During a recent visit to Magic Kingdom, we spotted some demolition underway at the former Mike Fink Keel Boat Landing next to the Haunted Mansion attraction. While the structure has been behind construction walls for some time, Disney only recently began demolition on a part of the area. This is related to the ongoing construction of Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land. This area will become a key walkway to both Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land, according to concept art. Here’s the latest!
Mike Fink Keel Boat Landing Demolition at Magic Kingdom
For decades, a quiet structure near the entrance to The Haunted Mansion stood as one of Magic Kingdom’s most overlooked relics. Now, the Mike Fink Keel Boat Landing is coming down, and with it, one of the last physical remnants of an opening-day attraction.
The Mike Fink Keel Boats launched with Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971, carrying guests along the Rivers of America in free-floating vessels. The attraction closed permanently in 2001, but its landing dock remained in place as a subtle piece of park history.
As we reported back in January, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a permit for “General Construction” at the Keel Boat Landing site, with contractor MLC Theming, a firm specializing in scenic painting, fabricating facades, and more. The permit raised hopes among fans that the structure might be re-themed rather than demolished outright. Typically, a permit from Walt Disney Imagineering indicates scenic addition, not demolition.
Active demolition is now underway, with roughly half of the landing already removed, including the dock that once stretched along the Rivers of America. The structure nearest the Haunted Mansion entrance remains standing, as does a portion of the tower closer to the former Riverboat Landing, leaving a visible gap between them.
We’ll start our photo update with a look back at the structure as it used to stand, followed by a look at the demolition from the nearby porch of the Memento Mori gift shop.
Changing our perspective to the complete opposite side of the photos above, we can get a better look at the work from the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue.
Again, we’ll start with a look back at the Mike Fink Keel Boat Landing from before the Rivers of America was drained, followed by demolition photos from our recent visit to Magic Kingdom.
The demolition is part of the broader transformation of the northwest corner of Magic Kingdom into Piston Peak National Park, a Cars-themed expansion replacing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. The Keel Boat Landing does not appear in any released Piston Peak concept art or fun maps, leaving its long-term fate still unclear.
Nearby, the former Liberty Square Riverboat landing remains standing. This structure does show up in the Piston Peak National Park concept art, leading us to believe that it will remain in place after the transformation of the area is complete.
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!