Welcome, World Travelers! Rivers of America Drained at Magic Kingdom
by James Coulter
Tom Sawyer has moved out, and Lightning McQueen will be moving in, now that the Rivers of America have been drained in Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
On July 7, 2025, The Rivers of America, along with Tom Sawyer’s Island and Liberty Square Riverboat, closed permanently.
The artificial river, which snaked 2,400 feet through the Frontierland and Liberty Square themed areas, was an opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom on Oct. 1, 1971.
Rivers of America served as a scenic backdrop for many attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion.
Its waterway also facilitated other attractions, including Tom Sawyer’s Island, the Mark Twain Riverboat, and even long-defunct attractions like the Mike Fink Keel Boats and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes.
In 2024, Disney Parks announced that Rivers of America would be closed and demolished to make way for a new expansion, which will include a new Cars-themed land, Piston Peak National Park, and a new land themed to the Disney Villains.
Before the river’s last operating day on July 6, 2025, several dozen trees were bulldozed to create a staging area for the proposed construction.
Nearly one month after closing, the river has since been fully drained to the point where the underlying tracks of the Liberty Square Riverboat were revealed, and some scaffolding has been removed from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The Liberty Belle riverboat was moved to a backstage marina near Bay Lake, where other Magic Kingdom watercraft are maintained.
The boat’s future remains undetermined. Some fans have speculated the boat could either be relocated to another park or serve as transportation, particularly for the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of Magic Kingdom.
While some fans eagerly await the exciting new attractions to replace the Rivers of America area, others have mourned the loss of an iconic opening day attraction, one that helped define both Frontierland and Liberty Square and served to connect the two themed lands.
As for the new attractions, while Disney has not announced any official opening dates, both the Cars-themed Piston Peaks attraction and the Villains-themed land are speculated to be completed between 2029 and 2031.
