While visiting Magic Kingdom this morning, we stopped by the Rivers of America to check in on the project. Any day now, views of the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island will be blocked by an ever-growing scaffolding structure. As BlogMickey.com previously reported, Walt Disney World needed to drain the Rivers of America and clear most of the muck before they could install a barrier to block guests’ views of the area. With the Rivers of America substantively drained, work began last week to start blocking views of the construction zone. Here’s a look at the latest progress.
Scaffolding Barrier Nearly Completed at Rivers of America
Join me for an early-morning walk down the boardwalk, checking out the latest scaffolding installation. Scaffolding now runs the entire length of the boardwalk as Walt Disney World prepares to block guest views of the area. I’m not sure if Disney will end up building a construction wall on top of the scaffolding or if they’ll go for a scrim setup.
Given that we’ll be staring at the barrier for years, I’d love to see some fun creativity at play here. Perhaps Disney could install a themed scrim similar to what they’ve done for large buildings in the past. A vista of the upcoming Piston Peak National Park would be great, or maybe a playful construction zone with Cars-style vehicles at work. We’ll have to wait and see if Disney does something fun here similar to what they did for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train construction wall or not.
Either way, we’ll have pretty good views of the construction zone once Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopens in 2026. Even Tiana’s Bayou Adventure could offer some elevated looks into the construction site. In the meantime, here’s a look at the area from our visit to Magic Kingdom earlier today.
We’ll start by walking along the boardwalk from “left to right”. That is, from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure toward the Liberty Tree Tavern area. As you can see in the photos below, scaffolding stretches the entire length of the boardwalk now. The scaffolding was only about 1/5th of the way installed during our previous visit.
Piles of muck can be seen along the banks of Tom Sawyer Island. Crews have been clearing more and more mud on a nearly nightly basis as they prepare the area for demolition and grading.
Draining efforts also continue as Disney fights against weather and some heavy afternoon thunderstorms. Things will get much easier as we turn the calendar to Fall and rain becomes slightly less overwhelming.
Some concrete weights are in place near Tom’s Landing dock. I’m guessing that they’ll be used to anchor the scaffolding and make it hurricane-proof for the years of construction ahead.
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!
