With its reopening date officially announced, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has reappeared as a bookable Lightning Lane option in the Magic Kingdom section of the My Disney Experience app.
Lightning Lane Now Available for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closed for an extensive refurbishment in January 2025, and just last week Disney announced that the classic coaster would reopen on May 3, 2026, almost 17 months after its initial closure.
Now on the My Disney Experience app, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has been re-added to the list of Lightning Lane attractions at the Tier 1 level, its same classification before the closure:
Lightning Lane Multi Pass – Tier 1
Choose up to one experience from this group:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Opening May 3)
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Space Mountain
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Updates
The ride will have an updated opening scene with a transformation of the Rainbow Caverns. The ride will also have refreshed Audio-Animatronics and new gold props. The ride’s entire track was replaced, and it has new trains. Inoperable effects have been restored. We recently saw Disney testing a steam effect at the front of the attraction. A new sign was installed last month.
Following improvements and a comprehensive review by safety teams, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will lower its height requirement to 38″. It was previously 40″.
Are you already reserving your Lightning Lane to ride Big Thunder next month? Let us know on social media.
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