Walt Disney World has shared a sneak peek at the new opening scene coming to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom, via brand-new concept art. Here’s the latest on BTMRR, backstory on the attraction, other updates, and our commentary about overly-optimistic reopening date predictions.
As basic background, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closed for a year-plus refurbishment project on January 6, 2025. The wildest ride in the wilderness is planned to reopen in 2026 with a little bit of “new magic,” according to Walt Disney World at the time.
Since then, construction crews have been racing around the mountain and the pace of the project has been really impressive. It’s displayed a sense of urgency that it seems like we haven’t seen in a while, which is probably why many fans have become overly-optimistic that the ride will reopen this year as opposed to 2026.
During a media event today, Walt Disney World once again reiterated that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad would reopen in 2026. They also reiterated that the iconic Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will reopen with new magic, and revealed new details to share about what to expect the next time you take to the tracks in search of adventure.
Here are full details and fresh concept art:
BTMRR Backstory
The story of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad dates back to Olden Times, or rather, Golden Times, during the early days of America’s first major gold rush. When Barnabas T. Bullion struck gold in the Big Thunder region, he saw a future full of riches and hustled to start the Big Thunder Mountain Company. (The Barnabas T. Bullion and Big Thunder Mining Company tall tale is one of our favorite backstories at Walt Disney World.)
However, them shiny dreams rarely come without a cost, and Bullion quickly found himself in a battle with the forces of nature and in a whole heap of trouble. One day, strange and unexplainable things started happening. Machines failed. Cave-ins shut mines down.
No matter how deep the miners dug into the heart of the mountain, the forces of Big Thunder fought back. When Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopens in 2026, the unsuspectin’ passengers who board the runaway trains will learn just how wild the wilderness can get.
The rumblin’, rollin’ fun of Big Thunder Mountain at Walt Disney World is currently undergoing a mountain-top to cavern-deep refurbishment meant to keep the classic attraction in tip-top shape, ready to delight guests who want to ride the rails for years to come.
In addition to the action and adventure we know and love, Big Thunder Mountain will reopen with some of the aforementioned “new magic” for Walt Disney World fans to discover.
One such moment comes when the trains rattle their way underground to spectacular natural caverns full of phosphorescent pools, shimmering and illuminating iridescent stalagmites (the ones on the floor) and stalactites (the ones on the ceiling). And according to Imagineer Wyatt Winter who presented on the Big Thunder project, hundreds of bats.
The Rainbow Caverns are beautiful, true to their name with a scene that’s more vibrant than before. But then a flash of lightning reveals that they aren’t as friendly as they first appear. That menacing rumble from deep within the mountain may be a sign that we aren’t welcome and shouldn’t venture deeper.
As part of the presentation we attended that pulled back the curtain on this concept art and shared new details about the project, Imagineers also teased that more “new magic” is going to be revealed for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad down the track.
The most obvious candidate here is the explosive effect on the final lift hill, which can be found at other versions of BTMRR and was the big addition during the last year-plus refurbishment of the attraction at Disneyland. This dynamite finale being the big marketable addition makes sense, and fans are widely assuming is coming to Magic Kingdom. I don’t think there are any credible rumors of this, it’s just a logical assumption.
It’s a safe bet. We’re assuming that the Magic Kingdom version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is largely pulling from the Disneyland playbook for this reimagining. Beyond the necessary maintenance to extend the life of the coaster, the attraction is likely getting a roster of enhancements.
There’s no way Walt Disney World is going to close Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for between a year and 18 months and not have anything marketable to show for it when the attraction returns. There will likely be new lift hill effects, nighttime lighting, redone show scenes with Easter eggs and other historical tributes.
As for progress on the attraction itself, work appears to be moving at a brisk pace.
The final sections of new track were installed roughly two months ago, and a yellow vehicle appeared on the track that’ll be used for ride envelope testing and to double-check rider reach and clearance, weight loads, ride dynamics, track alignment, as well as functionality of the ride system, including sensors, braking systems, lift hill mechanisms more.
Construction crews have largely moved on to refurbishing the town of Tumbleweed and doing other work on thematics. More recently, the large crane that had towered over Magic Kingdom since late last year finally vanished. It’s also our understanding that testing on the new track could begin soon.
With that said, we’ve heard a lot of speculation that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is way ahead of schedule and could reopen this holiday season. Some might even call it an early Festivus miracle.
Before you get too excited about this signaling that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is way ahead of schedule and will reopen early, we’d warn you that we’ve been down this road before. It’s sort of like when foundation work seemingly takes forever, but then vertical progress happens fast–except in reverse.
For reference, TRON Lightcycle Run started push-pull testing with a ride envelope vehicle approximately 13 months before that attraction opened. This should go much faster than TRON, but our point is that you should not view removal and replacement of the track here as the bulk of this project.
It’s not that work on Big Thunder is about to “slow down” heading into a new fiscal year. It’s that there’s a lot that still needs to happen, and much of it is going to be invisible from the park. (If you want proof that this isn’t explanation, the opposite is about to happen with Encanto over at Animal Kingdom. Progress there is poised to explode within the next couple months.)
This is not a routine refurbishment or maintenance. Disney essentially rebuilt the roller coaster on top of its thematic foundation, and it’ll need to go through the paces of a new roller coaster as a result. It’s not just going to be ready to roll when it looks finished, so we’d caution against getting excited if you have trips in the coming months.
Not only that, but there’s also the wildcard of Piston Peak Cars Land construction. The Rivers of America is now almost completely drained, paving the way for demolition of Tom Sawyer Island, infill, etc. Although a completely separate project, its early stages of construction will involve laying the foundation for a path between Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion.
The Rivers of America is still months away from being at the point where even the beginnings of a pathway can be formed on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad side, but it’s our expectation that Imagineering will want to start on that before the ride reopens to avoid having to close it again in another year or two. Perhaps there’s enough clearance on this side of Frontierland that construction walls wouldn’t interfere with BTMRR’s operations, but it’s another consideration when talking timelines.
Beyond that, there have been multiple different major construction permits with project expiration dates extended until Spring 2026. The most recent of these specified an end date of April 15, 2026. Prior permits filed several months ago had consistently listed March 13, 2026.
Perhaps these dates are meaningless, but we’re still not expecting Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to reopen in early 2026, and certainly not this holiday season as some fans are hoping. It seems to us that if the timeline had been moved forward and Thanksgiving or Christmas were now the actual target, Walt Disney World would’ve made that announcement.
Instead, they revealed the opening scene and teased a future update on more “new magic” coming to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Unless that’s revealed next week at Destination D23, this project probably isn’t as close to being finished as some fans would like. But it’s coming along nicely!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Looking forward to the new Rainbow Caverns scene? What do you think about the lengthy ride refurbishment/reimagining of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad? Hope these classics are updated to ensure their longevity for decades to come? Do any attractions at Walt Disney World strike you as being prime candidates for ride reimaginings? Do you agree or disagree with our choices? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!