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Disney Releases More Details On Its New Cars-Themed Land
Say hello to Piston Peak National Park.
Last year, Disney announced an entire land dedicated to Pixar’s Cars at its Magic Kingdom Park in Orlando. Aside from a few illustrations that, actually, looked pretty awesome, the details were otherwise scarce. But today, the company has revealed new information on its next big expansion—including a name.
Say goodbye to Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America (RIP), and say hello to Piston Peak National Park (which, you probably don’t remember, was a real place in Disney’s Planes: Fire & Rescue movie). The new Cars area will be ripe with thick pine forests and snowy mountain peaks, and include a river that runs through the entire land. It will be the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom.
Disney Imagineers drew inspiration from America’s national parks for this new land, with the Piston Peak mountain range inspired by Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. The faux national park will also include a visitor’s lodge, a Ranger headquarters, and walking trails alongside two designated Cars attractions.
The first attraction, an off-road rally-style ride, will allow guests to weave through the forests and over Piston Peak on a trackless ride vehicle with new characters from the Cars franchise. Disney promises it will be “just like a real race.” A second, yet-to-be-named attraction will be geared toward smaller children and families.
Piston Peak National Park will extend from Liberty Square all the way to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and toward the updated Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, which is set to re-open sometime in 2026. Guests who want to experience Tom Sawyer Island and the Riverboat before work begins on the new land have until July 7.
Disney hasn’t said exactly when the new land will open. But for such a massive expansion, don’t expect to see anything until at least 2027 or 2028.
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Scout Traveler Concepts Show Rugged And Luxe Sides Of New SUV
Mountainside and trail-ready Scout Traveler builds preview the future production SUV’s design, powertrain mix, packaging, and timing for US buyers.
Scout Motors just gave the clearest look yet at the SUV that is supposed to revive the Traveler name for real customers. The automaker rolled out two concepts, Mountainside and a trail-ready build, both riding on the same Traveler body but pulling in opposite directions.
One leans into “quiet luxury” with a warmer cabin and softer palette. The other is built for rock crawling, with beadlock wheels and a winch. Both debut this week at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience in Colorado, running September 4 through 6, alongside the Scout Terra pickup.
The Mountainside concept wears a new exterior color called Morning Dusk, a charcoal brown with fine gold metallic flakes that Scout says catches light like early morning over the mountains. It rides on 22-inch Vault wheels in anodized black, wrapped in 35-inch tires, with no rear spare carrier to keep the profile clean.
Designer Peyton Sullivan called the theme a softer side of Scout built around family use. Inside, the Alpine District cabin mixes semi-aniline leather, gray woven fabric with a plaid pattern pulled from historic Scout interiors, houndstooth trim on the headliner, and recycled walnut wood accents throughout.
The trail-ready concept flips the script entirely. It is built for people who actually plan to leave pavement behind. Full-metal front and rear bumpers, rock rails, an integrated winch, and an elevated roof rack with trail lights all point toward serious backcountry use rather than mall parking lots.
It sits on 18-inch black beadlock wheels wrapped in 35-inch off-road tires, finished in Galvanized Steel paint with a contrasting canvas roof. Inside, a Denim District theme swaps the Mountainside’s warmth for brick-red leather built to take a beating.
Neither concept is the exact production truck. Scout has said outright that both are design studies meant to show how flexible the Scout Traveler SUV platform can be, and that the real Traveler will likely land somewhere between the two rather than copying either one directly.
Scout Traveler Mountainside Concept
Production will take place at the company’s new Columbia, South Carolina plant. The company publicly pushed back on reports suggesting a launch could slip to the 2028 to 2030 window, and reiterated that it is working toward initial production in 2027, with customer vehicles reaching buyers after that.
Scout has floated targets of more than 7,000 pounds of towing capacity and over 12 inches of ground clearance for the production SUV. Those numbers aim squarely at buyers cross-shopping trucks and body-on-frame rivals rather than crossovers.
Pricing targets put the base model under $60,000, with fully refundable $100 reservations already open. Scout has said it will begin Traveler production with the Harvester range-extender configuration based on customer demand, before pure electric versions follow.
Scout will offer all-electric and range-extended Harvester energy systems on the Traveler. The company has discussed a projected total range of more than 500 miles for extended-range versions using an onboard gas generator, but detailed battery specs and final powertrain layouts are still subject to change.
The all-electric Traveler is currently projected to offer up to about 350 miles of range from a larger battery pack. Scout has not yet published a kilowatt-hour figure for that pack in its official specifications.
Motor1’s Take: The two concepts make clear Scout is aiming at buyers who want both cabin refinement and serious off-road ability. Pricing and the final powertrain will determine whether the Traveler finds a broad audience.
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