MK Piston Peak and Villains Land Construction Thread

[Disgruntled Walt]

Let's have a thread where we share and discuss construction of the Piston Peak and Villains Land replacements coming to Magic Kingdom. Please keep commentary on the projects to the original thread: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/cars-themed-attractions-at-magic-kingdom.984443.

 

[EagleScout610]

You're a lifesaver, thank you

 

[MisterPenguin]

 

[EagleScout610]

Surprised they haven't entirely drained the river yet. It seemed like they were getting it drained last week.

 

[Incomudro]

What is the stated time frame for completion of this project?

 

[James Alucobond]

What is the stated time frame for completion of this project?

They haven’t said officially. People are guessing 28/29.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I got to see (what are likely my last) views of the River last night. The walls still have a decent chunk open, but likely not for long. I will give warning - the walls do make navigating during Starlight a bit worse. Obviously, it's the same physical space mostly. But, people sort of move away from the walls, so it did seem to squeeze traffic moving back and forth behind the viewers a bit more squished. So, plan accordingly if you're going to try and get to/from Tiana's or BTMRR during the parade!

(I actually heard a number of people talking about the plans. The word "Why" came up a lot. Interestingly, it was mostly Brits.)

 

[Incomudro]

They haven’t said officially. People are guessing 28/29.

Ok, thank you.
Looks like a tremendous undertaking.
Then again, so was Pandora.

 

[Incomudro]

I got to see (what are likely my last) views of the River last night. The walls still have a decent chunk open, but likely not for long. I will give warning - the walls do make navigating during Starlight a bit worse. Obviously, it's the same physical space mostly. But, people sort of move away from the walls, so it did seem to squeeze traffic moving back and forth behind the viewers a bit more squished. So, plan accordingly if you're going to try and get to/from Tiana's or BTMRR during the parade!

(I actually heard a number of people talking about the plans. The word "Why" came up a lot. Interestingly, it was mostly Brits.)

Yes, those walls are going to create a psychological level of claustrophobia for some time.

 

[BrianLo]

Ok, thank you.
Looks like a tremendous undertaking.
Then again, so was Pandora.

Indeed. Pandora started work most formerly in Jan 2014 and opened May 2017. Galaxies Edge April 2016 and partially opened May 2019. The Disneyland version even included ROA work.

We have a reasonable expectation that they are fully capable on what posters previously deemed “slow timelines” to open this between August to Nov 2028. There’s a lot of lead time baked in for Villains to open in 2029 as long as we see some clear evidence of it in permitting and early project specific foundation work within the next year. As is we expect early site prep for villains is sort of happening concurrently, even if the project isn’t finalized yet, there’s a lot to do for it pre-emptively.

 

[ChewbaccaYourMum]

Thank you for making this. Regardless of how any of us feels about this whole situation, it's happening and that's that. The commentary on it is almost getting to levels more annoying than the Splash-to-Tiana commentary.

I'm excited to see progress on this!

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Posters from the Frontierland side of the wall.

As of yesterday water seemed like it was at a normal level.

 

[MisterPenguin]

From ground-breaking to opening, all of Pandora took 3 1/2 years.

From the time of the D23 announcement of Piston Peak and Villains Land to take "five years," WDW now has fours years to get both Piston Peak and Villains Land done (four and a half if you give them to the end of the calendar year).

They *could* miss their own deadline. But we shouldn't pretend there isn't an announced timeline and start making stuff up.

 

[The Underminer]

Great idea! Thanks for this

 

[Garyjames220]

How long will it take to drain the water

 

[Incomudro]

Curious to see what they are going to do with the river bed.
That is, if they retain a portion of the water as indicated in the newer concept art - do they retain that portion of the bed?
Or will they tear the whole thing out, and build a new section?

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

Curious to see what they are going to do with the river bed.
That is, if they retain a portion of the water as indicated in the newer concept art - do they retain that portion of the bed?
Or will they tear the whole thing out, and build a new section?

I'll bet they flatten everything first and then dig a new trough after they've done most of the construction on the attractions.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Curious to see what they are going to do with the river bed.
That is, if they retain a portion of the water as indicated in the newer concept art - do they retain that portion of the bed?
Or will they tear the whole thing out, and build a new section?

I could be completely wrong - but my understanding is the entire river will be filled in. Previously - this was an actual body of water navigable by boats (or rafts as the case may be!) and connected to bay lake and the lagoon.

The water that will be here, will be more like the water that exists in new fantasyland.

 

[JoeCamel]

How long will it take to drain the water

They could do it in a couple of days but they need to be ready to wash out the trough or it gets ripe quickly. Better to leave it wet until the last minute

 

[lazyboy97o]

Curious to see what they are going to do with the river bed.
That is, if they retain a portion of the water as indicated in the newer concept art - do they retain that portion of the bed?
Or will they tear the whole thing out, and build a new section?

The new water features are essentially going to be a swimming pool with recirculating water. It’s also not going to be nearly as wide. Along the guest pathways could be kept but a lot needs to be removed (or just buried if they’re feeling crazy).