Big Thunder Mountain has been closed for refurbishment at Disneyland Paris for quite some time. This is about to change. Disneyland Paris has announced that this attraction, which takes guests on the wildest ride in the wilderness on an island in the Rivers of the Far West, will be reopening on June 21, 2025. Disneyland Paris made the following announcement about this reopening.
Over the last few months, a wide range of specialists with a variety of skills have been taking great care of Big Thunder Mountain, one of the most popular attractions at Disneyland® Paris. Their objective: to ensure the attraction is meticulously maintained, preserving the quality of the experience while honouring the original creative vision and safeguarding its story, which remains deeply intertwined with that of Frontierland®.
In addition to the in-depth maintenance of the tunnels and rails, with certain stretches being completely replaced, parts of the mountain were repainted, and the arch was cleaned using drones – a first for the Walt Disney Imagineering Paris teams. Some of the attraction’s water, visual and sound effects have also been reworked or restored.
The highly detailed scenery of Big Thunder Mountain was not left out – certain wooden elements like Mill Camp Tower were dismantled for restoration before being reinstalled on the mountain. Hundreds of accessories, visible both throughout the attraction and its queue line, have been carefully cleaned, repainted, and given a patina in the Disneyland® Paris Central Workshops to preserve the authentic, timeworn look of this gold-rush-era mine. For larger pieces, such as the Lavinia steam engine visible from the queue area, the work was carried out directly on site.
The attraction’s animal figures, such as the mules, opossums and bats, were restored and repainted in the Central Workshops, and some were even given a brand-new coat, like the emblematic the goat.
This ambitious project, necessary for the smooth running of the attraction that is open all year round and mainly outdoors, required collaboration between teams from Walt Disney Imagineering Paris, Design & Delivery, Maintenance and Central Workshops, who worked tirelessly to renovate the wildest ride in the wilderness in the West!
What do you think about the return of Big Thunder Mountain to Disneyland Paris? Have you been on it before? Which is your favorite version of this attraction? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
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