New ground-level photos of Magic Kingdom's Cars land show a wooden retaining wall near the tower crane, right where the Liberty Belle riverboat used to dock, plus dirt berms holding back muddy water.
Piston Peak National Park has a new wall, and for once it isn't gray.
WDW News Today's in-park reporter spotted what appears to be a new rustic wooden retaining wall near the base of the blue tower crane at Magic Kingdom, in ground-level photos published Sunday, Nov. 8. It sits where the Liberty Belle riverboat used to load and unload guests.
WDWNT didn't say whether the wall is themed scenery or just timber holding back dirt. Either way, it's new. More excavating equipment and orange barriers now surround the crane, too.
The rest of the site is still dirt, concrete and heavy machinery. Two bulldozers sat on a flat, freshly dug stretch of ground in the photos.
Attractions Magazine filmed the site about a week earlier:
What's new at the Piston Peak construction site?
WDWNT's Nov. 8 photos show:
Concrete forms: Stacks of white concrete formwork panels are still bundled near the Haunted Mansion queue.
Fresh digging: Mounds of excavated dirt sit beside a blue mesh fence roping off a ridge where the ground drops away.
A covered pit: A square section has been dug out, cast with concrete and covered with wooden beams and panels.
The concrete ring: Tall concrete walls form a rough oval around the site. They're all different heights, and some slope or come to points.
Muddy water: Near Tiana's Bayou Adventure, dirt berms hold muddy water in the middle of the site.
Has Cars Ridge Run Rally construction started?
Yes. Foundation concrete for Cars Ridge Run Rally, the land's headliner, started going in last month.
BlogMickey watched crews pour it from the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue and reported Oct. 22 that most of the work sits at the base of the tall retaining wall near the Diamond Horseshoe. WDWNT saw more fresh concrete Oct. 28, with crews prepping the next batch.
The tallest parts of Piston Peak will rise in that corner, WDWNT reported, and Imagineers are working to keep the Cars buildings out of sight from Liberty Square.
The ride is an off-road race past a snowy summit and a geyser field. The land's second ride, Miss Fritter's Daredevil Spin-Along, is a family-friendly demolition derby with a school-bus-sized Miss Fritter animatronic.
Why is there so much mud at Piston Peak?
Rain, mostly. The site sits in the old Rivers of America riverbed.
After days of rain in October, BlogMickey saw pumps and what looked like a dewatering system pulling standing water off the site. The dirt berms by Tiana's Bayou Adventure are there to keep the muddy water contained, WDWNT said.
Tiana's itself is closed from Nov. 2 until Dec. 18, as we [reported in October](https://news.piratesandprincesses.net/p/tianas-bayou-adventure-at-magic-kingdom).
Did Disney file a permit for Piston Peak sets?
Yes, and it looks early. Walt Disney Imagineering filed a permit to install set elements at 4995 Caribbean Way, WDWNT reported Oct. 16. That address doesn't technically exist, but it has shown up on earlier Piston Peak permits.
The contractor is Icarus Exhibits, which has worked with Disney World before. WDWNT noted the site "barely has structures," so the permit may have been filed well ahead of time. It expires in a year.
When does Piston Peak National Park open?
Disney hasn't said. A Disney filing from February says infrastructure work for Piston Peak and Villains Land will be finished by 2028, BlogMickey reported.
After Disney laid off workers at Walt Disney Imagineering in late October, BlogMickey said both lands are still "very likely to move forward as planned."
Piston Peak replaces the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island, which closed for good July 7, 2025. WDWNT says the land will include nods to both, plus a new character, Ranger J. Autobahn Woodlore.
Where can you see the Piston Peak construction?
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: The queue looks right over the site, as we noted in our [Oct. 11 story on the Frontierland boardwalk](https://news.piratesandprincesses.net/p/frontierland-boardwalk-is-gone-at).
Haunted Mansion: WDWNT's photos show the formwork stacks right by the Mansion's queue.
From above: Our [Sept. 21 aerial story](https://news.piratesandprincesses.net/p/magic-kingdoms-new-cars-attraction) shows how far the site stretches into backstage.
It's not the only big build at Magic Kingdom right now, either. A [multistory backstage building](https://news.piratesandprincesses.net/p/magic-kingdom-backstage-building) is rising behind Adventureland, though reports say it isn't part of Piston Peak.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
WDW News Today (Nov. 8, 2026), the ground-level photos, the wooden retaining wall, concrete forms, concrete walls and berms
WDW News Today (Oct. 28 and Oct. 31, 2026), the latest concrete pour, the formwork staging and the ride descriptions
WDW News Today (Oct. 19, 2026), the tallest sections and the Liberty Square sightlines
WDW News Today (Oct. 16, 2026), the set installation permit
BlogMickey (Oct. 22, 2026), the Cars Ridge Run Rally foundation pours, the dewatering and the February infrastructure filing
BlogMickey (Oct. 29, 2026), the outlook for Piston Peak after the Imagineering layoffs
Attractions Magazine (Oct. 2026), the construction video
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