Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has been closed since early January 2025 for a lengthy refurbishment, and it isn’t slated to reopen until some point in 2026.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Disney recently revealed some MAJOR upgrades coming to the ride, and while we’re still waiting for the ride to reopen, Disney has filed a new permit that points to more work yet to come.
Walt Disney Imagineering has filed a new permit for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishment at Magic Kingdom. The permit is listed as “general construction,” which isn’t very specific — but the contractor on the permit is Coastal Steel Group, Inc., a steel fabrication company that specializes in roller coasters. Disney has worked with Coastal Steel before on other projects, and they’ve been listed on other permits for this project specifically.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad construction 2025
The expiration date is listed as one year out from November 17th, though work is not expected to actually take that long. For now, we’re hopeful that this means work is continuing at the right pace and that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will reopen as originally planned — sometime in 2026.
Construction at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Disney recently teased a revamped plot for this ride, saying, “The story of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad dates back to Olden Times, or rather, Golden Times, during the early days of America’s first major gold rush. When Barnabas T. Bullion struck gold in the Big Thunder region, he saw a future full of riches and hustled to start the Big Thunder Mountain Company.”
However, “Bullion quickly found himself in a battle with the forces of nature”, and “strange and unexplainable things started happening” in the mine, such as failed machines and cave-ins. When the attraction reopens in 2026, “the unsuspectin’ passengers who board the runaway trains will learn just how wild the wilderness can get.”
Looking good!
Disney is calling the project “a mountain-top to cavern-deep refurbishment meant to keep the classic attraction in tip-top shape, ready to delight guests who want to ride the rails for years to come.” The company teased some pretty cool additions that will debut next year, including “spectacular natural caverns full of phosphorescent pools, shimmering and illuminating iridescent stalagmites (the ones on the floor) and stalactites (the ones on the ceiling)” reminiscent of the Rainbow Caverns from the original concept art.
©Disney
All in all, the ride will also feature a new, smoother track, new lighting and effects, and an exterior touch-up of the ride to help it fit into the new Piston Peak Cars expansion.
We’ll be on the lookout for additional updates about the Big Thunder refurbishment and more. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest Disney news and more.
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We were very happy with it. Why change it? If it ain’t broke…don’t fix it!!! And taking over a year!!?? That’s just ridiculous!!!
So, I guess the real question is – Will it still help people pass kidney stones with a 70% success rate?
I always thought that if I had a stone, rather than pay $5-10K for medical treatment, I could try writing off a trip to WDW instead (“only” $3-4K). I wonder if the insurance company would go for it…