New aerial photos from friend of the site Bioreconstruct offer our best look yet at the ongoing work taking place in Piston Peak National Park. The early work, which we have been exclusively reporting is for a water feature, now includes vertical retaining walls. Here’s a look at the Cars-themed Piston Peak National Park construction site from high above Magic Kingdom!
Retaining Wall Installed for Stream in Piston Peak National Park
To understand where we are, we should take a look back at where we’ve been. Back in early February, we brought you a first look at the start of work for the stream that will run along the southern perimeter of Piston Peak National Park. This stream will likely end up being about 1/3 or even 1/4 of the width of the former Rivers of America, but like the Rivers of America, it will run along the Frontierland boardwalk.
We can see the stream in the Piston Peak National Park “fun map” below. The stream was also present in the early concept art released back in August 2024. Here’s the original fun map, followed by a version with just the water features highlighted. There’s no doubt that water will play a critical role in Piston Peak National Park, and I think the area will be better for it. For the purposes of this article, we’re focused on the water feature running along the boardwalk on the left side of the fun map.
Here’s how Walt Disney World describes the Piston Peak National Park natural elements and setting:
Imagine an awe-inspiring wilderness filled with towering trees, snowcapped mountains, breathtaking waterfalls, roaring rivers and impressive geysers. While fictional, Piston Peak is inspired by the Rocky Mountain area and the history and iconic sights of the American Frontier and its national parks.  
While I do think that there will be some very dynamic water features, I want to make sure that expectations are set that the “roaring rivers”, while likely mesmerizingly kinetic, will not be on the scale of the Rivers of America. At least, I haven’t seen anything to suggest that.
So, what are we seeing? Let’s turn to the recent aerial photos to take a peek at the Piston Peak National Park construction site!
We’ll start with a wide overview to understand where the Piston Peak National Park area is. This first photo is perfect. In it, we can barely see the new grading taking place for Villains Land. Basically, the grading, and the northern boundary of Piston Peak National Park is along an imaginary line between the Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Anything to the south (right in the image below) is Piston Peak National Park, and anything to the north (left in the image below) is the Villains Land area. We’re only concerned with the Piston Peak National Park area for this article.
Here’s a photo that better shows the state of just Piston Peak National Park.
While land grading is taking place for Villains Land, crews need to complete the critical work of creating the below-grade stream that will be part of Piston Peak National Park. That means that they have to create a retaining wall for the side of the stream that will abut the Cars-themed off-road rally race attraction that will dominate the acreage of Piston Peak.
In the photos below, we can see that the first sections of the winding retaining wall have been installed.
Here are some more angles of the current work.
Going forward, we’d expect that construction will continue on this retaining wall into the Summer months. Once the retaining wall is in place, Disney will be able to backfill the area and create a level grade. From there, infrastructure installation can begin with below-ground work, and then foundations for the two attractions planned for Piston Peak National Park.
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!