Changes
In the queue, guest climb up the hill before reaching that 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 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 its peak Tony Baxter came up with a back story
"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.
===Music played in the Queue===
==Ride Plot==
The ride begins with guests leaving the loading station. The train immediately enters a a dark tunnel and makes a left hand turn. In the tunnel the sound of bats can be heard. The train makes a right hand turn and then begins to go up the attractions first hill. On the guests 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 to small hills. At this time it is possible to see another runaway train pass by.
== Trivia and Fun Facts==
