Good afternoon from Magic Kingdom, where we spotted some new construction walls while walking through Frontierland. The new construction walls likely signal an imminent expansion of the Piston Peak National Park construction site. This is part of an ongoing story that could include the removal of the Westward Ho and Big Al’s kiosk. Here’s the latest.
New Construction Walls in Frontierland May Signal Growing Piston Peak Site
To understand where we are today, we have to go back to late January and an article that we published about a rumor that multiple locations in Frontierland would be closing. At the time, we reported that the Westward Ho, churro cart, and Big Al’s kiosks would be closing at some point in the future. While we were sure about the closures at the time, we speculated as to the reason for the closures.
We speculated that the closures of the Frontierland kiosks was actually due to an expanding Piston Peak National Park construction site. Our thinking was that the Piston Peak National Park construction site would be expanding to include the Frontierland boardwalk, and that the kiosks would be removed to create some much-needed foot traffic lanes once the boardwalk closed.
Our suspicion that the kiosks were closing grew last week, when we first reported that the kiosks were removed from the Walt Disney World digital map. The thought was that the kiosk removal was prematurely reflected in the digital map. The kiosks are still there today, but there is yet another sign that the Piston Peak National Park construction site is going to be expanding soon.
As you can see in our photos below, a new set of construction walls has appeared on the eastern end of the boardwalk. These construction walls are across from the Diamond Horseshoe restaurant, and we think that they are the first walls to arrive ahead of a full closure of the boardwalk.
What makes these construction walls interesting is that they are open on the boardwalk side of the walls. If the construction walls were for the Frontierland props that are “behind” them, we’d expect them to surround whatever site they are “protecting”. The fact that they’re open on the boardwalk side makes me think that the boardwalk is actually going to be part of the construction site.
Walt Disney World has not officially announced the closure of the Frontierland kiosks or any expansion of the Piston Peak National Park construction site.
It’s worth noting that we believe that the boardwalk, or some version of it, will remain when the dust settles and Piston Peak National Park opens to guests. We can see that a stream will run along the boardwalk in the fun map below. In fact, we believe that Disney is already pouring concrete for the stream. For more on that, check out our earlier article!
For everything we know about the Cars-themed expansion to Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland, check out our dedicated project 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!