Following some on-the-ground reporting a few days ago on the demolition of most buildings on Tom Sawyer Island, friend of the site Bioreconstruct took to the skies above Magic Kingdom for a birds-eye view of the demolition. We have very limited in-park views of the work, but a helicopter hovering above the Magic Kingdom no-fly zone has an excellent view of the work, and Bio knows just where to point the camera to get the shot. Here’s a look at the latest demolition work of Tom Sawyer Island!
All Buildings Demolished on Tom Sawyer Island
We’ll start with a couple of wide views to sort of establish what we’re looking at. Essentially, there are two islands within the Rivers of America. The southern island is what most guests know as Tom Sawyer Island. This island was the one that was most visible from Frontierland, and it contained the most buildings. The larger island to the north contained Fort Langhorn, and some other scenes that were exclusively visible from the Liberty Square Riverboat attraction.
When we talk about “Tom Sawyer Island”, we mean both islands. The island complex, if you will. With that in mind, here’s a look at Tom Sawyer Island, the dry Rivers of America, Frontierland, Liberty Square, some of Fantasyland, and some land clearing work just to the north of the Walt Disney World Railroad track.
The photo below is sort of a reverse view of the same area. We can start to see some of the demolished buildings. While the southern island will be of great interest in this article, here’s a quick check-in on the demolished Fort Langhorn site.
Ok, turning our attention to the southern island, we’re going to start with a series of before/current photos. This will allow you to see which buildings used to stand where. As a reminder, most of the buildings were demolished earlier this week when we visited Magic Kingdom. Now, it looks like all of the buildings have been demolished. Disney has even started demolishing some of the cave systems as well.
The big update here (besides the wonderful aerial vantage point) is that Potters’ Mill, the white windmill, has also been demolished.
Here are a few more photos of the demolition. As you can see, the buildings have been turned to rubble as Disney looks toward the finish line of a Cars-themed area when the work in this area is complete.
Why is Tom Sawyer Island Being Demolished?
As to the why, Walt Disney World simply looked at the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island as an “underutilized area”, according to Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle. Last year, Disney announced ambitious plans for the largest-ever expansion of Magic Kingdom, transforming the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island into a Cars-themed land at the southern end, and an all-new Villains Land at the northern end.
We recently explored a new permit that offered some hints as to how the two themed lands will be positioned. While the positioning and theming of the Cars-themed expansion to Frontierland, called Piston Peak National Park, has been known for a while, the permit offered some potential insight as to the layout of the upcoming Villains-themed land.
For everything we know about the Cars-themed expansion to Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland, check out our dedicated project page below!
For everything we know about the upcoming Villains Land at Magic Kingdom, check out our dedicated Villains Land page below!
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!
