Lightning Lane Status CONFIRMED for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom

We’re less than a month away from the reopening of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom, and we’re already quaking in our boots with excitement!

This ride officially reopens to the public on May 3rd, and we’ve been wondering for weeks now if Disney would introduce a Virtual Queue or other crowd management tool for this ride’s reopening. While that hasn’t been announced, we do now know for sure that the ride will be a Tier 1 Lightning Lane attraction!

Lightning Lane is Disney’s paid skip-the-line offering, but it’s not as simple as purchasing it and being able to skip the lines at all the rides. Certain rides are only included in Lightning Lane Single Pass, which has to be bought separately from Lightning Lane Multi Pass (if you choose to buy both). Then, INSIDE Lightning Lane Multi Pass, while you can hold three Lightning Lanes at a time, when you first reserve your first three, only one can be a Tier 1, which are some of the most popular rides in the parks.

It’s now been confirmed that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be part of Lightning Lane Multi Pass as a Tier 1 attraction. It’ll likely be one of the most sought-after, especially since, when pre-booking Lightning Lanes, you can, again, only have one Tier 1 at the start (then you can book more throughout the day as you use any of your existing Lightning Lanes up).

Other Tier 1 attractions in the parks in Magic Kingdom are Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, making this the fifth addition. That’s a lot of Tier 1’s! Tier 1 rides in the other parks are:

• Frozen Ever After (EPCOT)
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (EPCOT)
• Test Track (EPCOT)
• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets – Opening Summer 2026 (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
• Slinky Dog Dash (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)

We’re expecting Cast Member previews to start any day now, where we’ll be able to bring you the news about experiencing the new version of the ride. In the meantime, if you’re looking for other Magic Kingdom updates, check out our posts below!

Need some help planning your trip and don’t want to feel overwhelmed? That’s exactly why we created our FREE Planning Series, which you can snag right now to have all throughout your trip!

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all the latest Disney World news, so stay tuned to AllEars!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Is Opening SOON in Magic Kingdom — Here Are 5 Rules You Need To Know

Are you planning on waiting in the regular line for this ride, or using Lightning Lane? Tell us in the comments!