Big Thunder Mountain Refurbishment Details in Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Refurbishment season is in the air once again in Walt Disney World and this time it appears that the popular Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closing for its longest and most comprehensive refurbishment in recent history. But when exactly is it happening?

In this post, we will talk about the refurbishment planned for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disney’s Magic Kingdom, when it’s happening and what might be included in the project.

(UPDATE 11/1/24): Disney is planning a huge refurbishment for Big Thunder Mountain with the attraction closing for more than a full year. Extended work is needed to keep the popular Magic Kingdom coaster running for years to come.

Disney has officially announced the Big Thunder Mountain refurb, and it has already filed construction permits for the project with long-time Disney coaster partner, Coastal Steel Inc. We already have the closure date of January 6, 2025 and we are expecting more plans to be announced shortly including the work that will be done.

In fact, the latest permits that were filed show they are valid through March 13, 2026. So now Disney will finally have enough time to tackle some of the big plans they have been put on hold in recent years. It also means we don’t expect Big Thunder Mountain to be back up and running until at least Spring 2026.

While it’s true that the attraction has briefly closed for small repairs in the lsat few years, the last major refurbishment that Big Thunder had was in 2012, so now 14 years later you can imagine the condition it’s in and why it needs so much work.

The more recent refurbishments were only for regular maintenance and not something bigger or adding any additional show elements to enhance the ride. The opposite is true for this update and we know a major overhaul is going be done to the ride.

A significant refurbishment to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom has been rumored for years now, with the projection mapping explosion sequence already found in Disneyland and Disneyland Paris being the highlight.

Because of budget cuts, however, that project never took place and in recent years, Big Thunder Mountain has only gotten regular maintenance done…until now.

It will be nice to see an addition like the one Imagineers planned, and it will finally bring one of the guests’ favorite attractions up-to-date.

What we do know is that we are going to get significant work on the coaster’s ride system which is in bad shape and if it’s going to continue to be a headlining attraction in the park the essentials need to be addressed. Some of these updates include a track replacement, new ride vehicles and we also expect the mountain to get a fresh paint job.

These changes were already made to the Disneyland version in 2012. Disney has also promised that we will see “a little bit of new magic” once it reopens.

Honestly, this doesn’t surprise us as maintenance in the U.S. parks has been underwhelming in recent years, and there is no way that we should even be getting to a point like this. I understand the dilemma of closing a ride for an extended period of time, especially in a park that has capacity concerns, but letting it get to this point is a little ridiculous.

As for the timeline of the Big Thunder refurbishment, we expect work to start on January 6, 2025. Now that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is finally open they can close Big Thunder Mountain to make way for this work. The Magic Kingdom couldn’t afford to have both attractions down at the same time or it would be a capacity nightmare.

When it reopens will depend on how many updates Disney decides to do to the attraction. If they really are putting in the enhancements that are in the Disneyland version, expect Big Thunder to be down for at least one year. That means we are realistically looking at it being closed until Spring 2026, which Disney has already previously confirmed.

There are many refurbishments currently going on at Walt Disney World. One of the biggest closures right now is to Test Track in EPCOT which is also getting a complete overhaul and will end up being the 3rd iteration of the popular ride.

Over in Disney’s Animal Kingdom we got the regular Kali River Rapids refurbishment in the winter, just like we do every year.

From time to time the transportation systems also need work and the Disney Skyliner will also be closed for refurbishment in January, with it reopening in phases.

Stay tuned here at Ziggy Knows Disney for the latest updates, as we fill you in as soon as we find out more details.

Check out the Full List of Disney World Ride Closures and Refurbishments to see what other projects are going on.

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Your Thoughts

I want to know what you think about a Big Thunder Railroad Mountain refurbishment…

• What modifications would you like to see on the ride?

Let us know in the comments section below!

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