The NEW Ride Warning We're Issuing for Magic Kingdom This Summer

Big things are happening at the Magic Kingdom this summer, headlined by the reopening of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after a year-and-a-half-long closure.

Magic Kingdom

The major E-Ticket is bringing “new magic” — including new tracks, new trains, and new sequences — to the park. However, its reopening is also going to have a major effect on another major Magic Kingdom attraction: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

Since Big Thunder closed for refurbishment back in January of 2025, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has been the lone open attraction at the northwestern end of the park’s Frontierland. That status was only exacerbated last July when Disney began construction on both Piston Peak and Villains Land. The former turned the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island into a walled-off construction zone…

Piston Peak construction

… while the latter saw land cleared beyond the closed Big Thunder Mountain.

©Bioreconstruct

Thanks to each of these projects happening simultaneously, Tiana’s essentially became an “island” surrounded by construction on all sides. While the ride maintained respectable waits during this period, we have a feeling the Bayou is about to get a lot busier this summer.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

The highly anticipated new Big Thunder is sure to bring lots of guests over to the park’s western end, many of whom will likely ride Tiana’s before or after their trip on the “Wildest Ride in the Wilderness” (especially if they have time to kill before a Lightning Lane window opens).

Standby Line at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Of note, both Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Big Thunder Mountain are Tier 1 Lightning Lanes in the Magic Kingdom, meaning that guests can only prebook one of them before their arrival.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

This influx of guests, combined with the warm-weather bump that water-based attractions naturally see during the hot summer months, will likely lead to a big pop in wait times for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure this summer, which will likely see the ride reach the busiest state it’s been in since first opening back in the summer of 2024.

The reopening of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is going to have a major effect on the Magic Kingdom this summer, including on its neighbor, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Stay tuned to AllEars for coverage of Disney World’s wait times this summer.

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Are you planning to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure next time you’re at the Magic Kingdom? Let us know in the comments below.