If all goes according to plan, when the new Cars-inspired land opens at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, you won’t even see it. Back at the D23 Expo last year, Disney announced it was adding a Cars-themed land to its signature Orlando park, and now, the company has revealed a ton of additional info. There’s a map of what it’ll look like, an explanation of its theming, and the news that even though it’ll be sitting in the middle of the theme park, it’ll be carefully designed to make sure it doesn’t stand out.
Oh, and it’s got a name too. The land is called Piston Peak National Park (though fans are sure to just call it “Piston Peak” or “Cars Land”), and though it’s fully set in the world of Cars, it’s being conceived as a national park in that franchise. The idea being, a national park—even if it’s filled with sentient talking vehicles—is a more seamless fit into the land’s location, which is near Liberty Square and Frontierland. You can see the full map above, though it’s just an artist’s interpretation and won’t be exactly that.
So, unlike the decidedly city-based theming in Radiator Springs, Disney’s first Cars land at California Adventure, here everything will be much more natural. More earthy. Imagineers are even calling it “Parkitecture.” That’s a key too because, as Disney explains in its news release, “From the outside, trees will provide a natural barrier between the off-road rally and other parts of Frontierland and Liberty Square. Rugged mountains with dramatic peaks will be nestled along a calming waterway across from Grizzly Hall and soaring geysers from the famed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will stretch into the trails of our off-road rally.”
Previously, it was announced that the land now known as Piston Peak will have two rides in it, one geared at families and another, more exciting “race rally through the mountains” which will see your vehicle “climb mountain trails, dodge geysers and… splash through mudholes.” To make this land into a reality, the park will close Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Liberty Square Riverboat beginning July 7. Plus, as we already knew, on the other side of Big Thunder, a land focused exclusively on Disney Villains is coming too. But no word on specifics for that quite yet.
For more on Piston Peak check out the new post on the Disney Parks Blog and revisit that initial news right here.
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