Work continues to move along at a decent pace for the full roller coaster track replacement project at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom. As a quick recap, the first piece of track was removed on January 8th, and the first new piece of track was installed on January 30th. Since then, crews have been moving along, replacing bits and pieces of track along the way to prepare for a 2026 reopening. We made it out to Magic Kingdom recently to get an updated look at the track replacement project.
Latest Look at New Track Installed for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
We started our morning on the Liberty Square Riverboat, getting a look at some of the new track from the Rivers of America. This view will soon become extinct as Walt Disney World drains the Rivers of America and demolishes Tom Sawyer Island for a new Cars-themed area. Walt Disney World received the green light for the work just over a month ago.
There are two notable areas visible from the Liberty Square Riverboat. The first is the second lift hill, which is entirely outdoors. The first lift hill was the first section of the ride to receive the new track, and now the second lift hill has new track as well. We’ll end up getting a pretty good view of the second lift hill from the walkways near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as well, but first, here’s a view from the Riverboat.
Other parts of the ride, such as the outdoor circle turn following the finale lift hill, still have work to be done. As you can see below, the area where the track sits is still empty as crews work on the surrounding facade.
Here’s a wider look at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from the Liberty Square Riverboat.
We can get a glimpse of new track just past the first lift hill as the runaway mine train starts to gather speed and send guests through the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness.
The last notable section of new track visible from the Liberty Square Riverboat is a curved turn that takes guests through the flooded town. While this is our best view of this section of track, we’ll see that some new track has been installed through the flooded town once we take a ride on the Walt Disney World Railroad.
Before we jump on the railroad, here’s a look at the second lift hill from the area around Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Frontierland train station. As we can see through the trees, a new piece of curved track was being placed.
Now on the Walt Disney World Railroad, we can get a better view of the flooded town (currently dry during the work), and of the second lift hill.
If we look past the new roller coaster track in the foreground, we can see some curved track that takes guests past a goat after the second lift hill.
Enhance.
And here are a couple more photos as we pass the flooded town.
For more articles on the track replacement project, and a full ride through of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before it closed, check out our project tracker page below!
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
