During a visit to Magic Kingdom this morning, we got our first on-the-ground look at the massive construction walls that will block views of Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land construction from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. These are certainly not your average construction walls. Instead, these construction walls are being created with tall steel support columns. Here’s a closer look at the progress and how long we expect these walls to be in place.
Massive Construction Walls Built Near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
As you can see in our photos below, large steel support columns can be seen rising into the air near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. These support columns will soon be used to create a massive wall that will block views of Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land construction from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I’m not sure I’ve seen a larger construction wall in my times covering the Walt Disney World theme parks.
While these walls are certainly disappointing to see from a blogger’s perspective, they are likely as functional from a “protect the magic” standpoint as they are from a safety standpoint. Work will be continuing for a few years on both the Piston Peak National Park project and Villains Land projects, with those new additions expected to open in 2029 and 2030+, respectively.
During the many years of upcoming work, the area just steps away from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will continue to transform, and this wall will act as a critical separation point between an operating attraction and an area under significant construction.
We expect that the construction walls will remain in place until the area immediately around Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is completed. Due to its unique location as it relates to the Piston Peak National Park and Villains Land projects, the walls could actually be removed in phases. We expect Piston Peak National Park to open before Villains Land, which could mean that the construction walls to the south would be removed before the construction walls to the north.
Indeed, concept art appears to show the theming of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad integrating with the nearby Piston Peak National Park to the south. To the north, it’s unclear if Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will have views into Villains Land or simply have views of an expected transition walkway leading to Villains Land. Time will tell.
Either way, we expect that the walls will be a part of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad through 2027 and perhaps through 2028 as work continues in the area. Hopefully, Disney provides some sort of theming to the walls – perhaps a mural or something less jarring than a massive construction wall.
We’ll start with some on-the-ground views of the work from various vantage points within Frontierland and the Liberty Square area.
To get a better idea of where, exactly, these columns and the soon-to-be-installed walls are, here’s a look at the area from friend of the site Bioreconstruct and his recent aerial coverage.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopens on May 3rd, which is just around the corner! The attraction has undergone a lengthy roller coaster track replacement project, along with the addition of some new magic.
When it reopens, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will come with some new magic. The attraction has been closed since January 2025 to allow for a full roller coaster track replacement. Beyond that, Imagineers have made some additional upgrades to the ride:
- All-new trains
- Refreshed Audio-Animatronics throughout the attraction
- Returning effects that haven’t been present for years
- Rainbow caverns that come to life at the mountain pushes back against our presence
- Actual gold out on the mountain for the first time ever
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!