BIG changes are coming to Magic Kingdom!
Magic Kingdom
Disney announced earlier this year that a new Villains Land and new Cars attractions will be coming to the park. Villains Land is expected to be going in the area beyond Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, while the new Cars attractions will be replacing Tom Sawyer Island and Liberty Square Riverboat. But now, a new announcement has just been made for a LONG closure coming soon to Magic Kingdom.
Disney announced on the Disney World website that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be closing for an extended closure. The site shares that the ride will close on January 6th, 2025, and won’t open again until 2026!
©Disney
The message also notes that it will be reopening “with a little bit of new magic.” We’re not sure what that might entail as of now, but we’ll be watching for more information from Disney!
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a fan-favorite roller coaster in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom. It takes you through the Wild West on a wild ride! We’ll be watching for more information about this upcoming closure, but in the meantime, keep following DFB!
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Exactly what is going to be left in Magic Kingdom? Between closures and break downs, I don’t know if I should visit. If I do, where are prices not reduced?
Surely they’re not re-theming it to Villains as the first entry in that land?
That’s a long time to close for a little bit of magic. I’m happy they are finally showing BTM the love it deserves.
On one of the lift hills, there is a section of false track in front of you, beyond the top of the hill. Since most riders can’t see the top of the hill (it is blocked by the riders in front of them) it appears that the false track is actually part of the track you are on. I doubt many here are old enough to remember it, but when BTMRR was new, a boulder used to fall on that section of track as the train climbed the hill, and thanks to the old-school-but-still-clever illusion, it appeared that your train was heading for the track that the boulder had fallen on. I would love it if they put that effect back in, I’ve always missed it!
In fact, I believe there was an earthquake effect, with a number of boulders in that scene that teetered as if they were in danger of falling. Hopefully they replace all of them.
I assume they will add the sparking dynamite fuses that they added to the DL version some years ago as well.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a trip to Disney without a ride on Thunder Mountain BUT I know this closure is a sign of excited new things to come, so it’s worth the sacrifice
Also intrigued at what this bit of magic could be 🤔
We ABSOLUTELY love Big Thunder Railroad!!! It’s actually our favorite ride! Please don’t change much! We’ve. Been coming since the park opened and love all of the nostalgia and memories that the park offers for many of us! Thank you for considering this request.
This news would disparage me of any notion I might have to include WDW in plans next year if we decide to come down to experience Epic Universe.
This cars land is STUPID! I can’t believe they are doing away with that beautiful ship!
I do not like Big Thunder Mt. It scares me so very much. But my daughter absolutely loves it! She will be devastated that it will be closed for a year! Of course, I always go on the ride with her, just to see how happy it makes her. But I am never the same after riding it. My daughter does not notice!
Just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to the DFB. In late August I took my teenage grandchildren to WDW for a week for their first visit. I hadn’t been there in 40 years. It was an absolutely perfect trip in every way, and that is definitely because of all of the tips I learned watching endless YouTube videos for a month, mainly DFB videos. I learned about where to stay (we chose Pop Century and it was everything DFB had promised!). We saved money by ordering groceries from Kroger to be delivered on our arrival day and ate breakfast in the room and had ready snacks & drinks available all the time. We packed things I never would have thought about like extra socks and ponchos and extra shoes. I learned about navigating the Disney Experience app to book Lightning Lanes, especially when it was worth it for our party and when it was not. I learned to plan around afternoon rain, to plan for rest time to recharge Grandma’s batteries, etc. Our favorite meal was one recommended by the DFB – the Pulled Pork with Mac & Cheese In Animal Kingdom. We learned on DFB about making a bare-bones schedule so we could do the things most important to each of our trio, but still have flexibility to enjoy many other things we might have missed if I hadn’t watched all those videos. So THANK YOU to all at DFB for making our vacation at WDW a truly Magical one!!!
Also : THANK YOU for the emphasis on staying hydrated and telling us about getting cups of ice water at any quick service. August in FL was as hot and humid as you warned us, and we were constantly refilling our water bottles. We also added packets of Liquid IV every day in the morning and again half-way through the day and that seemed to also be a help.
Terrible! One of the very best rides in the park. This will lengthen wait times at other rides . Are they going to do another failed update that they do to continue taking the heart out of the park? I hope it will make the ride better .
Rumor has it that a new leg of track will be layed closer to the pirates to make room for the cars stuff. The production area across the tracks may be lost, but they cannot move pirates.
With all the construction and refurbishment underway, I think we will sit out WDW in 2025, and go to Epic Universe instead, and evaluate our year without WDW, this time next year.
…or maybe go visit the #1 rated theme park, Dollywood!
Our family has all the faith in Walt that it will return even better then before , we have visited for many years and remember the falling boulders , bringing our daughter every year since she was three BTM was the 1st ride she boldly raised her hands in the air to be like the bigger kids 😀 we will never outgrow it
I love Thunder Mountain Railroad. It’s my favorite roller coaster of all time. I hate that it will be closed for a year.
Maybe they are adding railroad crossings for the Cars Land cars to cross the tracks. It will probably add a little time to the Big Thunder Mine Train, but then, cars were always a inconvenience to mine trains in the old frontier.