Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Is Officially CLOSED in Disney World - And the Construction Wall Signs Are Hilarious

It’s official — one of the most popular rides in Magic Kingdom has closed for a refurbishment that will last at LEAST a year.

We saw long waits for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad yesterday before it closed its doors to make way for whatever refurbishment is on the way. How does everything look now that it’s closed? We went into the park to take a look for you.

Over in Frontierland, the walls are up all around Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but we’re not seeing any scrims or high walls covering the attraction itself. It’s possible we won’t see these for a while, or if the changes/updates being made are small enough, we may be able to see the status of the attraction the whole time it’s closed.

On the walls, you’ll see a sign that says, “Notice: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Closed! Until Further Notice by order of Barnabus T. Bullion Founder and President of Big Thunder Mining Co.”

The funniest part of the sign though is at the very bottom which reads “Questions or concerns may be addressed to interim foreman U.B. Patient” — yes, they’re essentially saying there is no one to direct questions to and that we all just need to be patient!

We’ll be the first to admit that for some of us, being patient is extremely hard, but we’re trying!

So when will the ride reopen? Currently, Disney has provided the vague answer of “2026” however, we found a permit for the coaster that expires on March 13th, 2026. Based on that, we may not be able to experience the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness until next spring! It’s unclear what changes will hit the ride, but Disney says it will “reopen with a little bit of new magic.”