Starting tomorrow, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be closed for a lengthy refurbishment. While Walt Disney World has been tight-lipped on what’s happening during the refurbishment beyond “a little bit of new magic”, it is very likely that there will be a full track replacement for the roller coaster. In Walt Disney World’s announcement about the refurbishment, they said that the ride would be closed until sometime in 2026, so we made our way out to Magic Kingdom for one more ride until next year, and to ride the “old version” of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before the new magic arrives.
Last Ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Until 2026
With today being the final day to experience Big Thunder Mountain Railroad until 2026, the crowds showed up! The attraction averaged a 60-minute wait today, which doesn’t seem like much, but bumped Big Thunder up a few spots in the rankings at Magic Kingdom compared to normal. Only TRON Lightcycle Run and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train averaged longer wait times today.
Here’s a look at some midday crowds, with the line stretching back into Frontierland. Here’s a look at our walk through the queue before experiencing on for our final ride before 2026.
While there will be a lot of attention paid to the track replacement part of the project, the queue is in pretty rough shape in terms of wear and tear. A lot of the rockwork that is within guest reach needs to be repainted at a minimum. A number of rock benches are worn down to the concrete.
Continuing on.
More wear and tear in the queue.
I’d imagine that Barnabas T. Bullion continues to watch over operations at the gold mine. It would be nice if Disney could find a better way to light Barnabas’s portrait.
The queue is loaded with details and things for guests to read while waiting. I can’t imagine that anything here gets removed, but we took a bunch of photos just in case.
Everything here could use some attention. Hopefully, there isn’t too much cleaning up though, because it’s supposed to feel a bit old. That said, one thing that I do hope gets cleaned is the queue fans. I’m happy that it was “cold” today and they were turned off.
We’d bet that Disney takes the time to clean up coins that have been sitting outside of the open windows for a long time.
With construction beginning tomorrow, we have created a page where you’ll be able to track the latest news and photos from the lengthy refurbishment!
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
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