The Rivers of America at Magic Kingdom is officially closed. The last day to experience its attractions, including the Liberty Square Riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island, was July 6, 2025. Following the closure, we shared images of the site to our social media accounts the very next day, July 7, 2025, capturing the initial stages of demolition preparations. In these images, construction walls were starting to be erected, and crews were seen on Tom Sawyer Island.
Upon revisiting Magic Kingdom on July 9, we gathered more photos to document the progress.
Access to the entrance of the Liberty Square Riverboat dock remains blocked by a rope and rolling planters. As of now, construction walls have not been erected around the dock. Additionally, the “Riverboat Landing” and hours of operation signs were already removed on July 7.
Construction walls are now obstructing the view from the sides into the dock, replacing the previously used rolling planters.
New walls have been put up around the Rivers of America along the exits of the Liberty Square Riverboat. During our visit on July 7, the walls only obstructed the exit pathways.
The walls pictured in the two images below are located near the Haunted Mansion, to the right of the Liberty Square Riverboat dock.
The walls shown in the following two images are to the left of the dock.
The construction walls in the photo above and below were not here on July 7. Only the door, attached below, blocking an exit walkway from the riverboat was present in this area.
Here’s another view of the Liberty Square Riverboat dock. You can see the construction walls obstructing the sides of the dock. By July 7, the Liberty Belle had already been taken out of guest sight. It remains unclear what the future holds for the riverboat, as Disney has yet to disclose its plans for the vessel.
Additional walls have been installed around the Frontierland dock to Tom Sawyer Island. These walls now surround the pathway beside the dock. On our previous visit, walls were only present at the entrance and exit points.
Here’s a glimpse of the dock. The Tom Sawyer Island sign on the roof was removed, and the rafts have already been taken away from the site.
Here’s a view of the dock on Tom Sawyer Island for returning to Frontierland.
Various items on the dock are marked with color-coded tags. The labels display “WMK,” but we couldn’t make out the remaining text on the tags.
You may notice several props marked with yellow, red, and green tags. We assume these colors are intended to help crews identify the planned actions for them, whether they will be preserved or demolished.
Several props located near the entrance to the women’s restrooms at the dock have been tagged. The sign for Shaker Apple Sauce is marked with a green tag, as are the restroom signs. The items on the shelf have yellow tags.
The lamp in the photo below has a blue tag. A yellow label next to this lamp reads:
“WMK-TRKY
ROPES & PULLEYS PROPS
TOM’S LANDING TL018
‘VERIFY?’ DEMO”
This lamp also has a blue tag.
This other dock on Tom Sawyer Island is predominantly scattered with yellow tags, although there are a few green ones as well.
Here’s a look at the watermill located on Tom Sawyer Island.
We noticed only a few tags at the watermill, including one on a rope. The front of the tag is white, but there seems to be red behind it, suggesting it is likely a red label.
This is the former site of Aunt Polly’s, a quick-service restaurant that has been closed for several years.
We noticed multiple tags throughout Aunt Polly’s, including a green one on a lamp post. Additionally, the wall light beside the door is tagged, but the color-coded side isn’t visible.
The lights beneath the porch are tagged with red labels.
A crate located by Aunt Polly’s is marked with red tape.
All the lamp posts next to the painted fence near Aunt Polly’s are labeled with green tags.
The boardwalk in Frontierland remains accessible to guests, with no construction walls currently obstructing the Rivers of America along this walkway.
The closure of the Rivers of America marks a significant milestone in Magic Kingdom’s history as it embarks on its largest expansion ever. This new development will introduce a themed area inspired by Pixar‘s Cars, called Piston Peak National Park. The concept art below highlights the transformative vision for the area, showcasing roaring rivers, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, and geysers.
Although the Rivers of America is being demolished, it appears that some existing elements will be sticking around, including the boardwalk along Frontierland and the riverboat dock. Disney has updated the Magic Kingdom map to remove the Rivers of America, but these particular features are still displayed in the new map. Furthermore, concept art for the new Cars area also showcases these preserved elements.
To learn more about the Cars-themed area, click here.
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