Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom is closed for a major refurbishment that includes replacing the coaster’s track and other improvements.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Construction
On Wednesday morning, we saw crew members entering the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad queue. One was carrying water bottles for the team.
The green and transparent tarps on the front of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad building have been replaced by large brown tarps.
They block most of the view into this section of the queue.
Several crew members were working in the town of Tumbleweed. Some were on scaffolding around the lift hill in the back.
The lift hill received new track last month. Steel frames were added to the side and will likely support themed elements, like fake wooden railings, to hide the modern coaster track.
There is still scaffolding around a wagon in tumbleweed.
Most scaffolding was removed from the gnarled tree next to the track, where possums used to hang. The tree is still missing some limbs, so work isn’t done on it.
Crew members were working on a nearby hill — with a goat standing watch on a ridge above.
The crane was moving some equipment — possibly sandbags — around the construction site.
Several construction materials are set next to a stretch of track, including buckets and a cooler.
Track was previously installed along this stretch of the attraction, ending after dipping below a bridge. Some scaffolding was removed for the track installation, but now it’s back, crossing over the track.
Further up this hill, a white tarp covers a section of track. Gray concrete beneath the track has yet to be painted the same orange-brown color as the rest of the rocky mountain.
Meanwhile, crews have been working on the bridge that crosses over the track. The railings remain disconnected.
Some torn-up concrete was removed from the area around the current end of the track. This is just one spot where crew members removed rockwork to reconstruct it. New rockwork has yet to be completed, with a mesh net in place where future track will go.
This curve over the Rivers of America is another spot where track was removed, and crews have been pouring fresh concrete.
A patch of gray concrete is visible around a thick support below the scaffolding.
In the cavern above, there’s more mesh over a hole in the rockwork.
We didn’t see crew members on this side of the mountain, which has already received new track. Elements on the dock have been wrapped in plastic for several months.
The remaining props in the mine building are still tagged, one with a red tag and two with a green tag. Scaffolding is back in this building after previously being removed for track installation.
This curve of the track through rockwork is surrounded by safety cones.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will remain closed until 2026, for about one year. It will reopen with “a little bit of new magic” but Disney hasn’t shared specifics.
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