Two months after Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closed for refurbishment at Magic Kingdom, more scaffolding is going up as crews continue to demolish rockwork.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Construction
There are new red and yellow scrims on this scaffolding. The scrims and presence of a few crew members suggest more construction work in this area than we’ve previously seen. The scaffolding has been in place for several weeks, but only recently was there visible work with the removal of the possum figures. We also saw some crew members on a bridge higher up on the mountain.
There were no flying dumpsters on Thursday morning. The crane remains on site but was stagnant.
A sheet of plastic covers more of the themed elements next to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue. It was placed in late February, along with the green tarp, but is now secured with planks of wood.
Crews tore more rockwork away from the mountain next to the Rivers of America. There’s a large, empty space under a sagging wooden support.
This tunnel used to have more pieces of plywood labeled “hole.” There’s only one now, allowing us to see where more rockwork has been torn away. This rock would have been under the coaster’s track, but the track was removed early on during construction.
On the back of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we saw a few more crew members. Some were inside the barn-like structure. Several props inside were tagged early on.
Now all items that had a red tag are gone. All that remains is a couple of items with green tags — a lantern and fireplace bellows. The crew members were in the floor of the building, where the track usually runs.
We didn’t see many crew members in the curved section of rock where there had previously been a lot of activity. Without anyone there, we can easily see where rockwork was demolished from the track path. There is dark paneling or sheathing along the walls, but they aren’t completely enclosed.
More scaffolding is inside one of the highest openings of the mountain. A piece of new track was laid in this area over a month ago.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be closed until at least 2026. Disney said it would “little bit of new magic” but didn’t announce details. They recently filed a permit for set installation at the Frontierland attraction.
Watch our POV video of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad:
Beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be a new Disney Villains land. Frontierland will be expanded to include a new “Cars” area, replacing Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.