Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is finally opening!

Jeff's avatar

The president of WDW posted that Big Thunder is opening May 3. Even better, it has a lower height requirement of 38".


Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog

So happy my favorite MK coaster is coming back better then ever.


2026 Trips: Universal Orlando, Dollywood, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World San Antonio, Sea World Orlando, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Walt Disney World, Silver Dollar City

I'll be there at the beginning of May. Can't wait!


Hooray! How did they lower the height requirements? Seatbelts? A tighter lap bar??

No to seat belts, and restraints look the same this might just be a “modern testing” improvement like Thunderbird.


2026 Trips: Universal Orlando, Dollywood, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World San Antonio, Sea World Orlando, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Walt Disney World, Silver Dollar City

...possibly combined with re-profiled track. Smooth a few of those transitions out, and it might change things.


I was at WDW over the weekend and managed to get a lap on the reopened ride on Monday. We had every intention of closing out the day on Sunday riding it, but it stayed closed for most of the evening after a fire extinguisher was used on something in the station. We found out the next morning that it reopened right after the 10:00 fireworks. On Monday, we waited just under an hour with the line starting at the bridge over Tiana's big drop. The changes to the ride aren't huge with the most notable ones being the smooth track and the gold mine theming on the last lift. The new track is extremely smooth while still maintaining the wild ride feel. The upper part of the queue gives incredible views of the massive Piston Peak/Villians construction site. It looks like they're in the process of building a higher fence, but I'm guessing it will be hard to hide it completely.


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