Crews are moving quickly on the intensive refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom, which closed a week ago.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Construction
As we first passed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on the Walt Disney World Railroad, we saw several signs of construction in the attraction’s old west town of Tumbleweed. Scaffolding lines the walkways here to make them safer for crew members. There are a few pieces of plywood with “Hole” painted on them covering (we assume) holes.
All the water from this area was drained, revealing pipes along the floor. The ride track curves between the wooden walkway and the Gold Dust Saloon. Some construction materials are on the other side of the walkway, next to the track.
A crew member on the phone was on the wooden walkway as we passed. More plywood covers holes in the rockwork between the railroad and walkway.
Another crew member was close to the nearby opening in the attraction’s caverns. A third crew member was visible over the crest of rockwork. In the center of the above photo, note yellow spray paint on the ground and track.
We saw many more crew members on the back of the mountain facing the Rivers of America. There’s plenty of yellow and red caution tape around current work areas.
Some crew members were at the Big Thunder Mining Co. building. We could see plywood covering the track leading out of the building.
On the right in the above photo, crew members are helping direct a crane lowering a dumpster into the construction site.
After riding the Walt Disney World Railroad, we hopped on the Liberty Square Riverboat to get another look at construction. From the riverboat, we got a good view of the giant yellow crane towering over Frontierland.
There wasn’t much active work on the front of the attraction. The queue seems untouched — at least for now.
We did see some red caution tape attached to orange cones. These were around a light tower near the top of one of the ride’s hills. Red tape also crossed the top of the hill.
As the boat continued, we got a better view of the traffic cones and tape. They curved down from the light tower under the nearby bridge.
The final cone is just before the bridge. This is where we first saw crew members removing pieces of the roller coaster track.
A moment later, we got a better view under the bridge. Part of the trench in the ground where the track used to be has been torn up, revealing framework and wiring beneath. Where the ground is flatter, a scaffolding platform crosses the trench, providing a safe place for crew members to cross. Some pink and blue spray paint is on a steel beam in the trench where rockwork was cut away.
Construction materials are staged in the exit queue/wheelchair entrance. Some wood was stacked on a rolling cart. Larger items were covered in green scrim.
A scaffolding platform has been installed next to the track that curves out over the Rivers of America.
The scaffolding is mostly on shore, but with some supports touching the water. Pieces of more scaffolding are around the track, indicating there will be much more work in this area.
Despite construction, water is still running through the prop trough just beyond the scaffolding.
Someone had left their sweatshirt and hi-vis vest on the rocks next to the track.
While we rounded the bend, we got to watch the crane transport another dumpster.
It was lifted over Big Thunder Mountain, passing one of the ride’s goat figures.
Around the bend, several crew members were in a trench on the attraction’s ground level. The area is surrounded by caution tape. Rockwork has been cut away from the sides of the trench.
We previously saw crew members working here and it appears the track has also been removed from this spot. There are red tags on the edges of the rebar, likely marking them for removal as well as protecting crew members from sharp edges.
The crew members had a yellow hose running into the trench. Rubble and debris were piled up under the walkways.
In the nearby building, several props are still tagged for removal. There is now red tape running across the entrance to the building.
Pink tags are on most of the props, but there’s one green tag on a bellows. Plywood is on the ground in front of the entrance.
Big Thunder Mountain will remain closed for at least a year. Disney said it will reopen with a “little bit of new magic.” The refurbishment project is in part to prepare for the construction of a new Disney Villains-themed land beyond Big Thunder Mountain Frontierland will also see the Rivers of America replaced with a new “Cars”-themed area.
Watch our full ride POV of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad below.
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