Disney has confirmed that there will be operational changes to the Walt Disney World Railroad during the upcoming Frontierland expansion. These changes will begin on July 7, the day after the Rivers of America close permanently.
Walt Disney World Railroad — Shuttle Mode
The Walt Disney World Railroad will run in “shuttle mode,” meaning that it will travel backward and forward between Fantasyland (Storybook Circus) and Main Street, U.S.A. It will not conduct any full loops around the track, and the Frontierland station will be closed during construction.
The Frontierland station was recently refurbished as part of the transition from Splash Mountain to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
In order to accommodate guests who do not wish to face backwards of the train’s forward motion, Imagineers will be flipping a number of the benches to face in the opposite direction. Running the train in shuttle mode means they will not have to close it for an extended period of time, like they did during the TRON Lightcycle Run construction.
The Walt Disney World Railroad was closed for four years during the TRON construction, and reopened in December 2022. It underwent an extensive refurbishment as the track was replaced.
Disney did not say how long the train will operate in shuttle mode, and an opening timeframe for the Frontierland expansion has not been announced. The Frontierland expansion — which is taking over the land currently occupied by the Rivers of America, the Liberty Square Riverboat, and Tom Sawyer Island — will bring the “Cars” franchise to the Magic Kingdom.
The last time that the Walt Disney World Railroad operated in shuttle mode was in 2011-2012 during the demolition/reimagining of Mickey’s Toontown Fair (previously Mickey’s Birthdayland) to make way for Storybook Circus. It also did so during the construction of Splash Mountain and the current Frontierland Station, when it was temporarily renamed the Backtrack Express.
Watch our full loop POV video on board the Walt Disney World railroad below.
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