Secrets of Big Thunder Mountain

Howdy partners! For your safety, keep your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the train ’cause this here’s the wildest ride in the wilderness! You can’t help but read that with the accent, can you? Big Thunder is one of my favorite rides and has some interesting facts surrounding it.

• The ride’s original construction was delayed twice because of Pirates of the Caribbean and then Space Mountain.
• The town that the railroad was built through is called Tumbleweed.
• The tallest peak on the ride is 104 feet high.
• The image of the mining company’s president, Barnabas T. Bullion, is a portrait of Imagineer Tony Baxter.
• The railroad track is nearly 2,700 feet long.
• The ride took a total of 15 years to plan and build.
• There are many antique artifacts sprinkled throughout the ride.
• The average speed of the coaster is 35 mph, about 5 mph more than Space Mountain.
• Big Thunder is featured in 4 Disney parks around the world.
• A doctor discovered that riding the Railroad can cause kidney stones to be passed.
• The sound effects of the trains were used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom during the mine cart scene.
• On the Paris version, it’s possible to see Tower of Terror from the top of the big hill.

 

What rides would you like to see secrets about next?

See Secrets of Pirates of the Caribbean, Secrets Behind It’s a Small World, Secrets of the Tower of Terror (WDW), Secrets of Spaceship Earth