Changes
/* Fun Facts and Trivia */
{{Template:Infobox Disney ride |
| image=ThunderMountainDay.jpg
| caption='''The exterior of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.|alt= Big Thunder Mountain'''
| land=Frontierland
| cost=17 million
| duration=3:25
| audio-animatronics=20
| height_requirement=40
|custom_label_2= Disney Genie +
|custom_value_2= Yes
}}
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is an attraction located in [[Frontierland]]
== Attraction History ==The history of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad actually begins with the story of the Western River Expedition. In the late 1960s Imagineer Marc Davis was tasked with creating a Frontierland alternative to Disneyland's [[Pirates of the Caribbean]] attraction <ref name="hill1">http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2000/12/31/why-quot-western-river-quot-went-south-part-3.aspx </ref>. Although the ride had proved to be extremely popular, Disney felt that guests in Florida would not be interested in the attraction due to the preponderance of pirates in Florida's cultural lore <ref name="dated"> http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/wre.htm </ref>. Instead of pirates, Davis and his team pitched the Western River Expedition. This massive Frontierland expansion would have featured a boat ride similar to Pirates of the Caribbean, which would have taken guests through various scenes in the American Old West. Also included in the expansion would be hiking trails, a mule ride, and finally an attraction aboard a runaway train which was pitched to give the project a thrill component<ref> http://passport2dreams.blogspot.com/2015/01/all-about-western-river-expedition-part.html </ref>. When pitching his project Davis suggested:
====Music played in the Queue====
The musical loop played inside the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is approximately 20 minutes long and features 14 songs. The songs included are <ref>http://community.magicmusic.net/threads/wdw-splash-mountain-big-thunder-mountain-railroad-playlists.3378/</ref>:
[[Image:Thundertrain.jpg|thumb|400px|A runaway train on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.|alt= Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Train]]
* West of the Wide Missouri
* All Aboard the Mine Train
* There's No Place (Like Home)
===Ride Plot===The ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad begins with guests leaving the loading load 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 attraction's first hill. On the guests guest’s right, a series of caverns can be seeseen, 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 train then enter enters the town of Tumbleweed.
[[Image:CousinElrodThunderMountain.jpg|thumb|200px400px|Cousin Elrod, one of the last inhabitants of Tumbleweed.|alt= Cousin Elron Tumbleweed Thunder Mountain]]====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 swaying from side to side. This sensation ====Dave V Jones Mine and Boneyard====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, they go up another hill and eventually down a 540 degree helix to the left. At this time, there is created by banking a lot of scenery to see including: Audio Animatronic mules, a billy goat, a road runner and a snake, which all populate the tracks mountain landscape. 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 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 tunnel. The train then enters the railroadboneyard scene.
==Fun Facts and Trivia==
[[Image:Barnabas.jpg|thumb|300px|Barnabas T. Bullion, the president of the Big Thunder Mining Company looks suspiciously like Imagineer Tony Baxter.|alt= Thunder Mountain Barnabas T. Bullion Tony Baxter]]
* The town of Tumbleweed was called Dry Gulch in promotional material prior to 1980. Dry Gulch was the name of a western town in Mac Davis' unbuilt Western River Expedition <ref> https://www.facebook.com/139910379361960/photos/a.139918122694519.19888.139910379361960/1042615299091459/?type=3&theater </ref>.
* The mountain that houses the Big Thunder Mountain was modeled after Monument Valley in Arizona<ref name= "wdwradio">http://www.wdwradio.com/2007/09/big-thunder-mountain-railroad/</ref>.
*The path that guests exit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is called Nugget Way<ref> http://www.burnsland.com/2012/02/daily-photo-nugget-way-at-big-thunder-mountain/ </ref>.
*The Proprietors proprietors of the Dry Goods Store in Tumbleweed are D. Hydrate and U. Wither<ref> https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Thunder+Mountain+%22D.+Hydrate%22 </ref>.
*In the queue for the attraction guests will can see crates from the fictional Lythum & Hyde Explosive Company.
*Another crate in the queue comes from the Clarksdale Miners Supply. Clarkdale was an Arizona mining town founded in 1912 by William A. Clark <ref> http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/big-thunder-mountain-railroad-and-frontierland-and-dumbo-patched-and-liberty-square-and-stitch-and-magic-kingdom-and-salad-update-part-1/ </ref>.
*Big Thunder Mountain Railroad takes up approximately 2.5 acres of land<ref name= "bythenumbers"> http://www.disneybythenumbers.com/wdw/wdwFrontierland.html </ref>.
*The track length of the attraction is 2,780 feetBarnabas T. Bullion looks very similar to Imagineer Tony Baxter
*The track length of the attraction is 2,780 feet <ref name==References==http://www.theneverlandfiles.com/tnf/disneyworld"bythenumbers"/thundermesa>.php
* In the Big Thunder Mountain queue, guests can find a plaque that reads "Joshua Hendry Machine Works, S.F. Cal." Not only did the Joshua Hendry Machine Works make real mining equipment in the 19th Century, but Arrow Development founders Andy Anderson, Karl Bacon, William Hardiman and Ed Morgan also worked at the company. Arrow Development would be instrumental in the creation of many of Disneyland's early attractions <ref> http://wwwthinkingofdesign.wdwmemoriesblogspot.com/disney2017/02/hendy-worldhomage-at-big-thunder-mountain-railroad.html</ref>