Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
The "wildest ride in the wilderness" sends runaway mine trains careening through a hand-sculpted desert mountain of hairpin turns, flash floods, and collapsing mine shafts. Four different Disney parks have built their own version of this frontier-mining legend — each with its own backstory, layout, and secrets.
A Frontier Legend, Rebuilt In Every Park
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reimagines a 19th-century mining boomtown gone wrong: an abandoned mountain honeycombed with tunnels, rickety trestles, and a runaway train that's escaped its tracks. Imagineer Tony Baxter, the creative force behind the attraction, also shaped Splash Mountain, Star Tours, and Indiana Jones Adventure across the Disneyland Resort — and is honored with his own window on Main Street.
The mountain itself is no small feat of theming: the original Disneyland version contains over 20,000 hand-placed rocks and boulders built around a steel framework, turning a coaster support structure into a believable desert butte. Every global version borrows this same "mountain built as a mine" DNA, then layers on its own local legend.
Quick Facts At A Glance
Facts & Trivia By The Trainload
Same runaway-train concept, four very different mountains. Here's how each park's Big Thunder Mountain earns its own claim to fame.
Sits on an island in the middle of the Rivers of the Far West — making it the only Big Thunder Mountain in the world situated on an island, reached by tunnels running beneath the water.
The ride lasts four minutes and runs 6 trains with 5 cars each, arranged 2-across in 3 rows — a total of 30 riders per train.
Westernland is Tokyo Disneyland's largest themed land, thanks to the sprawling Rivers of America — shared with the Mark Twain Riverboat, Tom Sawyer Island, Big Thunder Mountain, and the Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes.
Tony Baxter lent his talents to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Star Tours, Indiana Jones Adventure, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and Fantasy Faire — and is honored with a window on Main Street.
Opened September 2, 1979, and contains over 20,000 hand-placed rocks and boulders, with the mountain structure built around a steel framework.
Opened April 12, 1992 — the only Big Thunder Mountain in the world to have been an opening-day attraction at its park.
Its backstory tells of a tsunami that struck the mines and town after settlers desecrated the mountain, forcing the town to be abandoned.
A Single Rider queue was added to Big Thunder Mountain in January 2020, giving solo guests a faster way to fill empty seats.
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