After a 6-Month Closure, This Magic Kingdom Ride Is FINALLY Ride Testing Ahead of Official Reopening

One of Disney World’s most recognizable rides may finally be nearing its official reopening date.

2025 has been a year of refurbishment at Disney World. EPCOT’s Test Track just set a reopening date following a refurb that began in June of 2024. Big Thunder Mountain at the Magic Kingdom has been closed since January in a refurbishment scheduled to stretch into next year. On a recent trip to the Magic Kingdom, we saw signs that another attraction is on its way back.

The Astro Orbiter closed on January 13th, 2025, just a week after Big Thunder Mountain, for its own refurbishment that saw nearly the entire ride removed from its place at the top of the PeopleMover.

While Disney has yet to say anything about the ride’s return date beyond “2025,” during a mid-June trip to the park, we noticed some ride testing happening on top of the platform, and immediately hopped on the PeopleMover to grab a closer look.

During this testing phase, the rocket ride vehicles weren’t lifting up, but the ride’s apparatus was turning.

We also clocked something interesting: the Astro Orbiter testing didn’t feature the loud noise that usually accompanies the end of the ride’s cycle. We’re not sure if that’s because the noise comes from the hydraulic pressure of the rockets themselves lifting in the air, and therefore didn’t happen because the rockets weren’t being lifted during our observation, or if the newly refurbished equipment was quieter.

The current incarnation of the Astro Orbiter was first installed in Tomorrowland in 1994 during a larger-scale refurbishment of Tomorrowland. Prior to that, a previous, more realistically themed version of the attraction, known as the Star Jets, was the centerpiece of the land beginning in 1974.

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The Astro Orbiter appears to be closing on a reopening date, as the attraction’s ride apparatus was recently tested at the Magic Kingdom. Stay tuned to AllEars for further updates.

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Are you looking forward to the Astro Orbiter’s return? Let us know in the comments below.

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