Disney World's Cars-Themed Land Gets Green Light as Environmental Permit Is Approved

Feb 17, 2025 in "Cars Land Magic Kingdom"

Gallery / 3 Photos
Frontierland Concept Art Aerial View

Posted: Monday February 17, 2025 5:10pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney has received approval from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for its environmental resource permit, clearing the way for the transformation of Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America into a new Cars-themed area at Magic Kingdom.

The permit, issued on February 17, 2025, authorizes modifications to the 407 Basin Stormwater System, which plays a key role in managing water flow and environmental impacts for the planned expansion. This approval comes after Disney submitted additional requested information, addressing concerns about wetland impacts and stormwater management.

Closer view of the new Cars-themed attractions at Magic Kingdom

Key Details from the Approved Permit

The permit, identified as Permit No. 48-111503-P, covers a 300.82-acre project area and includes modifications to the 407 Basin Stormwater System. As part of the approval, Disney will impact 61.93 acres of wetlands and surface water, with mitigation efforts tied to credits from the Disney Wilderness Preserve and Mira Lago sites. The permit is valid until February 17, 2030, allowing Disney to proceed with necessary site preparations.

The stormwater system updates include new drainage structures and erosion control measures to ensure proper water flow and environmental protection. The project complies with state water quality standards and the Clean Water Act, addressing concerns raised in the initial review.

What's Next for the Project?

With this permit in place, Disney can move forward with early site preparations, including clearing and grading work. Construction on the Cars-themed land is expected to begin in 2025, bringing two new attractions to Magic Kingdom:

A high-speed rally race through mountainous terrain with geysers and mudholes.
A family-friendly Cars ride designed for younger guests.

Cars Concept Art

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HMF4 hours ago

But much much better though why it is still Hyperspace Mountain after nearly ten years does deserve a good explanation.

Disstevefan110 hours ago

Agreed, not sure who is saying that, its not me. With the opening of EPIC, Disney CANNOT ignore WDW and as we see with all the walls at WDW, they are trying. Lets see what we have in 3 to 5 years at WDW when all the scope cuts are made and previews begin, 🤞

MisterPenguin10 hours ago

It's not "The Walt Disney World Company." While, for accounting purposes, the company keeps track of how each segment is doing, it is, in the end, just one big company. All profits go into one big bucket. All expenses, in the end, come out of that big bucket. You might not care about Disney movies or cruises or sports and just want TWDC to dump all profit into the park you like, but there are other people who may not care about the theme park experiences and want Disney to dump their profits into movies or cruises or sports. And actually... both Bobs acknowledged that, right now, the theme parks have the best ROI of all their segments. That's why $17B is being dumped into WDW and $60B into parks worldwide. Right now, in this moment, an argument that Disney is ignoring their parks or letting them languish, would be baseless.

Disstevefan110 hours ago

Good thing the other segments could help out during a hundred year event like a pandemic 👍 TWDC is back to usual now. 👍

MisterPenguin10 hours ago

Not very cool during a pandemic in which TWDC's other segments kept WDW afloat which was hemorrhaging money.

Goofyernmost11 hours ago

I know but Space Mtn. (Hyperspace) Mtm.) at Disneyland Paris is far and away better than WDW's. At least there is something to see in it and not total darkness. And in DLP part of it, albeit a small part, is visible from outside the ride building. Plus the feeling of being launched totally adds to it. However it is still primarily a dark ride in both places. The audience that S.M. has is different from the true Coaster enthusiast because both SM's are really just comparatively slow moving and aren't even a little bit visually stimulating like todays Coasters are. It's the high that comes from seeing just exactly how far into the sky your ride will take you, anticipating fast corners, the loops and the speed of the ride down from the highest point. Of the ones I have seen in person and some of those of other parks, WDW is painful and boring. As usual that is my opinion, I know others feel it is great.

lazyboy97o12 hours ago

Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris is smaller than Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom.

James Alucobond12 hours ago

They are of course able. Cosmic Rewind and TRON, for instance, exist in lands where they would only need to be lightly finished in a somewhat modern way on all sides to not be as horrendously disruptive as they are. They just don't want to spend money on it and are okay with bare warehouses at this point as long as they sit back a bit from the park proper.

Disstevefan112 hours ago

How cool would it be if all the profit made in WDW could be invested back into WDW!!!

Goofyernmost12 hours ago

Space Mtn is a slow moving coaster that gives its jollies by being in the dark with a lot of sharp turns. That is still popular as a type of coaster, but to build a less compact coaster with high speed and a lot of twist, turns and visually scary one requires a whole lot more room and height than Disney is willing or even able to build disguised as something you cannot see.

James Alucobond12 hours ago

So you design them to not be hidden. Y’know, like Space Mountain or Big Thunder or Everest or whatever. It’s not a mystery, it’s just obviously not currently a priority.

Goofyernmost12 hours ago

I think they still care about that part, because that is a one time expense and they move on. The rear of the Cars and Villians is a huge operation and access to a lot pieces parts to build it plus equipment is probably the reason for just clearing out the area. I'm sure they have a lot of replacement trees that can be used to make things hard to see. My point was that according to some reports the desire for large "scary" rides has tied their hands when it comes to be able to hide everything. You can't have a 30 or 40 ft tall structure to easily hide, especially right away. When omnimovers were just two stories high it was a piece of cake. Now the demand is for high speed things be they indoor or outdoor or both. The closest we come to that now is the 7DMT that combines inside and outside shows otherwise we have a 6 Flags Disney Park. The more intense that rides (coasters) get the higher they go and unless part of it is a water display dug into the Florida Swamp. Thus the harder they are to hide from vision unless we help out by ignoring it. I have stated many times that I started going to WDW yearly in 1983 to 2019. I never noticed that the Swan and Dolphin Hotels were visible from inside Epcot until somebody complained about seeing it from inside. The next time I went I looked and by damn there they were. I saw them that one time about in the early 2000's and it hasn't caught my attention since then.

MisterPenguin22 hours ago

Just a quick glance at any quarterly report would show that's not the case at all. But, keep on making stuff up to be mad about.

Mr. Sullivan1 day ago

If if’s Jim Shull, I fear I automatically have to tune him out. I respect the work he did over his years at WDI, but there is little that is respectable about how he uses his platform today.