We've Got Good News About Magic Kingdom's Riverboat

A lot has changed in Magic Kingdom this year. For example, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is in the middle of a massive update and has been closed since the beginning of the year. Construction has started on a new Villains land behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

However, the biggest change came when Disney closed Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island, and the Liberty Square Riverboat to make way for a new Cars expansion in Frontierland. But what happened to the Riverboat, the Liberty Belle? Did Disney demolish it? We’ve got answers!

The Liberty Belle is now in a backstage area of Magic Kingdom, where it is docked at a marina. Yep, it’s still there, and we know this, thanks to aerial photos by @bioreconstruct.

So the Liberty Belle hasn’t been destroyed. Disney has not yet stated that it has any future plans for the riverboat, though, so we don’t know what it’s ultimate fate will be. In the meantime, Rivers of America is being drained. Here’s an aerial look at Tom Sawyer Island (which we can imagine will be destroyed and/or converted into part of Piston Peak, the new Cars expansion.

Here’s another view of Tom Sawyer Island with its former rafts in the bottom right. We also don’t know what Disney has planned for those.

At least Disney has some plans to keep a few water features for Piston Peak, at least according to the area’s concept art.

We’ll keep an eye out for more changes to this area, plus all the other changes happening in Disney World and Disneyland, so stay tuned to DFB for more.