Walt Disney World has filed its response to Florida’s Request for Additional Information, and it’s clear that Imagineering will not be reversing course on its plan to fill in and replace the Rivers of America with Cars Land in Magic Kingdom. This post discusses the latest in this months-long saga, along with what this could mean for closing dates and construction.
In case you’re unfamiliar with these plans, Walt Disney World announced two all-new Cars attractions in a reimagined area of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom during D23. Along with this, they officially announced Villains Land expansion at Magic Kingdom, essentially behind Cars Land, and between/behind Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion.
Subsequent to D23, Walt Disney World revealed that the Cars area will actually replace the Rivers of America, meaning that Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat will permanently close. This news let a lot of the air out of the tires from Walt Disney World’s otherwise blockbuster night.
The latest development concerns the saga of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) permit process. The short of the back-and-forth is that Disney filed permits pertaining to stormwater displacement back in August, and SFWMD responded by requesting changes and giving Disney a deadline for those.
Following that, the SFWMD sent a letter warning Disney that its 10-day deadline to respond was fast approaching, and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) intervened on Walt Disney World’s behalf to request a 60-day extension. The SFWMD granted the extension request, but only in part, offering a new deadline of January 9, 2025 as opposed to February for Disney to substantively answer SFWMD’s Request for Additional Information (RAI).
In the end, it won’t matter. Walt Disney World didn’t need until the provided January 9, 2025 deadline, much less the February one that was requested on its behalf by the CFTOD. Walt Disney World provided an extensive packet of information on December 19, 2024, which included a 23-page letter along with countless more pages of maps, plans, appendices, and updates to previously-filed documents.
If you’re really curious about all of this, head to the SFWMD ePermitting page and enter “407 Basin Stormwater Modifications” as the project name in the search. From there, check out the RAI Information drop-down. There’s a bunch of stuff there, including the aforementioned 23-page letter.
Part of the reason I’m recommending that you read the correspondence itself is because I, admittedly, lack the subject matter expertise to assess the quality and sufficiency of Walt Disney World’s response. Whether it adequately addresses the questions and concerns raised by the South Florida Water Management District is unclear to me. It appears to my untrained eye that it does in most cases, and kicks the can back to SFWMD for clarification in a couple of instances, but I very well could be wrong.
From what I can ascertain, there are essentially two angles from which Walt Disney World approaches this. The first is a straightforward matter of addressing the questions and concerns one-by-one, with concise answers and clarifying information. The second and more interesting approach is in attaching a Response to RAI from 2015 along with other correspondence from 1993. Disney incorporates those by reference into this 2024 RAI response, along with another letter from 2011 and the 1992 Walt Disney World Master Development Plan permit.
There’s a lot to unpack with all of this, but it appears that Walt Disney World’s assertion is that further analysis or scrutiny is not necessary or appropriate. That’s because, in light of these documents, the wetland lines are grandfathered-in. I suspect it’s not worth getting bogged down in the specifics of the permitting process and back and forth over the wetlands.
A deep dive into water management and assorted legal jargon probably is not why you’re here–it’s to know where this project stands. In a nutshell, Disney’s big move was “bringing receipts” to show SFWMD that a lot of its questions had already been addressed–a decade or few ago.
From a practical perspective, the key takeaway from these 23-pages and supporting maps and documents is that Walt Disney World has not altered course on its plans to remove the Rivers of America and fill in the waterway.
To the contrary, Disney doubles down on this and clearly outlines that they will be draining the Rivers of America and filling in the entire expanse with dirt to create a leveled and graded construction area. This is a necessary prerequisite for construction of the Cars Land expansion in Frontierland, and will also form the foundation for the next phase of work on Villains Land.
If Walt Disney World were getting cold feet about the Rivers of America plans following fan backlash, it would’ve been reflected in the permitting process with SFWMD. This sends the unequivocal message that it’s full steam ahead on Cars Land. That there will be no last-minute adjustments to salvage even a sliver of the Rivers of America.
For our part, this is what we’ve heard all along. That even though Walt Disney World didn’t anticipate the degree of backlash, no amount of complaints would cause a course change. That the value of the real estate, underutilized capacity, long-term upkeep costs, expense of alternate siting of the expansion, and other factors made this the only viable plan. (Don’t shoot the messenger–I’m just sharing what I’ve heard, not that I agree with it.)
Some other sites had reported the opposite. That Disney is considering going back to the drawing board. Or rather, that Disney was considering it. We mentioned this previously, noting that even though we hadn’t heard this, being dismissive of the rumors would be foolish since so many sources got the location of Monstropolis wrong in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
At this point, we can pretty much close the door on the Rivers of America being saved. Again, everything I’ve heard since August indicated to me that the door wasn’t open in the first place, but this seals that. Disney has already endured the worst of the controversy, and they’ve held firm. Taking further steps in the same direction strongly suggests there never was an alternative.
The only hope there, as before, was that the South Florida Water Management District would reject Disney’s permits.
To that point, it still remains a vague possibility that the South Florida Water Management District still won’t be satisfied with Walt Disney World’s RAI response, and there’s more back-and-forth than anticipated. That could result in delays and costs spiraling beyond what was originally budgeted.
If anything, that’s the only thing that could realistically let the air out of the tires of the Cars land project: time and money.
I still do not view that as likely. To the contrary, I’d put the chances of this project getting the green light from the state more or less as conceived at over 90%. I’m just saying that if there is any basis for the Rivers of America being saved, it’s not in a change of heart from Disney, but rather, the SFWMD slow-rolling the project, and Disney shifting into a different direction as a result. In light of the RAI response, I’d put the chances at that in the low single digits.
As you’re likely aware, Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America have no closing date at present. Walt Disney World has only indicated that work will kick “into high gear” in 2025, but before then, that “guests will have plenty of time to experience the charm and nostalgia of Frontierland as it is today.”
However, Walt Disney World made that statement back in August and has been silent as to the Rivers of America future since. When offering a sneak peek at 2025 and letting fans know they’d have all year to experience DINOSAUR, Walt Disney World made no such assurances about the Rivers of America. In fact, they didn’t say anything at all. At what point has “plenty of time” passed?
Our guess is Easter 2025 at the earliest. That’s over 8 months for fans to say their goodbyes, which is longer than the average timeframe between booking and traveling. This isn’t to say that Rivers of America will close then…we just wouldn’t expect it any earlier than that. And it really doesn’t come down to giving fans one last visit. It’s more a matter of practicality.
To that point, Magic Kingdom might try to get through Summer 2025 before closing Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America. Disney Starlight Parade is going to be hugely popular upon debut and will need ample viewing space during its opening summer along the promenade in Frontierland. Construction walls up on one side of the walkway would reduce viewing capacity. (See Construction & Openings Timelines for New Lands, Rides & Additions at Disney World.)
Starting the project shortly after Labor Day 2025 is also possible. That gives Walt Disney World all summer with the Rivers of America operating as normal, which might be necessary at a time when a lot will be down in Magic Kingdom. Park operations may not want even more offline–especially if that includes decreased parade viewing options or cuts into crowd flow (the waterfront promenade is an important parade bypass).
Also keep in mind that it’s not like this project gets approved, and walls go up around Rivers of America the very next day. There’s presumably a decent amount of backstage prep and site work that could be undertaken even before the waterway is drained. It’s also possible that Disney could install a coffer dam to preserve access to Tom Sawyer Island and the view of the Rivers of America for the entirety of 2025. (See photo above of the last time a coffer dam was used during a refurbishment a few years ago.)
They’ve done this type of thing before–and it could prolong the amount of time fans have to say goodbye to these areas while also reducing visual blight until it’s absolutely necessary. In such a scenario, the Liberty Square Riverboat would be first to close, and that would probably happen before the second half of 2025.
Ultimately, the back-and-forth on the SFWMD permitting process doesn’t really change a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. It does significantly increases the likelihood that the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island will be safe through at least Easter 2025. That was probably always the case (and I’d imagine Disney built a buffer into its internal timeline for permitting–it’s not like this is their first rodeo), but this just further cements it.
I’d take that a step further and predict that, you probably have until at least August 2025 to say goodbye to the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. There seems like a pretty good possibility that Disney does backstage work first, and this serene scenery and access are preserved for almost the entire year–maybe into early 2026. I wouldn’t bet the farm on that and I’d plan a goodbye trip well before then if seeing the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island were a must-do, but my suspicion is that we have more time to enjoy these areas.
Of course, my real hope is that Imagineering goes back to the drawing board entirely and finds a way to preserve the promenade and waterfront. I can accept losing Tom Sawyer Island and the riverboat, I guess, but paving over that beautiful vista is a bridge too far for me. Hopefully fan feedback or a last-minute miracle can save it, but I’m not holding my breath.
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Your Thoughts
Thoughts on the Walt Disney World’s response to the Request for Additional Information? Hoping that there’s still a chance of changing the plans if Florida doesn’t approve? Excited or underwhelmed by the plan to replace Rivers of America with Cars land? Or, are you in wait and see mode with this? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
