In early January 2025, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom closed for what would be a lengthy refurbishment.
As we’ve learned since then, the ride has been getting a MASSIVE update, including a new track, as well as an additional scene. Even the ride’s exterior will be slightly updated to help it fit in with the upcoming Cars expansion in Frontierland. The reopening timeline for the ride was Spring 2026; however, according to a new permit amendment, that reopening might be slightly delayed.
Disney filed an amended permit for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on March 4th, specifying that the company would like to extend the original permit’s end date from March 13th, 2026, to August 31st, 2026. The original permit was for “General Construction” with the contractor being DPR Construction.
This suggests that the spring 2026 opening timeline may be pushed back until later. It could just be more of a late spring 2026 timeline, or it could even mean a delay that would have the ride reopening in the summer. It’s fairly common to see end dates on permits that go beyond Disney’s opening timeline, but a permit extension like this for five months certainly suggests there will be a delay in the ride’s reopening.
As we mentioned, the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishment has been a huge one. The roller coaster got a new track, and a new Rainbow Caverns scene is being added based on one of the original concepts for the ride.
The ride’s exterior will include new details like geysers, rainbow pools, and subtle tire tracks to connect Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s exterior to what will become Piston Peak, a new Cars-inspired area in Frontierland. It seems there’s still a lot of work to be done, but it also seems like we’ll still be able to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again sometime in 2026.
Disney has not yet confirmed an opening date for the ride, but we’ll let you know when that’s announced, so check back with AllEars again soon for more.
CONFIRMED: 5 Changes Coming to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Disney World
What do you think of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad changes? Let us know in the comments!
It is absolutely ridiculous that this is taking this long. This should have been opened before the end of 2025.