Magic Kingdom Ride Refurbishments
Ride refurbishments are now confirmed for a few of Magic Kingdom’s most popular attractions, starting later this summer and lasting through 2025. Here’s everything we know about these Walt Disney World ride closures, along with our speculation about what they might entail, timing for the downtime, and more.
August 15, 2024 UPDATE: The official Walt Disney World website now reflects an early reopening of Peter Pan’s Flight, with the Fantasyland dark ride now has operating hours tomorrow, August 16, 2024. The attraction went down for refurbishment on July 8 for what was scheduled to be a 6-week closure until August 21, 2024.
It’ll be open as normal, starting at 7:30 am for Early Entry and running through midnight for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. This refurbishment was a very last-minute addition to the closure calendar by Walt Disney World standards, but it’s good to have it back early and it’ll be interesting to see what (if anything) has changed. Our suspicion was and is that Walt Disney World was waiting for other pieces of the puzzle–the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closure timeline as well as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening and operating reliability–and was backed into this corner by those timeframes.
As Magic Kingdom’s second most popular attraction by wait times and second-best Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Peter Pan’s Flight is a strategically-significant attraction. It’ll be interesting to see how Lightning Lane demand changes for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, and other headliners in Magic Kingdom now that Peter Pan’s Flight is back.
Speaking of which, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is still using a virtual queue with no signs of it going away anytime soon. Walt Disney World originally stated that the virtual queue would only be used during the “initial opening days” of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and the ride has now been open for nearly two months.
My view is that the “initial opening days” statement was made on the basis of anticipated demand rather than downtime. Meaning that Disney figured opening weekend would be very busy and they didn’t want an overwhelming line clogging up Frontierland or getting in the way of the parade route. After all, this was before previews or anything else started, so Disney was probably operating under the assumption that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure would be at least as reliable as Splash Mountain.
Obviously, it is not. While the downtime situation had seemingly been improving over the last month, there are still days when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has several hours of closures or doesn’t open for the day until afternoon. So something is still very wrong. It might be a two steps forward, one backwards kind of deal–but regardless, the ride is not consistently reliable.
At this point, the safe prediction is that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will use a virtual queue for as long at it’s plagued by downtime woes. Virtual queues offer a means of pulsing demand and are the imperfect solution to operational woes. That’s precisely why Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance debuted the ride VQ back in 2019. Whether that means the virtual queue sticks around until sometime in September or 2025 is anyone’s guess–it all depends upon how quickly a fix is found (if one is found).
Back to Magic Kingdom ride closures, next on the horizon is Jungle Cruise. Walt Disney World has quietly added a closure of Jungle Cruise to the refurbishment calendar that’s slated to start on August 26, with the ride set to reopen on October 18, 2024.
It’s our understanding that this is a routine refurbishment rather than a reimagining, with work needing to be done on underwater infrastructure as well as some of the facades and other elements of the attraction. I know that’s not as sexy or exciting as reimaginings, but this type of work is also very necessary to ensure reliability and longevity. (And who knows–maybe they’ll install a nicer lighting package–Jungle Cruise could use one!)
This Jungle Cruise closure was not one of the original ‘pieces of the puzzle’ for Magic Kingdom, suggesting to us that the plan for the big closure has changed. We’re skeptical that two Magic Kingdom headliners will go down at the same time. If that were going to have happened, it would’ve been more likely with Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan’s Flight.
Speaking of which, this also narrows down the closure date for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to, most likely, sometime after October 18, 2024. It’s possible there could be some overlap between the Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closures, but I’m skeptical. Not only that, but October through December is one of the busiest times of year at Walt Disney World.
More likely, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR) goes down in early 2025. If I had to guess a specific date, I’d go with January 13, 2024. That’s the Monday after the Walt Disney World Marathon. This is a significant delay from the timeframe that was originally rumored (see below), but my guess is that the plan has been pushed back.
At this point, taking BTMRR down for refurbishment at the same time that the work begins to fill in the Rivers of America and begin Cars construction makes sense. January 2025 actually seems a little too soon for that, but who knows. Having Big Thunder closed while filling in the Rivers of America would certainly expedite the process and make construction easier.
Although not officially announced, Walt Disney World has filed a permit for “general construction” at an address corresponding with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom. This seemingly confirms the rumor discussed below that we first reported about a month ago regarding an extensive refurbishment to the fan-favorite roller coaster.
There are a couple of key details here that we can glean from the permit, with the first being that it has an expiration date of August 8, 2025. The default 1-year timeline is never noteworthy, but shorter or longer ones always are, as they’re extended or reduced purposefully. Meaning that there’s a reason for doing so.
In this case, that’s because the work is expected to take longer than one year–which aligns with the previous rumors about this project taking over one year and being significant in scale and scope. That means it’s not just a routine refurbishment, like BTMRR receives fairly regularly. (Those typically do not involve construction permits of any duration.)
However, if already planning your next Walt Disney World vacation around the reopening of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, we’d recommend not putting too much stock into that August 8, 2025 date. The roller coaster could reopen before or (more likely) after that.
It’s our understanding that this refurbishment has multiple moving pieces, and although the biggest is likely encompassed by that permit, there’s no guarantee it’ll be done and ready to resume operations by August 8, 2025. Even if work is finished by then, that doesn’t mean the ride will reopen right away–testing and training still take time.
The other key detail is that the permit is assigned to Coastal Steel, a company with a wide range of expertise and experience, from ride systems to steel fabrication and erection. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because you probably just heard about that contractor for the Test Track reimagining.
Outside of Test Track, they’ve collaborated with Walt Disney World on several attractions. For example, Coastal Steel worked with Walt Disney World on a range of projects, from the construction of Expedition Everest and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to Blizzard Beach, Mickey’s Toontown Fair, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and TRON Lightcycle Run.
According to wdwmagic, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad could close as soon as September 2024 (as noted above, I think this will be pushed back–but I could be wrong). The Magic Kingdom coaster needs a significant refurbishment involving substantial work on the ride system and retracking. This long-planned project is viewed as preventative work that’s crucial to extend the useful life of the roller coaster, ensuring the ride’s longevity and operational status for decades to come.
While the ride has had a number of winter-time closures for several weeks to over a month in the last several years, the last lengthy closure was in 2016 when Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was down for 4 months in the late summer and early fall. Prior to that, BTMRR had multiple closures in 2012 for extensive work, installation of the interactive queue, as well as the Barnabas T. Bullion and Big Thunder Mining Company backstory.
Every version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has had extensive closures in recent years–except Magic Kingdom. Perhaps most instructive is the BTMRR at Disneyland, which closed for a major renovation in January 2013. This project had a similar scope as what’s rumored for Magic Kingdom, with new ride vehicles, track replacement, repainting the mountain, and also restoring the Rainbow Ridge Mining Town.
That was originally scheduled to be completed by Fall 2013, but it wasn’t done until March 2014. By the time Big Thunder Mountain Railroad did reopen over a year later, its return came with much fanfare and new features–and a potential “blueprint” for other projects of this nature that we’re now potentially seeing with Haunted Mansion and Fantasmic at Disneyland. Sort of a quasi “Disney Vault” approach to excite fans.
I’d expect something similar with the Magic Kingdom version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. A closure that lasted 14 months approximately one decade ago translates to at least 18 months when adjusted for construction timeline inflation. (A thing I made up, but you know what I mean–and that it’s a real phenomenon!)
There’s no way Walt Disney World is going to close Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for between a year and 18 months and not have anything marketable to show for it when the attraction returns. There will likely be new lift hill effects, nighttime lighting, redone show scenes with Easter eggs and other historical tributes–something, anything. Given the cost in time and money, I fully believe they’ll make it count and this won’t “just” be a closure for invisible work that “only” extends the life of the roller coaster.
With a closure that’s going to last roughly a year, timing doesn’t make a huge difference. After all, it’s going to be down during every week and season, anyway. Not only that, but Walt Disney World has shown a willingness to close marquee attractions at popular times of the year. Look no further than Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster during spring break (twice!), Tower of Terror during spring and summer, and the upcoming Test Track closure from summer through at least the holiday season.
If at all possible, it might make sense to get the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishment done before October 2025. Summer crowds typically start winding down towards the end of July and drop off a cliff at the beginning of August. If this is a year-plus closure, it’s logical to have BTMRR down for the months of August and September twice than it does the months of October through December. But of course, that assumes they have a choice and can dictate timing–a bold assumption!
As mentioned above, the other big refurbishment is to Peter Pan’s Flight. Walt Disney Imagineering filed a construction permit for the installation of set pieces at Peter Pan’s Flight in Magic Kingdom, listing InterAmerica Stage, Inc. as contractor. The work has the default expiration date of one year, which isn’t particularly noteworthy.
InterAmerica Stage is a frequent collaborator with Imagineering on new and refreshed attractions and shows. Recently, this includes work on Spaceship Earth and, currently, the reimagining of Country Bear Jamboree into Country Bear Musical Jamboree. The permit doesn’t specify the scope of work beyond the vague and generic (and frequently used) “install set elements.” However, this and the permit coming from Imagineering suggests that the project will entail new or reimagined show scenes, or possibly new effects.
We have been critical of Peter Pan’s Flight. It was the most controversial pick on our List of 10 Attractions That Have Aged Poorly at Walt Disney World. So it should go without saying that I’m fully on board with this project. In fact, I hope Peter Pan’s Flight has a multi-month closure to breathe new life into the attraction.
After riding the versions at Disneyland in California and Tokyo Disneyland, I’m very ready to see updates to the Magic Kingdom incarnation. I’d love some of the effects from the Shanghai Disneyland version, which is the best of the bunch. But it’s also brand new, whereas both the Anaheim and Tokyo versions are the same classic style as Magic Kingdom–and have seen enhancements in recent years.
There were actually rumors around 2019 that Peter Pan’s Flight would be one of the classic Magic Kingdom attractions to receive updates ahead of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Supposedly, the plan was similar to refreshes at Disneyland ahead of that park’s 60th Anniversary, where Peter Pan’s Flight closed for over 5 months in 2015. But then March 2020 happened and all of those plans for Walt Disney World’s 50th were abandoned. (…Or the can was kicked down the road to 2024?)
Peter Pan’s Flight is a classic and deserves to be treated as such with respect and loving updates to keep it fresh. Flying over the streets of London and Neverland is a timeless lightning-in-a-bottle experience that should never go away.
Instead, Peter Pan’s Flight should be plussed with projection mapping and other lighting effects–as has been done in Anaheim, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Updating infrastructure so the flight is less jerky and smoother would help with suspension of disbelief. I could go on, but upgrades to the ride system are not within the scope of this construction permit, so there’s no point.
The most obvious upcoming change is probably the removal or update of the Indians scene in Peter Pan’s Flight. I don’t purport to be an expert on this sort of thing, but the depiction there does strike me as a bit of a caricature (to put it charitably). With that said, I also think it’d be a shame to lose the Indians in the attraction (that seems like the opposite of Disney’s goals). Given her presence in Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure, I assume Tiger Lily is still an acceptable character. Having a new scene with her would be cool.
If that does happen, I hope it isn’t the only change. Peter Pan’s Flight at Magic Kingdom has some great effects and features as compared to the other versions, but it hasn’t been modernized with new effects to nearly as great of a degree, either. There’s a lot of opportunity and untapped potential to make it a ride that actually justifies those triple-digit wait times.
Ultimately, while only the Peter Pan’s Flight closure has been officially confirmed by Walt Disney World, the company doesn’t filed construction permits just for the halibut. Something is happening with both Peter Pan’s Flight and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Although its start date is uncertain and could be delayed until 2025, BTMRR is almost certainly going to be down for around a full year whenever it does close.
If anything, we’d expect more reimaginings and refurbishments of this nature for a couple of reasons. The first is that there was a lot of deferred maintenance and proportionately fewer closures in the last few years due to pent-up demand and budget cuts. So several attractions are overdue for refurbishments and will probably get them in the next couple of years.
Second, the money spigot is about to be turned on for Parks & Resorts, allowing for more projects of this nature to (finally!) happen. Sure, it’s not as exciting as brand-new attractions–and many of you may lament more rides being closed during your vacation–but refurbishments are very much a necessity for maintaining appropriate attraction standards and ensuring that breakdowns don’t continue to happen at a more frequent rate. So here’s hoping we see more on this front!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about the possibility of lengthy ride refurbishments/reimaginings of Peter Pan’s Flight and/or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad? Hope these classics are updated to ensure their longevity for decades to come? Do any attractions at Walt Disney World strike you as being prime candidates for ride reimaginings? Do you agree or disagree with our choices? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi Tom, after reading your article the one thing that stands out most to me is the the Shooting Gallery is FREE?!…Seems to against everything that Disney stands for these days. 🙂
You read that correctly!
Perhaps I should make that prominent in another post somewhere, as it was a post-reopening change that happened when a lot of fans weren’t paying attention. I’m guessing some fans have continued avoiding the Shootin’ Arcade because they don’t want their kids begging to spend money on it…even though it’s free!
Capacity begins with maintaining existing attractions
It still bugs me that Disney didn’t use the Covid shut down time to do some or maybe much of the refurbishments that were needed. They could have employed quite a few people and much of the work was outdoors, so it seems like it could have accomplished good things all around. Just a thought.
I hope the refurbishment of BTMRR involves adding a camera to the ride! I hate you don’t get a ride photo on this. It’s one o my favorite rides. I’d love a picture!!!
Hi Tom: these ads are awful! Can’t scroll and read without every 5 seconds a new ad pop/up blocking your posts until multiple attempts to clear/close the ads.
Do you see this on your end? It’s so frustrating.
Thanks,
Mike
Not Tom, but this is how I read the blog: if you’re on an iPhone, and tap AA to the left of the search/website bar, and select “show reader”, all the text stays and the ads stop being so intrusive.
I am an ancient drone and adore Peter Pan. But the Disney animation is based on the original play by James Barrie, c. 1900. (There is,also a novel.version). That play sadly reflects the colonial attitude toward indigenous people,and is thus terribly dated and racist.
I was bullied in junior high and wrote Never land fanfic. I despised Wendy ( and the author’s obsession with mothers,a theme that runs through much of his work).I wanted to be Tinkerbell or Tiger Lily. A,female who wasn’t a Professional Mommy.
Things have come full.circle. I am 74. Here in York PA we have Carrie Fest in September. My hair snow white and I am making dragonfly wings (the cheap ones,make it through one day before falling apart). And I will be Tinker bell’s grandmother. All I need is a name. Likely Bluebell,because I wil.have wild blue streaks in my hair!
When I was a kid in the 50s, we played Cowboys and Indians.
seriously doubt we see any closures before Jan, 2025, high season coming, followed by holiday parties. Jan is slowdown time, and that’s the prime time for these kind of projects.
It seems some of you have overlooked the many, many times I crouched all of this as rumor.
I see fears of the following all being closed simultaneously:
-Test Track (announced)
-Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (rumored)
-Peter Pan’s Flight (permitted)
-Journey into Imagination (permitted, maybe?)
-Spaceship Earth (speculated)
I would be somewhat surprised if 3 of these attractions are closed at the same time, and downright shocked if 4 are down simultaneously.
Yes, I do think fans need to prepare for more ride closures–but that’s a return to normal. The last few years have been very light on refurbs…and it shows!
And, for what it’s worth, still WAY fewer than are regularly scheduled at Tokyo Disney Resort. We can’t envy their maintenance standards as US parks fans…and then complain when Disney starts moving in that direction!
Exactly. Well said.
Agreed! otherwise its just another *insert generic theme park name here).
Didn’t they show the Anaheim improvements in the Imagineering Story or a similar Disney+ series? While it might not be an improvement that WDW can advertise, it’s one I think people will feel … as well as improve maintenance.
Did Tom ever review the updates to Big Thunder DL? I remember liking it but I couldn’t tell you what specifically was new.
Apparently, the Arcade has been free since 2021? I totally missed that. I would guess there’s been a number of plans to replace it that have fallen through, or else they’d have gone back to pay-for-play at some point.
I made the mistake of going on the WDW version of Peter Pan not long after riding the DL version and what a difference! The effects on DL’s version are so much better, the figures don’t move in that jerky way, and the mermaid lagoon scene in particular is much better done. It’s a still a great ride at WDW but it really looks like it hasn’t been touched since 1971. I hope they spruce it up so it’s on par with the DL version!
I suggest they make the shooting gallery into an additional locker, stroller, wheelchair, and scooter rental location. Guests might not feel the need to push a stroller loaded with supplies if lockers were more conveniently located. Maybe forego a just in case scooter/stroller rental, which is parked half the time, because getting to the front of the park is too far to walk if you end up needing one.
Why not both? Maybe you have to shoot targets to open lockers or unlock strollers?
Oh, dear. There are no native Americans in Peter Pan; not in the ride nor the movie nor Barrie’s novel nor his original play. Neverland is not in America. It’s not in the South Pacific either. It, and its inhabitants, are collective figments of the imagination of a group of Edwardian-era British schoolchildren. All the characters speak and act as children or as children playing pretend imagine adults might speak– in grown-up phrases they don’t really understand.
But I suppose no one’s ever going to remember that. After all, no one (except the TV series ” Once Upon a Time”) remembers that JM Barrie himself said Peter is the villain of the story, not the hero.
Not sure what your source is, I thought I really remembered Tiger Lily in the 1911 novel by Barrie so I looked it up. According to some brief internet research the character was in both the 1904 play and the 1911 novel. You can checki it out on Wikipedia for one, which as a history teacher I can assure you actually has a very good record for historical correctness. Barrie describes her as “the belle of the Piccaninnies” Yes, she and the tribe are portrayed in a very colonialist and stereotypical way; but he did create the character.
I really hope BTMR stays open for our trip at the end of July. My son HATES rollercoasters, but this is the first trip where he told me he would give things a try and he’s older now. He’s been watching POVs of the ride and said he thinks he would like BTMR the best (and it’s me and my husband’s fav)
I was hoping he would like it and it would kickstart his love of thrill rides!! (he’s never really ridden thrill rides…always got in line nervous and backed out)
If I took him on Space Mountain… I feel like that would kill any hope of other Rollercoasters. haha
I’ve thought Tiger Lily should be a Disney Princess. And please remove the caricature of her father. As unfortunate as Mickey Rooney in “Breakfast at Tiffanys”.
An historic Frontier person whose reputation suffers because of his up & down treatment of native Americans depending on how he viewed their behavior was John Charles Fremont. Maybe Nissan would sponsor an educational exhibit in Frontierland of the original Pathfinder.
Oh I didn’t realize the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade was free to play now. Their website still says it “requires a small fee to play”. We’ll have to check it out on our upcoming trip! I’ve never wandered in with our kids because I didn’t want to deal with any ensuing meltdowns when we didn’t want to shell out additional cash
Been many times, but waited to take our family during the holiday season for years (teacher here)…finally going at the beginning of December. BTMR and Peter Pan are two of our favorites – and now they’ll likely be down. But since we rented DVC points, we’re stuck. I’m so sad. And then there’s the Imagination Pavilion construction news as well – could be nothing, but with Test Track down, to take Figment down too would be an awful choice. Keeping my fingers crossed that at least Peter and Figment remain through 2024 but I’m not holding my breath. :~((
We are coming from the UK in October / November and having 2 of my families favourite rides down, Test Track and BTMRR, makes me wonder whether we should delay coming for a while longer. I do totally get why these refurbishments are necessary, but please not at the same time.
Yea, 2 of the “thrill” rides being down across WDW would be a big bummer – there are so few to go around already.
Tom, I respect your opinion but the what makes the red man red song in the animated Peter Pan is shockingly bad.
BTMR is still on the list of attractions for MNSSHP (I check every day!) Is there a precedent for something being listed for a ticketed event and then pulled later?
I will be really frustrated at this point if it gets dropped for our Sep trip. It’s a must do for my family 🙁
I don’t recall whether something similar happened with RnRC and Disney After Hours this year or last, but I would not view that list as the gospel. It’s a snapshot in time, probably copied and pasted from last year. (Hence Tiana’s Bayou Adventure not being on it.)
In a scenario like this, it’s fairly common for one hand to not know what the other is doing/planning.
But if I recall correctly TBA *was* listed originally and then yanked (and I assume will be added back again later). So someone must be paying a modicum of attention, at least I hope so haha
I agree with you about the Peter Pan ride. I have never understood why the wait times are so long for it. I also think it’s an opportunity to reimagine it to be more respectful to indigenous/Native American people or even go in a new direction. I see classic Peter Pan as problematic for Disney much like Song of the South was for Splash Mountain. I’ll leave it at that because I don’t want to be controversial here on a respectable blog, and I know a lot of people love classic Peter Pan but the indigenous scenes in that film make me shake my head.
“I see classic Peter Pan as problematic for Disney much like Song of the South was for Splash Mountain.”
Eh, I think that’s overstating it a bit. Fantasy Springs contains a whole area dedicated to Peter Pan; although that’s owned by OLC, Disney could’ve vetoed any concepts for the land or attractions. Anything in Peter Pan’s Never Land should be viewed as fair game.
Yes. I love the story of Peter Pan but when I rewatched the Disney animated movie with my daughter, I was shocked. Lots had gone over my head as a head. It’s incredibly, wildly sexist. And when it’s not being sexist, it treated Indigenous People as children. (And I mean the adults, like the chief – not Tiger Lily.) It’s really quite horrible. Which makes me so sad! I understand that it’s supposed to be a little boy’s fantasy – you play with Indians and Pirates and stay up all night, and all girls are mommy figures who hate each other, fight over boys and try to rule the boys’ lives.
I did love “flying” over London, though!