Frontierland (Magic Kingdom)
Frontierland is one of the six themed lands of Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. Themed to the American frontier of the nineteenth century, it stretches along the park's western edge from Liberty Square in the east to the wooded country beyond Big Thunder Mountain. It opened with the park on October 1, 1971, and its major attractions include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tiana's Bayou Adventure and the Country Bear Musical Jamboree.
Design
Frontierland continues a journey through American history that begins in Liberty Square. Where Liberty Square covers the colonial East of the 1700s, Frontierland moves both westward and forward in time: its wooden boardwalks, stone and timber buildings evoke river towns, mining settlements and desert outposts of the 1800s. For most of its history the land was defined by its waterfront on the Rivers of America, the artificial river it shared with Liberty Square, with Tom Sawyer Island sitting mid-stream. That geography ended in 2025, when the river and island closed to make way for new construction, the largest physical change in the land's history.
History
Frontierland opened in 1971 with a modest line-up: the Country Bear Jamboree, which made its world debut here, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes, and a Walt Disney World Railroad station, with Tom Sawyer Island following in 1973. A much larger western project, centred on a ride called Western River Expedition, had been planned for the land's empty western end but was shelved; one element of it, a runaway mine train, survived the cancellation and opened on November 15, 1980 as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
The land's western end was rebuilt entirely in the early 1990s to receive Splash Mountain, a log flume based on the animated sequences of Song of the South. The ride opened on October 2, 1992, alongside a relocated, two-storey railroad station. The Explorer Canoes closed in 1994.
Change accelerated in the 2020s. Splash Mountain closed on January 23, 2023 and was rethemed to The Princess and the Frog, reopening on June 28, 2024 as Tiana's Bayou Adventure, which moved the setting to 1920s Louisiana while retaining the flume and its final drop. The original Country Bear Jamboree closed in January 2024 and returned that July as the Country Bear Musical Jamboree, with the bears performing country arrangements of Disney songs. The Frontierland Shootin' Arcade, an opening-era fixture, closed in June 2024 and was replaced by a Disney Vacation Club lounge. In August 2024 Disney announced that Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America would be replaced by Piston Peak National Park, an area themed to the world of Cars; both closed on July 7, 2025, and during construction the Frontierland railroad station is closed, with trains running in a shuttle pattern. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad also closed in January 2025 for an extended refurbishment.
Attractions
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (1980) — a runaway mine train roller coaster through a flooded mining town in red-rock desert country.
- Tiana's Bayou Adventure (2024) — a log flume following Tiana and Louis as they prepare for a Mardi Gras celebration; a retheme of Splash Mountain (1992–2023).
- Country Bear Musical Jamboree (2024) — an Audio-Animatronic stage show in Grizzly Hall; the original Country Bear Jamboree played from 1971 to 2024.
- Walt Disney World Railroad — the Frontierland station (currently closed during the Piston Peak construction) is the middle stop on the line's circuit.
Former attractions include Tom Sawyer Island (1973–2025), a walk-around play island reached by raft; Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes (1971–1994); and the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade (1971–2024).
Dining and shopping
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, near the Liberty Square border, is the land's largest restaurant; the Golden Oak Outpost and Westward Ho serve smaller menus along the former waterfront. Frontier Trading Post is the land's main shop and a centre for pin trading.