Big Thunder Mountain - Orlando / Florida Guide
Florida Guide > Disney Parks
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom is situated at the far end of Frontierland, just past Splash Mountain.
It opened in Magic Kingdom 1980 and there are now similar rides in Tokyo and Paris.
This is a great themed roller-coaster with turns and dips through caverns, mountains, avalanches and floods reminiscent of the Old West. Children must be at least 40" tall to ride. This ride is beautiful at night; be sure and ride after dark if you have the chance. Loose articles, hats, and glasses should be removed and secured.
Genuine antique mining equipment can be found around the show. These pieces were bought at auctions in the Southwest and include a double-stamp ore crusher, an ore-hauling wagon, and an old ball mill used to extract gold from ore.
You join a queue that takes you into the headquarters of the Big Thunder Mining Co. You enter converted ore cars for your journey; each of the 6 trains has an engine and 5 cars. The names of the six trains are: U. B. Bold, U. R. Daring, U. R. Courageous, I. M. Brave, I. B. Hearty and I. M. Fearless. For the wildest ride request a seat in the back rows. For a tamer ride, request a seat in the front of the train.
Too late you find out there is no conductor and you are off on a ride into the wilderness! You hear the warning "Hang onto your hats and glasses, folks, cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness! "
You go through a South-western landscape, similar to the wind swept features found in Arizona's Monument Valley. You see caves, grottos, a waterfall, big horned sheep, a spiral butte, dinosaur bones and sulphur pools.
Speeds can reach 24-30 miles per hour so you really do need to hang on to everything! Unlike Splash Mountain there are no serious drops on this ride but there are 3 good dips, they really did make our stomachs turn over.
If you can relax enough you will enjoy the music of the old west with songs like: Big Rock Candy Mountain , Blue Tail Fly, Red River Valley and Oh My Darling Clementine.
In this ride look out for a Hidden Character. As you walk to the exit from the ride behind the fence (on the left side as you exit the ride), between two metal carts and behind a cactus is a cutout in the reddish rock that resembles a side profile of Tinker Bell.
Do not miss the Hidden Mickey as you re-enter the station there are three rusty ears on the grass.
We usually meet back up with Nanny as we leave the ride at Pecos Bills Café that is nearby. Here we can enjoy a burger, sandwich or a salad while you get your breath back.
Author: Jane Sansom (Villa link: click here)
Other articles by this author: click here
We aim to provide accurate and useful information, but if you feel anything provided here is not accurate or out of date, please email us with the address of the page concerned and any comments so we can amend as necessary.
Page added on: 4 July 2007
Viewed 611 times since 1 September 2008.
Other Articles Viewed
The following articles were also viewed by people who looked at this one:
Bookmark This Article
These sites allow you to store and share links over the internet. You can share the links with other users or just use them to access your links from any computer you are using. More information is available here.