As crews continue shaping the northwest corner of Magic Kingdom for the largest park expansion ever, tons and tons (and tons) of dirt has been moved from a backstage area to Villains Land. The work is part of the grading needing to be completed before Disney can begin pouring attraction building foundations. We made it out to Magic Kingdom this chilly morning for an updated look at the work.
Tons of Dirt Moved into Villains Land at Magic Kingdom
The dirt, which was dug out of a new retention pond created years ago and stored in a backstage area, has been moved into the former Rivers of America area over the past week or so via caravans of dump trucks. The massive dirt-moving effort is to create a new grade for the area. From here, Disney will lay miles of infrastructure to create the much-anticipated Villains Land.
We made it out to Magic Kingdom this morning to get a closer look at the current status of the project, including elevated views from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
We’ll start with some photos from the ground, looking into the site. Whereas the site used to still have the former Rivers of America basin carved throughout, the Villains Land portion of the site has now been filled in with tons of dirt. Disney can start grading the Villains Land site as they continue work on creating a retaining wall for the Piston Peak National Park stream that runs along the boardwalk. More on that in a bit.
The best views for this particular element of the project come via Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We “braved” 40° temperatures for a couple of rides on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure this morning. Honestly, I’ll take cold temperatures over a 30+ minute wait any day of the week.
Anyway, as you can see in our photos below, crews have filled the former Rivers of America basin in the Villains Land area. For our purposes, we’re drawing an imaginary line between Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Haunted Mansion. Anything north of that is Villains Land, and anything south of that is Piston Peak National Park.
Actually, we can very easily visualize that line thanks to the project boundaries for the land grading. Crews have graded roughly along that line, leaving the Piston Peak National Park area relatively untouched as they work on creating a stream to run along the existing Frontierland boardwalk.
Here’s a comparison of what the area looked like before all of the dirt was brought in. We can see various grades of dirt where the former Rivers of America cut through the area, and where the Tom Sawyer Island islands were. Now, it’s all level.
This flat shelf of land will be the perfect blank slate for Disney to create a massive Villains Land section of Magic Kingdom. Out of view, in a backstage area, there are dozens of large concrete pipes staged for installation.
Going back to the Piston Peak National Park stream, we can catch glimpses of the ongoing work to create a retaining wall from our rides on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. As you can see, a slab of concrete has a vertical “wall” of rebar sticking out of it. This rebar is roughly the same height as the floor of the existing boardwalk nearby.
We have been speculating that construction will soon extend to the boardwalk, necessitating the closure of nearby Frontierland kiosks. Disney has not officially announced any closures.
Curious what all of this will look like when it’s complete? An early permit filing has outlined the expected structures to be built in Villains Land and Piston Peak National Park – likely corresponding with attraction buildings, shops, and restaurants.
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!