Changes

On January 9, 2012, __NOTOC__{{Template:Infobox Disney ride || image=ThunderMountainDay.jpg| caption='''The exterior of Big Thunder Mountain was closed for refurbishmentRailroad. It is expected that the refurbishment will make the track more smooth'''| land=Frontierland| cost=17 million| site_area=108, and also restore some effects that have become nonoperational. 900| park= Magic Kingdom| duration=3:25| audio-animatronics=20| fastpass=Yes| opened= November 15, 1980| height_requirement=40}}Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is set to reopen on May 28, 2012. an attraction located in [[Frontierland]]

== Back story and QueueAttraction History ==

The back story for concept of Big Thunder Mountain takes place Railroad goes back to the Thunder Mesa expansion that was going to be added to Frontierland in the small mining town early 1970s. When Walt Disney World opened, it did not include a [[Pirates of Tumbleweedthe Caribbean]] attraction, because Disney thought that people in Florida would not be interested in pirates, because there was already much pirate lore in the Florida culture. In Instead, it was assumed that the late 1800sAmerican West would be a more interesting subject, gold and the concept of the Thunder Mesa expansion was discovered on Big born. Designed by Imagineer Marc Davis over the course of many years, the Thunder Mesa expansion would have taken place in Frontierland, in the form of a mountain called Thunder Mesa Mountain and Tumbleweed soon boomed. The Thunder Mountain Mesa expansion would have included a dark boat ride (like Pirates of the Caribbean) called the Western River Expedition. The new attraction would have taken guests through various Old West scenes, and featured an astonishing 150 Audio Animatronic. Also included in the expansion, were plans for hiking trails, a mule ride, and a runaway train attraction. Due to high guest demand however, Disney decided it needed to build a Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in Disney World in 1973. With the addition of Pirates, the Western River Expedition was home no longer needed. Even as Marc Davis tried to an ancient Indian burial groundkeep his project alive, and an Indian legend warned it was clear that disaster the project would strike if anyone tried be too expensive. Disney was already using its funds to remove build [[Space Mountain]], the gold from [[Carousel of Progress]], the mountain[[WEDway People Mover]] and the [[Star Jets]] in [[Tomorrowland]] and there was not enough money to construct another large expansion. Ignoring The final strike against the warningconstruction of Thunder Mesa came in 1973 when Imagineer Tony Baxter showed his plans for mine train, minors thrill ride, called Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The new attraction took some the best elements of the Thunder Mesa mine train ride, but without the expensive show building. Although Baxter suggested that the ride could be built a railway into next to the mountain and mined Western River Expansion building, only Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ever saw the gold anywaylight of day. While deep Although Disney liked the idea, the planned Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was put on hold until the completion of [[Tomorrowland]]. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was the first attraction in Disney World to be designed by a computer, which allowed Imagineers to create a much smoother ride. Imagineers however had a different problem, although they knew how to make the minesattraction look appealing, Indian spirits the computer did not. In fact, it took control Imagineers nine different designs before the computer accepted one without making changes. Construction eventually began on the attraction in 1979 and it opened to the public on September 23, 1980. On January 9, 2012, Big Thunder Mountain was closed for its first refurbishment. During the refurbishment, every single piece of track was redone and the mine carsentire attraction was repainted. The miners Furthermore, many of the attraction’s special effects that had become non-operational were never heard from againfixed. Disaster Disney also struck announced that in 2013, Thunder Mountain would be getting a new “interactive” queue. ==Official Backstory and Queue==On November 19, 2012 Disney announced a new backstory for Big Thunder Mountain. According to Disney:{{Quotation| Barnabas T. Bullion is the town founder and president of Tumbleweed when the Big Thunder Mining Company. The longtime mining magnate comes from a flash flood hit, powerful East Coast family and considers gold to be his very birthright by virtue of his oddly appropriate name; in fact, he considers the boomtown was quickly abandonedultimate gold strike to be his destiny. Sometime laterAnd that is why he is having so much trouble with Big Thunder Mountain. According to superstitious locals, Big Thunder Mountain is very protective of the gold it holds within, and the unfortunate soul who attempts to mine cars were found running without a conductor or crewits riches is destined to fail. And so far that prophecy is coming to pass. The mine has been plagued by mysterious forces and natural disasters ever since. And yet the Big Thunder Mining Co. is still in operation. In fact, Bullion is discovering new veins of gold and digging new shafts every day, offering a tourist attraction closer look at the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was built mining operation than ever before. But a word to allow guest the wise for anyone attempting to ride visit the possessed mountain: watch out for runaway trains.”| Disney Parks Blog}]In the queue, guest climb up the hill before reaching that the station building. As they climb, guests will notice old mining equipment all around them, this is because the station building was at one time the offices of a mining company. After winding through the station building guests will finally reach the loading area. After getting into the trains, guests they are warned by The Prospector to keep their arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, "Because this here is the wildest ride in the wilderness!"===Jason Surrell Backstory===According Jason Surrell in his book The Disney Mountains: Imagineering At It's Peak Tony Baxter came up with this back story:  {{Quotation|"In the Disney version, gold was discovered in Big Thunder country in the 1850s, shortly after the Gold Rush began near John A. Sutter's Mill in California, leading to the formation of the BTM Mining Company. But the locals believed Big Thunder Mountain and the land around it to be sacred, and a protective supernatural force dwelt deep within the mountain to protect it from anyone who might deface it in the pursuit of profit. At first, the mining operation went along without incident, but as the miners began using explosives to blast deeper and deeper into the unforgiving rock and laying tracks for the mine train they'd use to retrieve its golden bounty, the mountain's ancient fury was unleashed. Strange noises emanated from a newly opened mineshaft. The spirits of long-dead miners could be heard tapping on the boarded walls of abandoned tunnels. Cave-ins became common occurrences. And then the narrow-gauge engines began rolling out of the station with no human hands at the controls. Entire trains, most times packed with unsuspecting passengers, would race driverless, at breakneck speed, along the spiraling steel and wooden track. The miners began to concede that perhaps the locals were right all along. Maybe the mountain --and their mine -- was cursed. They abandoned their posts, the BTM Mining Company went bust, and soon Big Thunder became just another ghost town dotting the Old West."}} This back story was given with the opening of the Disneyland version of the attraction in 1979 and may or may not be the back story for the Walt Disney World version.

 The musical loop played inside the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is approximitly approximately 20 minutes long and features 14 songs. The songs included are:

The ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad begins with guests leaving the loading station. The train immediately enters a a dark tunnel and makes a left hand turn. In While in the tunnel the sound of bats screeching can be heard. The Inside the tunnel, the train makes a right hand turn and then begins to go up the attractions first hill. On the guests guest’s right, a series of caverns can be see, before the train makes its way to the top of another hill. After another drop , the train turns right and goes up two small hills. At this time it is possible to see another runaway train pass by. The trains then enter the town of Tumbleweed.

When guests enter Tumbleweed they will notice that town has been flooded. On the left hand side of the town , riders will see the Dry Good Store, and the Gold Dust Saloon which seems to be having a party on the second storyfloor. On the right sideof the tracks, a Tumbleweed sign says that they population went from 8015 to 247 to 15 , before now reading "dried out". Next to the sign, is guests can see one of the few remaining residents of Tumbleweed, Cousin Elrod , who floats along in his bathtub. Also in Tumbleweed on the riders left hand side is the rain man , Professor Cumulus Isobar, who's whose rain making machine seems to have worked a little too well. As the train passes through Tumbleweed riders will notice that the train seems to be sway from side to side. This sensation is created by banking the tracks of the railroad. 

As guests exit Tumbleweed and head towards the boneyard, the train passes through another tunnel called the Dave V Jones Mine. As riders continue on, going they go up another hill and eventually down a 540 degree helix to the left. At this time, there is a lot of scenery to see. including Audio Anamatronic mules, a billy goat, a road runner and a snake which all populate the mountain landscape. Riders then enter After passing the animals, the train enters another tunnel , when suddenly an earthquake hits. As the rock rumble and shake, it seems that they will soon crush and bury the train. guests, however The train makes it out just in nick of time. Now in daylight , the train drops away to the left, towards the Rivers of America, before making another short turn and entering another shot tunnel. The train then enters the boneyard scene.

In the boneyard scene, guests will pass the bones of a dinosaur in the side of the mountain. As the train rolls on, it passes through geysers which shoot up on either side of them. In recent years however, the geyser effect has not been in use. The trains then hit a final break run and return to the station.

*The Proprietors proprietors of the Dry Goods Store in Tumbleweed are D. Hydrate and U. Wither.

*In the queue for the attraction guests will can see crates from the fictional Lythum & Hyde Explosive Company.