Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Prepares for Overhaul with Arrival of Large Crane at Magic Kingdom

Dec 12, 2024 in "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad"

Gallery / 3 Photos
Crane at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Decembet 12, 2024

Posted: Thursday December 12, 2024 9:55am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

A large crane is now in position behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Frontierland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

The crane, which is now clearly visible from certain vantage points around Frontierland, will be used for tasks like dismantling and replacing track sections, as well as other work requiring a large reach. The scale of the crane suggests that substantial updates are planned for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is set to close for refurbishment on January 6, 2025, and reopen sometime in 2026.

Crane at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Decembet 12, 2024

What to Expect During the Refurbishment

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's refurbishment will be its most extensive since a four-month update in 2012. Permits filed for the project indicate work on the ride system, infrastructure, and electrical systems.

Disney has promised "a little bit of new magic" when the attraction reopens, but the exact details of what will change remain under wraps. Previous updates to Big Thunder at Disneyland included enhanced ride systems, updated vehicles, and refreshed theming, so it's possible Magic Kingdom's version could receive similar upgrades.

Stay tuned for more updates as the project unfolds.

Crane at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Decembet 12, 2024

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Disstevefan12 hours ago

GhostHost10002 hours ago

probably not, but by the time it's back up and running... the cost to get in the park to ride it may cause ulcers

plutofan153 hours ago

I believe that Big Thunder leans towards the family friendly end of coasters, but at the upper end of them. Many years ago, we were part of a commercial shoot along with two other families who are friends of ours. There were seven kids ranging from a year old up to 10 years old. The two rides which were picked to film on were Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder. Every kid rode Big Thunder (with the exception of the one year old) four consecutive times without getting off in order to get the shots needed. And no complaints from any of the kids. PS: Kudos to the camera crew for riding all those rides facing backwards.

JackCH4 hours ago

Yeah I would be fine with that too! In my mind I just think having one true thrill coaster at MK would be good, all the others are fairly tame. So having one just to scratch that itch would be good, and I can't think of a premise outside of Space where going all out would be possible. Except maybe villains but I think that will be another fairly tame story-coaster.

splah4 hours ago

i hope so too. It is the perfect layout for families. A little more thrilling than BTM but not unobtainable for kids.

danlb_20005 hours ago

The big question is, will the refurbed ride still cure kidney stones?

Bocabear6 hours ago

I am hoping when they do finally get to the retrack and full refurbishment of Space Mountain that instead of going the Tokyo route, they instead replace the track in the same configuration perhads with a little smoother profiling, add on-board audio, new special effects, and completely overhaul the post-ride experience... Use the Horizons animatronics and recreate the Home Of Future Living complete with Speedramp exit and bring back Space Mountain's original theme song sans sponsor name ( they recorded it both with and wothout sponsor reference)... Make it the Mid-Mod Futurist journey into outer space that it was always meant to be... Jetson's futurist...whimsical and fun...with actual show scenes and visuals specifically for the Peoplemover instead of inky-blackness for 4 minutes....

Andrew256 hours ago

I have the benefit of living in Orlando and comparing coasters at each park, and Big Thunder is far from being a rough coaster. Sure it has its moments, but it's pretty remarkable how great in shape it is considering its age. VelociCoaster had a rough period about 2 years ago where they were struggling to find replacement wheels and it led to a rather uncomfortable ride experience.

MerlinTheGoat6 hours ago

No it isn't. People don't realize how horrible it has gotten until they experience an actually smooth coaster with a reasonably new track. I had the good fortune in the early 90s to ride Paris' version of Big Thunder when its track was still brand new (Cali's got a retrack some years back and was also reported to be a night and day difference). It was a real eye opener. Even back then with less than 15 years worth of mileage, MK's was already far more rough by comparison to the then brand new one at Paris. Still enjoyable enough to ride at the time, but it was a major difference regardless. Now several decades on, MK's has become what I would consider no longer enjoyable. The jankiness is distracting and painful (not even thrilling, just uncomfortable and obnoxious). The retrack is way overdue, and hopefully brings it back to a like-new state again. The only downside to its reduction in turbulence is that it probably won't be as effective at dislodging kidney stones anymore... https://www.livescience.com/56261-kidney-stones-roller-coaster.html

Disstevefan121 hours ago

I hope you are right but I have lost faith after what I have seen happened in World Celebration in EPCOT. Blue sky concepts for years before they started. Collecting water from fountain of nations to be put on the new fountain, walls up for 5 YEARS, cost cuts, no new fountain, stupid planter in its place, in ground lighting still broken OVER A YEAR after the fact. If they can re open Test Track in a reasonable time AND IT WORKS. If they can re open Big Thunder in a reasonable time AND IT WORKS. Then my faith will be on its way to be restored. Lets see what happens.

JackCH21 hours ago

I'd be worried they might cut corners and not add the effects and stuff to BTMR just to open it sooner... I want those effects lol.

Disgruntled Walt21 hours ago

I know they take a long time with things, but seriously, TBA's failure to stay open is a huge problem for the park capacity-wise. Unless of course they're forced to keep the Rivers of America open longer...

Disstevefan121 hours ago

Disgruntled Walt22 hours ago

With TBA's unreliability, every minute BTM is closed is going to increase the pressure on the rest of the park, so I'll bet they reopen as soon as they possibly can. Maybe as early as January 2026 if they stay at this pace.