The “wildest ride in the wilderness” is going down for a long while…
Since Big Thunder Mountain first opened in 1980, the runaway train roller coaster has been one of the Magic Kingdom’s premier thrill rides and one of Disney World’s most popular attractions. However, Disney just announced that the iconic coaster is going to be down for the better part of a year.
According to Disney, Big Thunder Mountain will close for refurbishment on January 6th, 2025. The website says the attraction will “reopen with a little bit of new magic in 2026.” In other words, at the very least, Big Thunder is scheduled to be closed for nearly the entirety of 2025. There’s no confirmation as to whether this refurbishment is in any tied to the construction of the new Cars expansion to Frontierland, which will see the closure and replacement of Tom Sawyer Island and the Rivers of America, both of which are near Big Thunder.
The loss of Big Thunder — which still often has some of the Magic Kingdom’s highest average wait times — undoubtedly has a major impact on the park’s overall waits and crowd flow.
While the first Big Thunder Mountain attraction originally opened at Disneyland in 1979, the idea for the runway train-style coaster was for the Magic Kingdom. Initially, the coaster — designed by future Disney Legend Tony Baxter –– was supposed to serve as an ancillary to Imagineering Icon Marc Davis’s Thunder Mesa/Western River Expedition. When it became clear that that oft-delayed attraction would be unbuilt, Baxter reworked the coaster concept into a standalone attraction, which allegedly led to a long-running feud between the two.
Despite the acrimonious beginnings, Big Thunder was a huge success at Disneyland and Disney World. Further versions also exist at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, while a spiritual successor — the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars — operates in Hong Kong Disneyland.
Disney World’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad — one of the Magic Kingdom’s most popular attractions — will be closed for refurbishment for nearly all of 2025. Stay tuned to AllEars for further coverage of Disney World’s closures and refurbishments.
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Are you going to miss Big Thunder in 2025? What do you hope comes with the refurbishment? Let us know in the comments below.
It’s time to reduce PARK ticket prices for any attraction that is not available during visitors dates. Enough of the nonet grab Egor!
where will I go now for kidney stone treatments? I hope they don’t completely smooth out the track!
Yes I was thinking of going there in 2025 when I came
my husband and I booked our trip a while ago and were looking forwards to getting to ride this in January… it comes as a really heavy blow especially since we are coming from over seas and its just one more thing slipping away 🙁