Magic Kingdom Favorite Shows Signs of Abandonment Before Closing Day

As summer crowds descend on Walt Disney World, one quiet corner of Magic Kingdom is drawing attention for all the wrong reasons. Tom Sawyer Island, the longtime raft-accessed attraction in Frontierland, isn’t set to close until early July. But guests say the experience has already begun to disappear—feature by feature, day by day.

And unlike its famously secluded design, this ending hasn’t gone unnoticed.

A Retreat in Name Only

For more than 50 years, Tom Sawyer Island has existed on the margins—both literally and thematically. Nestled in the middle of the Rivers of America, it offered shade, space, and a rare sense of unstructured play (including for the bear that snuck into Magic Kingdom and caused chaos in 2023). Guests crossed by raft and wandered freely through caves, bridges, and old frontier forts without characters or queues.

Disney confirmed earlier this year that the area will be demolished to make way for Piston Peak National Park, a new Cars-adjacent land based on Planes: Fire & Rescue. It will also spell the end of the Liberty Square Riverboat and Rivers of America, which anchor the northern edge of Magic Kingdom.

Construction walls are expected to rise just days after its closure at the end of its operating day on July 6. But according to several recent visitors, parts of the island are already inaccessible, and the overall experience is degrading faster than expected.

Guests Report Features Quietly Closing

According to one Reddit user, multiple parts of Tom Sawyer Island were closed to Disney guests today.

“The windmill was closed on Tuesday and all the caves were miserably hot, as if the AC was broken,” one guest shared on Reddit. “Also the bathrooms in the fort were also very warm. At this point there’s really no reason to fix those things when it all closes in a couple weeks.”

Tom Sawyer Island isn’t in the best shape today…
byu/kingkoopa0819 inWaltDisneyWorld

Another added, “The windmill and crooked little bridge have been closed for a while.” Others noted minimal staffing, with fewer cast members stationed at the raft docks or around the island’s scattered walkways.

“I speak from the experience of having seen many an attraction go the way of the dodo,” one longtime fan wrote. “The nearer they get to their closing date, more special effects get turned off, [certain] areas become unavailable to public, other areas start to fall into disrepair…. It’s pretty much standard practice at this point.”

A Shift in Priorities

Disney fans’ reaction has been mixed but increasingly vocal. Many understand that Piston Peak will bring refreshed energy to the area. But others view Tom Sawyer Island’s quiet wind-down as part of a broader pattern—one that devalues original park design in favor of brand synergy.

Concept art for Piston Peak does show extensive water features, echoing the space it’s replacing. Still, some question the tradeoff: an open-ended, literature-inspired play space being replaced by a modern, IP-driven land.

As Disney moves forward with its Frontierland overhaul, the final days of Tom Sawyer Island seem unlikely to come with ceremony. There are no farewell events, no send-off merchandise, and—according to guests—dwindling upkeep. For many, that absence of care feels more significant than the closure itself.

The island may still appear on park maps, but in practice, it’s already fading.

How do you feel about the upcoming closure of Tom Sawyer Island?