Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened in September 1979.  The ride was designed by WED, the engineering firm named after Walter Elias Disney.  The coaster replaced the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland, a narrow gauge railroad that operated in this portion of Frontierland from 1960 to 1977.  The train ride was an expansion of the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train that opened in 1956, just one year after the park opened to the public.   On the old ride, guests were slowly taken through a cave, past geysers, and through a simulated desert with about 200 recreations of animals from North America, many of which were animated.  For several of the park's first years, guests could also ride through the area on stagecoaches, horses, and mules!  Big Thunder Mountain shares the original ride's desert theme, but its roller coaster trains pass through the area much faster than the original, sedate locomotives.

©2018 Joel A. Rogers.