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Frontierland's Riverwalk Will Be Partly Walled Off for Years, and Magic Kingdom's Churro and Popcorn Carts Have Already Moved
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Frontierland's Riverwalk Will Be Partly Walled Off for Years, and Magic Kingdom's Churro and Popcorn Carts Have Already Moved

Michael Travels
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Published

Magic Kingdom guests can still walk the Frontierland riverwalk and boardwalk. That is not a permanent arrangement.

WDW News Today reports that the construction walls closing in on this corner of the park will eventually be moved forward into the existing riverwalk area, and that a temporary pedestrian pathway will be installed along the promenade so guests can still get through the area and watch parades during what the outlet describes as years of expected construction. The reason is Piston Peak National Park, the land taking shape behind those walls.

Guests walking along the wide reddish pavement of the Frontierland riverwalk area at Magic Kingdom on a sunny day, with a rustic wooden picket fence running along one side and brown construction walls visible beyond it, plus a tall lighting tower with black fixtures rising from a stack of grey wooden crates. The Frontierland riverwalk area on July 22, with construction walls standing beyond the log fence line. Image credit: WDW News Today

Westward Ho is completely walled in

Blog Mickey reported Wednesday that the former Westward Ho Refreshments building is now completely ringed by construction walls, a month after the kiosk permanently closed on June 22. The outlet says the barriers point toward demolition as what comes next for the site.

The walled area extends past the kiosk itself, which Blog Mickey says would support its own theory that the Frontierland boardwalk is closing soon. Disney removed that boardwalk from the My Disney Experience digital map in mid July. For now, WDW News Today says the boardwalk is still open.

The snack carts have already moved

The Frontierland churro cart has moved to a new spot near Frontier Trading Post, parked under umbrellas next to a Coca-Cola beverage cart. A churro runs $7.49, Mickey-shaped and Pepper Jack pretzels are both $8.49, soda is $5.50 and bottled water is $4.25.

A wooden churro cart with bright orange spoked wheels standing under two umbrellas outside a log building in Frontierland, with a stainless steel Coca-Cola beverage cart parked alongside it, its yellow plank-painted panel lettered Ice Cold and Refreshing. The relocated churro cart near Frontier Trading Post, with a Coca-Cola beverage cart beside it. Image credit: Blog Mickey

The popcorn moved too. WDW News Today counted two popcorn stands in new locations, one near the Disney Vacation Club kiosk and the other just outside Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. Blog Mickey reports the Pecos Bill cart is serving popcorn, cinnamon-glazed nuts and cotton candy.

A wooden popcorn cart with turquoise spoked wheels and a painted popcorn sign, staffed by a cast member, positioned under tan umbrellas beside the yellow stucco walls and hanging sign of Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. The popcorn cart in its new spot just outside Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. Image credit: Blog Mickey

WDW News Today also noticed that the area that housed the popcorn stands has itself been walled off.

How Frontierland got here

Blog Mickey has tracked this one since winter. Per its timeline: an exclusive rumor in late January that three Frontierland locations were on the chopping block, three permits filed in mid February, the kiosks removed from the My Disney Experience digital map in early March, and within days of that the first expansion of the Frontierland construction walls. Closing dates were posted in late April, Big Al's for May 11 and Westward Ho for June 22. Big Al's closed and was prepped for demolition on May 11.

What it means for a park day

Right now: the boardwalk is open, the churros are near Frontier Trading Post, and the popcorn is by Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe and the Disney Vacation Club kiosk.

Worth planning around: the riverwalk. If the walls move forward as WDW News Today reports, the wide riverwalk stretch where parade watchers line up gets narrowed, and parade viewing shifts to a temporary pedestrian pathway along the promenade for years. Neither outlet reported a date for that change.

Sources

Image credits: WDW News Today (Frontierland riverwalk); Blog Mickey (churro cart, popcorn cart).

Mentioned in this story

Check out our guides for more on each place in this story:

Magic Kingdom Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe Frontier Trading Post

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