It’s been over 16 months since I had a chance to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom here at Walt Disney World. So I got up early on a Sunday morning, for the reopening, to ride the coaster that I have loved since I was a little kid, which has had a massive refurbishment, including a brand new track.
First Impressions: The Queue and Visuals
As I walked up to the ride and into the queue, one of the first things I noticed was just how much more of the colors popped for the attraction. They really did a good job with the new paint as the attraction looked what it might of looked like back when it opened in 1980.
As you wind through the queue, you’ll notice:
- New signs
- New bits of backstory
It’s a lot of things that the average guest might not pay attention to, but for those of us who love this attraction and ride it a lot, it’s a lot of neat little things to look at and read, and it helps build the overall story as you get ready to get on the wildest ride in the wilderness.
The Station and the New Track
When you make it all the way down to the station gates, one of the first things I noticed was how much quieter the trains were when they came into the station, which was definitely a sign of the new track. Because that is the biggest change is the brand new track, which was needed to keep one of the most popular and one of my favorite attractions in the Magic Kingdom running for many more years to come. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we will get to how the ride feels.
The Journey Begins: Bat Caves and Rainbow Caverns
With that, the lap bars down, you still get to hear everyone’s favorite recording to get you ready for the wildest ride in the wilderness, and then off we go. As you head out into the station into the rainbow caverns, that is one of the most impressive changes on the attraction.
According to Walt Disney Imagineering, you will first encounter 2000 bats, and the “bat cave’ is a lot darker than it used to be, which actually makes some of them hard to see, but it gives it a more ominous feel. You are only in there for a brief moment before you are up the lift hill into Rainbow Caverns. Which are now way more colorful and has a soundtrack and as you head up the lift hill the colors change and the mountain starts to rumble as the mountain tells you it’s angry with the miners who have been taking the gold out of it, as the entire scene turns red, which is a great addition, and then it’s up and over the hill, underneath the waterfall and then you’re off.
Ride Performance and Feel
And that’s where the biggest change is evident is the new track. It is noticeably smoother, and you are also going slightly faster. It definitely still has a lot of the same feel of the original track, but it does not have as many of the positive and negative G pops in different sections of the ride, which is sort of jarring for someone who’s been riding it for a long time.
I was definitely mixed about it at first because it is an attraction I’ve been riding since I was a child. I was used to every single turn, bump, and pop in the track, so it was definitely interesting to feel something that was the same in many ways but also different. I will say after riding it a second time, I enjoyed it more, and the big thing is that it will allow the attraction to run for many more years to come, and one of the biggest things it seems is that it allows them to lower the height restriction by 2 inches, so even more kids will be able to ride at an earlier age. Which to me is an excellent thing.
Tumbleweed and the New Finale
You will notice, as you ride, the next two biggest updates are the town of Tumbleweed, with a couple of new touches and obviously a new paint job. Of course, you go through there so fast it’s hard to notice everything, but the new things will become way more noticeable once the Walt Disney World Railroad reopens in that part of the park sometime in the future.
You continue for a long time until you get to the final lift hill and the new finale. The final hill, which for years didn’t really have much of a finale, as the shaking rocks were turned off years ago. We now have a golden finale, which is unique to the Magic Kingdom, as you work your way up the lift hill, you can see the gold sparkling in the rocks, on the side on both sides of the train. Music builds up, and lighting reveals a giant gold nugget that’s above the top of the lift hill. But it’s just out of reach before you dive down the final hill.
It’s definitely nice to have a new finale and one that is unique to this Park. However, I have to say Disneyland still has the best finale to me, with the exploding dynamite. But it’s nice that we have our own finale, which is unique to our story that has been updated for the attraction.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I think it’s a pretty excellent refurbishment of one of the most popular and beloved attractions at the Magic Kingdom. Now, I did only get to ride this twice during the day, and for those of you who are fans of Big Thunder, you know it becomes a whole other experience at night with the lighting, in the darkness, and that’s also usually when I ride it and when it truly shines the most as an attraction. I actually rarely ride it during the day, so I’m looking forward to finally stepping onto the wildest ride in the wilderness at night over and over again for many years to come!
Barry joined Thrillgeek in 2016. He has been a journalist for over 20 years. He is one of the co-hosts of the Thrillgeek Podcast, Editor and Digital Content Coordinator here at Thrillgeek. When he is not going to the theme parks, traveling with his wife, Cyn or playing with their dogs. He is playing drums, going to concerts, trying some of the amazing food or enjoying many of the amazing performing arts we have in Orlando.