A new Notice of Commencement permit filed by Walt Disney World sheds some light on just how long Big Thunder Mountain Railroad could be closed. The new permit lists Coastal Steel as the contractor, and “general construction” as the work. Coastal Steel has received a lot of work from Walt Disney World over the years – from building Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to the ongoing Test Track reimagining at EPCOT.
Coastal Steel has been a part of numerous Disney World projects, including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Expedition Everest, the Chinese Theater at Hollywood Studios, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Mission: SPACE, TRON Lightcycle Run, work at Blizzard Beach, the Sorcerer’s Hat at Hollywood Studios, Cinderella Castle, and more.
New Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Permit
The new permit has an expiration date of March 13, 2026, which could shed some light as to how long the attraction will be closed. Walt Disney World has previously said that the ride would be closed until 2026, and it looks like it could be closed for the first few of months of 2026. Walt Disney World has announced that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will close on January 6th, but they have not announced a reopening date.
Interestingly, the timeframe of January of one year to March of the next year follows the 2013 track replacement of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland perfectly. While Walt Disney World has not announced a track replacement, it is widely believed that a retracking of the attraction will occur during this refurbishment.
Officially, Walt Disney World has only announced “a little bit of new magic“.
Walt Disney World previously filed a June 2024 permit with Coastal Steel for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with an August 2025 expiration date. It’s likely that this permit supersedes that permit, and perhaps even shows that Walt Disney World delayed the closure of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad until after the holiday season.
It was previously rumored that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad would close shortly after Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opened last Summer, but Disney didn’t announce the Big Thunder closure until October.
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