Westward Ho Refreshments Permanently Closed at Magic Kingdom's Frontierland for Piston Peak Expansion

Jun 22, 2026 in "Westward Ho Refreshments"

Westward Ho Closes at Magic Kingdom - Frontierland June 2026
Posted: Monday June 22, 2026 9:21am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Westward Ho Refreshments has closed today in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom. Operating hours have been removed from My Disney Experience and the location's page has been taken down from the official Disney World website, mirroring the same steps that preceded the permanent closure of Big Al's earlier this summer.

Signage on the building currently directs guests to the nearby Popcorn Wagon for refreshments, with a popcorn cart now parked alongside the closed Westward Ho structure.

Disney has not made any formal announcement about the closure, consistent with how Big Al's was handled — hours quietly dropped from the app, the web page removed, and the location shuttered without a public statement.

Both Frontierland Kiosks Now Gone

With Westward Ho now closed, both of the Frontierland refreshment kiosks targeted in earlier construction permit filings have shut down. Big Al's closed permanently on May 11 and is behind construction walls.

The Churro Wagon Cart, which was included in the same original permit filings as both locations, has not yet shown any closure date on My Disney Experience.

Notices of Commencement filed earlier this year listed Buena Vista Construction Company — Disney's in-house construction crew — as the contractor for work at the Westward Ho site.

Piston Peak Construction Progress

Construction on Piston Peak National Park continues to advance. Foundation work and concrete retaining walls are visible from multiple points along the Frontierland pathway and from the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue. The cleared and graded site extends well beyond Big Thunder Mountain into the former Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America area.

Disney announced Piston Peak National Park at the 2024 D23 Expo. The land will include two attractions — a rally race through mountain terrain with geysers and mudholes, and a second family-oriented ride. No opening timeline has been announced.

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BocabearJun 23, 2026

Anything would have made far more sense than the area featuring Cars...LOL Even replacing the speedway would have been a better choice...

HMFJun 23, 2026

The thing that boggles my mind is even if they must do Cars wouldn't it make more sense from a creative standpoint to keep the river and use TSI as the site and find a way to build a load area with a tunnel to connect the actual ride track ala BTM in DLP? Admittedly I am unsure if that is actually theoretically possible or not but that aside, the idea of not leaning into the Grizzly Gulch idea seems especially ridiculous considering the Country Bears are right there, (Bears are literally right in the theme and name.) It would make FAR more sense than having CBJ juxtaposed with Cars.

BocabearJun 23, 2026

Grizzly Gulch is really what Frontierland should have been changing to for the last several decades...it was continuing to lose it's Frontier feeling and aesthetic... Now with Tiana's Sweatshop Foods factory and swamp in the middle of it, it would have made sense to re-theme that whole area from Diamond Horseshoe to the bend as a 19th century New Orleans waterfront... Put in a proper Tina's Palace, and creat a new Frontierland on the other side of TBA beginning at Big Thunder... but now of course we have the googly eyed autos moving in...which honestly could and should have been somewhere else... When you look at the amount of land recently cleared, I wonder if they could build an all new Frontierland out there beyond...if Villains Land is going to be closer to HM and the back of Fantasyland....

HMFJun 23, 2026

Again seeing @marni1971's Grizzly Gulch at HKDL video really opened my eyes to how effectively this could have been done if not for the damn IP mandate.

DCBakerJun 22, 2026

The Candied Bacon Skewer is available at Golden Oak Outpost.

billemJun 22, 2026

I believe there were some unique snacks here (candied bacon is something I only found there). Are they serving that somewhere else now, or is it just gone?

Disstevefan1Jun 22, 2026

Frontierland's transition is in progress.....

wdwmagicJun 22, 2026

Westward Ho Refreshments Permanently Closed at Magic Kingdom's Frontierland for Piston Peak Expansion Westward Ho Refreshments has permanently closed in Frontierland, with its My Disney Experience listing pulled and signage directing guests to the nearby Popcorn Wagon - the same quiet process Disney used when Big Al's shut down on May 11. Both closures tie to the ongoing Piston Peak National Park construction. https://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/Westward-Ho-Refreshments/news/22jun2026-westward-ho-refreshments-permanently-closed-at-magic-kingdom-s-frontierland-for-piston-peak-expansion.htm

BocabearMay 18, 2026

I wold think the entire waterfront area is going to change in use and function...and these were just sales kiosks...I aim sure there will be plenty of opportunities in the revamped Whatever-it-is-land to buy snacks and stuff....

The Chatbox GhostMay 17, 2026

My guess is that they had to remove these for construction, as they need to work on the boardwalk but can’t close the boardwalk without accommodating for its walking space, so the three structures right next to the boardwalk get torn down, and eventually replacements are put up. Will they look and be named the same? I don’t know. They saved Big Al’s sign, so there’s a chance it’ll be recreated. I can’t see them not putting a food stand back up either.

Mr. SullivanMay 16, 2026

Nothing has been said one way or another, but I would doubt it. All of this sits outside of what all of the concept art we have has established as the boundary of Piston Peak.

FigmentFan82May 15, 2026

Do we know if the intent is to re-theme some of these to go along with piston Peak?

dmc493May 14, 2026

Feels like we're dangerously close to the boardwalk closing?

wdwmagicMay 14, 2026

Big Al's Now Behind Construction Walls as Demolition Nears at Magic Kingdom Big Al's is now behind construction walls in Frontierland, with its signage already removed ahead of demolition. The kiosk closed permanently on May 11 and sits adjacent to the Piston Peak expansion zone, with Westward Ho likely to follow - My Disney Experience shows no operating hours for that stand after June 22. https://www.wdwmagic.com/shopping/Big-Als/news/14may2026-big-al-s-now-behind-construction-walls-as-demolition-begins-at-magic-kingdom.htm

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