By: Andrew Bermudez
After 14 months of re-imagining, maintaining, and replacing the track and other functional elements, Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has finally returned! So, how did this refurbishment fare? Read on and find out.
First off, I would like to point out that, because we went on late at night, I wasn't able to get any good photos. Therefore, I won't be able to add any photos of what the new experience looks like. However, with enough data mining, I'm sure you'll find photos elsewhere.
We weren't able to attend the opening ceremony, but we were able to ride the day of re-opening, which, in the evening, had a posted wait time of...90 minutes. With all of the Fastpasses distributed for the day, we had no choice but to wait in that 90 minute stand-by line. Actually, to be fair, because the attraction is a fast loader, the line actually moved at a decent pace. In the end, the wait was well worth it.
For those of you who are familiar with the original version of this attraction, here are the changes that were made.
- All of the track has been replaced, making for a smoother ride, even though the track follows the same path that it did before.
- All of the trains are new, mainly so that they can attach to the new track. However, the cars have a new paint design to make them look like wood. The engines have new aging as well.
- The entire mountain was re-painted with new texturing, giving a more realistic rock look.
- The entire town of Rainbow Ridge was re-built from the ground up, with new designs for the facades and a stronger sense of forced perspective to give a sense of the town being bigger than it really is.
- The loading area has been rebuilt with a new handicapped loading area in order to increase efficiency.
- Rainbow Caverns and the surfaces surrounding the first uplift have been expanded with more cave space, new effects for the ripples in the water pools, and new animated bats.
- The caves right before the second uplift have been enhanced with new lighting.
- Billy the Goat (at the top of uplift 2) has been enhanced with new, more animal-like, animation and has a new fur coat. Across from Billy is a new sign that warns of a blasting area ahead.
- Because of the new track and the train's smoother motion, the nets that would have caught loose articles in the spiral helix, which are no longer needed, have been removed.
- The canopy leading to the third uplift has been rebuilt, extending it out further.
- The cave that contains uplift 3 has been completely re-worked. Gone are the shaking rocks and the rock slide projections. In its place is an entire set of explosives, ready to be detonated. As you enter the cave, a broken lantern sets a wick on fire, which sets other wicks on fire that lead straight to the dynamite! Your train races up the uplift as you try to outrun the wicks running along the cavern walls. Your train manages to escape the cave as the main stash of dynamite explodes.
- The dialogue that is heard as the train passes Rainbow Ridge is new compared to before.
- Last, but not least, a portrait of Tony Baxter (the Disney Legend who originally worked on the attraction and oversaw this refurbishment) is hidden in the attraction. I'm not going to say where so you can have the fun of looking for it!
As for my thoughts? If nothing else, the attraction is better than it was before. Many of the dated effects were either removed or we-worked, making this familiar attraction feel new all over again. While not everything is 100% perfect (to be fair, the bats look better, but they still aren't 100% convincing), it still gives the 35-year-old attraction a newer feel. It's well worth the wait the next time you're at Disneyland...assuming that you meet the 40 inch height requirement, of course.
