3
Credit: Anna Fox (HarshLight), FlickrDisney is starting to make a habit out of surprising its fans with attractions reopening without any warning. Disney will announce the attraction’s closure, and then randomly reopen it to unsuspecting fans who happen to be in the parks that day.
Disney World did it several times this summer with the reopening of the Hall of Presidents on a random Sunday. They continued that trend with the soft openings of Test Track 3.0 and Starlight: Dream the Night Away at Magic Kingdom. That trend continued a few weeks ago with the soft opening of Spaceship Earth at EPCOT.
Now, the reopening trend has made its way to Disneyland in California. This morning, when guests arrived at the park, they were greeted by a special reopening.
After a nearly two-month refurbishment, Disney reopened Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to guests this morning. Guests immediately took to social media to alert others that the beloved coaster had returned to operations this morning.
While the ride did open with the park today, its operations were sporadic at best. By late morning, Big Thunder Mountain was listed in the Disneyland app as “temporarily closed.” However, guests were able to buy Lightning Lane passes for the ride for most of the day.
According to some guests on social media, Big Thunder Mountain was testing on Saturday, November 1, with cast members being the first to experience the updated attraction.
When the attraction originally closed in early September, Disneyland did not announce a reopening date, but that quickly changed to early December. However, it appears that Disneyland has reopened the attraction a month earlier than planned.
Big Thunder Mountain at Disney World has been closed for nearly all of 2025, but it took a significant step toward reopening this week when it started ride testing. Perhaps Disneyland won’t be the only Big Thunder Mountain to get a surprise reopening date.
What’s your favorite part of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad? Let us know in the comments.