This could be the title
It is the jewel of most Magic Kingdoms and always its most popular attraction. Kids and Parents both enjoy one of the still longest roller coaster among every Disney Theme Parks, this article is about the 4 Big Thunder Mountain of the 5 Magic Kingdoms!
The correct title should have been 2 Big Thunder Mountain and 2 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The last two creations of this great park Franchise dropped the ‘railroad’ due to their non-anglophone audience.
But why a Railroad ? Here comes the modest history fix.
But when Florida visitors started asking why there wasn’t a Pirates of the Carribean in Walt Disney World, management hurrily added it to Phase 2 plans and rubbed out its then useless western-like counterpart.
Western River, along with its mine town Thunder Mesa was scrapped.
Years later Tony Baxter started working on a now stand-alone Mine Train ride and used Marc Davis’ Thunder Mesa concept to inspire the design we all now today. It was the first Disney attraction to use computer technologies and it openned in California in september 1979, in Florida the following year, in Tokyo in 1987 and on Disneyland’s Paris opening day in 1992.
We could start by the similitudes in saying that the tracks are for the three first attractions somehow similar. The tracks have been lenghened a bit for the Magic Kingdom Park and then copied from it for Tokyo at the exception of the ending which, there, have the guest ride around the station before reaching it. In Disneyland Paris, due to the particularity of this one, it had to be rethought.
The french ride starts with a long tunnel that goes below the river and on the mountain. When you’re out again, it is layed in a similar fashion that in the others parks. You climb up the track slope passing by the geiser down below, under the water fall and down with screamers !
Then what follows is pretty much the same in every Thunder Mountains, you stay outside for a few curves, then climb up in the outdoor passing a cabin and a goat, down again for some speedy tracking, high and down, and inside for a new climbing up underneath some threatening rocks. Then you’re out and waving at the people waiting in lines before all engine stops and you look at your partner in amazement.
That’s the universal story line of every Big Thunder Mountain.
The french ride starts with a long tunnel that goes below the river and on the mountain. When you’re out again, it is layed in a similar fashion that in the others parks. You climb up the track slope passing by the geiser down below, under the water fall and down with screamers !
The Parisian track configuration does make the ride longer though. It’s almost 4:00 in Disneyland Paris, against between 3:15 and 3:40 in the three other locations. Note that the famous Dinosaur ribs you fly through at the end is only absent in Disneyland Paris, because of its finale being “back to the dark tunnel (for what seems an eternity of black light streaking bats) and out for the station”.
In Anaheim the little scale tricking houses of Rainbow Ridge which used to theme the loading area of the defunct Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland area are still present but nowaday you ride pass them approaching the unloading station.