While visiting Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World today, September 30, 2025, to gather park updates, we discovered that scrims now fully enclose the Rivers of America, completely blocking it from view. In addition, we stopped by the Cool Ship kiosk in Tomorrowland to see if there have been any advancements.
Views of Rivers of America Totally Blocked
Last week, on September 25, 2025, we reported that new scrims were starting to be installed along the Frontierland boardwalk to block the view of the Rivers of America. Now, the scrim has been completely set up along the entire boardwalk, entirely obscuring the river from guests’ sight. This barrier extends from across The Diamond Horseshoe restaurant to the area in front of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, connecting to the existing construction walls. With the river view now fully blocked, crews can officially commence demolition in this area, which also encompasses Tom Sawyer Island. We actually heard some construction sounds in progress.
For those who may not know, the Rivers of America, which includes Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat, permanently closed to allow for the development of a new area themed after Pixar‘s Cars, as well as a new land inspired by Disney Villains. The Cars-themed area will occupy the front section of the river and serve as an expansion to Frontierland, while the Villains-inspired land will make use of the remaining portion of the river and be a completely separate land.
Here’s the latest concept art shared by Disney for the Cars-themed area, called Piston Peak.
Here’s concept art from Disney for the Villains-inspired land.
Updated Cool Ship Kiosk Design
The Cool Ship snack kiosk has been closed for refurbishment in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom since May 2025. In our earlier photo update on September 19, 2025, we shared that the kiosk was finally installed, showcasing a completely new appearance.
The redesigned Cool Ship kiosk features red and light blue hues, complemented by white, presenting a more minimalist and modern aesthetic that also brings a retro charm, making it more in tune with Tomorrowland’s current look. The side overhang somewhat resembles a UFO.
We observed that since our update on September 19, 2025, doors have been added to the rear of the kiosk, presumably to conceal storage space and maintenance equipment such as piping.
In the image below, the arrows indicate what seem to be water misters for guests to cool off. The prior design of the kiosk also included misters in this location and showcased a red ship on top.
In the image below, the arrows indicate what looks like light strips encircling the rings.
Here’s a closer look at what is expected to be a sign for the Cool Ship kiosk.
The design of the sign closely resembles other signs located in Tomorrowland, such as those at the Joffrey’s Coffee kiosk and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.
For comparison, below is what the kiosk looked like before its refurbishment. It had prominent gray metallic columns, a metallic silver counter, and dark blue accents. This design was in line with the previous Tomorrowland aesthetic, which was similarly defined by metallic gray columns and colors, contrasting with the current look of Tomorrowland.
According to the Walt Disney World website, Cool Ship is set to reopen later this year; however, a specific date for the reopening is not available.
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