Yesterday, we finally got an opening date for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The attraction has been closed for months while Magic Kingdom continues to change around it. And according to their blog, the refurbishment was extensive, including installing a brand new track and refreshed passenger trains, in addition to adding phosphorescent pools to the underground caves that cast shimmering, iridescent rainbow light onto the surrounding stalactites (the ones that point down) and stalagmites (the ones that point up) around them.
When I was a little girl, Thunder Mountain broke down on us and we ended up having to climb out of and off the attraction. It was probably a ten-foot walk, but for years after I would remember and recount a harrowing tale of having to climb down Big Thunder Mountain.
Apparently the refurbished version will also come with a lowered height requirement of 38 inches, so even littler prospectors will be making memories on it now—hopefully with less climbing given the new tracks and cars.
Do you have a favorite memory of an attraction breaking down while you were on it? It’s funny how sometimes the most memorable moments stem from things not going quite as they’re supposed to…
Taken with an ND filter to cut down the light from the long exposure, 35mm, 1/25 second, f/8.0, ISO 800.