024 aerial photo below for reference, we have highlighted the area to be cleared in yellow, with the red dot representing where the land clearing is currently taking place.
If we go back to an August 2024 permit, we can start to get an idea of where the project is. Using the permit screenshot below, land clearing has already been substantially completed in the “L407-2 Gravel Laydown Yard” and the “Pilot 2-3 Gravel Laydown Yard”. These two areas are going to be used for the staging of construction equipment and materials, as well as a construction trailer complex for project teams.
While there is a lot of land-clearing equipment in those two plots, it is the “L407A-11 & 12 Gravel Laydown Yard” that is the site of the latest land-clearing activities. This is marked as another laydown yard for the purposes of this permit, but we believe that it could also be used for the Villains-themed land coming to the north side of the Rivers of America.
Two projects are taking place in the northwest corner of Magic Kingdom, where the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island are located. While we have concept art for Villains Land, we don’t have any concept art that provides context for where the land will be located. That said, we can start to infer where the land will be located based on where the Cars-themed expansion of Frontierland is.
Here’s some “concept art”, even though Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and some Frontierland facades are based on Disneyland Paris, we’ll call it close enough. In essence, the Cars-themed expansion of Frontierland will take over the southern 1/3 to 1/2 of the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island.
Here’s a way to visualize how “small” the Cars area will be relative to the amount of land that Disney has to play with in the northwest corner of Magic Kingdom. While the Cars footprint is locked in, we’re not sure where exactly the Villains Land will go. We’ve presented a couple of options. It’s likely that the Villains Land will go in the northern half of the Rivers of America area, but it remains to be seen if Disney will utilize backstage areas north of the Haunted Mansion and “it’s a small world” (red), or if they will use some of the forested area north and west of the Rivers of America (dark red).
It’s entirely possible that Disney will use a combination of the two areas. I’m not convinced that Disney wants to use the area behind Haunted Mansion too much, and would bet that they will use some of the L407A-11 & 12 Gravel Laydown Yard for either backstage areas, or maybe even guest-accessible areas.
Regardless of where Villains Land ends up, it is encouraging to see Disney moving so quickly on this project. Yesterday, we saw Imagineers preparing Tom Sawyer Island for demolition. I’d be surprised if there was still water in the Rivers of America by Halloween. I would love to see significant demolition of Tom Sawyer Island by the end of the year.
Walt Disney World has not shared a timeline for the Cars-themed expansion of Frontierland or Villains Land, but we gave it our best guess when the projects were announced last summer.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
You mention you’d be surprised if there’s water in the RoA at Halloween. I’d be surprised if there’s water in the RoA at the end of July. There is no purpose to the water and it only creates environmental hazards (debris impacting wildlife) or safety hazards (workers in the water). And finalizing geotech for engineering permits would seem to require or greatly benefit from access to the river bed.
Walt would have throne this idea (villian’s land) directly in the toilet. It’s a terrible idea. For Disney, the magic is created by good winning over evil. Creating an entire land devoted to nothing but villains is like creating a hell on Earth where judgment hasn’t quite come yet. I can’t think of anything worse, less charming, and more headed to disaster. It’s just yet another example of how the current Disney management is not up to the task and must be forced out.
Disney World is loosing the “magic” one demolition at a time. Do better Disney.
Totally agree!