Disney World is busy closing restaurants and tearing down buildings!
©bioreconstruct on X
The Disney resort is changing in tons of ways, and while we are excited about the new expansions, it’s pretty jarring to see this many updates at once. Now, another Disney World building has bit the dust — literally!
Another Magic Kingdom restaurant has officially joined the Disney World graveyard. Aunt Polly’s on Tom Sawyer Island has officially been demolished. You can see where the building was previously, towards the top left of the trees. Along with Polly’s, a windmill has been removed, and a mill, along with the water wheel, is gone.
©bioreconstruct on X posted on October 18th, 2025
In the photo below, taken roughly a week before the demolition photos, you can see where each building stood as well as how many trees have been removed. While we did say that Aunt Polly’s has joined the Disney graveyard, in all fairness, the restaurant formally closed back in July 2025 after not operating for several years.
@bioreconstruct on X from October 12th, 2025
Aunt Polly’s was a quick-service restaurant located on Tom Sawyer Island. It served up fried chicken, biscuits, BBQ sandwiches, and more during its time. The restaurant was most recently open in 2019, but that was the last time we stopped by the island restaurant. It operated during busy seasons, and we seriously missed it the last few years before it formally closed.
Becky’s Buttery Biscuit BBQ Pork Sliders from Aunt Polly’s in Magic Kingdom
The demolition news comes as Disney is working towards a brand-new Cars-inspired land called Piston Peak. Disney announced the news at D23 in 2024, so we’ve known demolition was coming for quite some time now. Thanks to bioreconstruct on X, we have been able to keep up with each phase of the demolition despite the walls lining Frontierland.
©bioreconstruct on X
The restaurant is joined in being demolished by the Fort Langhorn play area on Tom Sawyer Island. Is anyone else wondering what happened to the poor animatronics and their horses? Do you think they made it off the island?
©bioreconstruct on X
In other photos, you can see how Piston Peak will be situated in Frontierland, near Big Thunder Mountain and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Big Thunder Mountain has been closed for all of 2025 and will stay closed until early 2026 for a major refurbishment. Disney has teased that “new magic” will be coming to the attraction and even released some concept art that ties Piston Peak and the attraction together.
©bioreconstruct on X
We aren’t shocked by the updates, but it does hurt to see a bit! Demolition permits were filed back in June 2026, so we knew this was coming soon.
Piston Peak ©Disney
Piston Peak will feature 2 new attractions, along with shopping and (we’re hoping) new snack options. The first is a Rally Race-themed Attraction! Disney has warned us to get ready to race through the mountains on wild terrain along mountain trails as you dodge geysers and splash through mud holes on an exciting and thrilling rally race ride.
©bioreconstruct on X
The second attraction will be more family-friendly, but Disney has yet to give us more details regarding that ride. Disney also hasn’t shared an opening timeline for Piston Peak ,but it’s clear there’s quite a bit of work to go. These latest updates are a bittersweet reminder of what we’ve lost (buttered biscuits and dark caves) and what we are gaining (new rides and Lightning McQueen). As always, be sure to keep following DFB for more Disney news and updates.
Learn everything we know about Piston Peak right here!
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I don’t think I’ve eaten at Aunt Polly’s since the 1990s (when I personally, last saw it open) so I’m not grieving.
The number of times I’ve visited MK since I was a kid and I finally went on to Tom Sawyer’s Island just 2 yrs ago. It was nice place for my parents to rest while my kids and I explored. The tunnels, bridges, the Fort! It was a whole new experience to my 40 yrs of Disney. Seeing it demolished makes me thankful my old age curiosity made me finally check it out before it was too late ♥️
While I have enjoyed the riverboat on several occasions. A brief respite during an active day, I have to admit, I have only visited the island once, and never eaten at aunt Polly’s. Oh well.
It’s interesting to see the riverboat track/rail now that the river is drained. Such a loss that with all the land Disney owns they couldn’t ADD more attractions instead of replace ones that Walt imagined, at least the Disneyland version still exists.