We’re LIVE at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, and we’re ready to take in everything this expo has to offer — such as big panels (the Parks and Experiences panel) — because we need to know MORE about all the new stuff coming to Disney World and Disneyland.
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We were invited by Disney to attend a media preview the day before the convention officially kicks off (it runs from August 14th through the 16th at the Anaheim Convention Center in California and the nearby Honda Center), and we got a sneak peek of a TON of different new things coming to the streaming platforms, movie theaters, and the Disney Parks. In fact, Disney gave us NEW looks at the new Cars expansion — Piston Peak — that’s currently being built in Magic Kingdom, and we’re sharing all those new details with you!
Piston Peak, which is being constructed in Frontierland, is inspired by the National Parks — specifically Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The name comes from Piston Peak National Park, as seen in the 2014 Disney movie Planes: Fire & Rescue. The new land will even have a geyser inspired by Old Faithful! During the preview, we were shown a model of how the land will look!
The new land will feature not one…but TWO…new attractions, including a rally race-themed ride that will take you on a thrilling journey through Piston Peak. There will also be a more family-friendly attraction that Disney promises will be fun for the whole family.
‘Cars’ is coming to Magic Kingdom!
Well, now we’ve learned some NEW details about the upcoming land! For starters, we now have a general understanding of the intended layout.
A closer look at Piston Peak
Themed to blend in seamlessly with Frontierland, this new area takes plenty of inspiration from the national park aesthetic while incorporating the charm of the Cars franchise.
This gives us an idea of scale
We also got a closer look at restaurants, shops, and other themed areas.
So exciting!
Of course, the model included a look at the rides — one of which seems to take passengers on a thrilling journey through a mountain along a scenic route.
This new ride looks LEGIT
This is a race, after all, and a race wouldn’t be complete without the finish line! You can spot the big finale on this model 👀
Peep the finish line
We also got our best look yet at the new ride vehicles! These cars are designed to look like off-road vehicles with those lovable faces up front.
Each vehicle appears to have two rows of three seats.
A look at the seats
These look sooooo good, and this new Magic Kingdom area is shaping up to be something special!
It looks incredible!
Disney has not yet revealed an opening timeline for the ride, but we’ve been keeping a close eye on the construction in Magic Kingdom. Additionally, we wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn way more about Piston Peak and all the other Disney Parks expansion this weekend at D23, so stay tuned to DFB for all the latest updates!
Dear Disney: Please Don’t Fumble the Cars Land Mega Expansion
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Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney to attend their D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event media preview. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
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