Thunder Mountain to close this September and will remain closed through most of 2013

Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Al Lutz has reported that Thunder Mountain at Disneyland will be closing for a long and huge refurbishment. He compares it to our Space Mountain rehab, only without the foundation. It's getting a new track, widened load and unload stations, and a whole new ride system. All I can say is YES!!!!! I'm a little sad it's going to be closed for so long but I don't mind waiting for something like that.

http://miceage.micechat.com/
 
W

wiigirl

Well-Known Member
Awww....looks like I may miss it this year. :(
75.gif
 
nemofinder22

nemofinder22

Well-Known Member
Below is the quote from Miceage as in a day or two it will be gone.
EDITOR’S NOTE 8/6: Disneyland's Big Thunder Mt. will be closing for a major rehab this fall, and remain closed through most of 2013. The 33-year-old coaster will receive a similar treatment as the one Space Mt. got in '03-'05, (without the extensive foundation work that Space Mt. needed). New track will be installed, the load/unload area will be widened for 21st century riders, and a new ride control system tops it all off. The queue will be prepped for NextGen additions, and unlike the recent WDW Thunder rehab Tony Baxter has returned to his first E Ticket to plus up the show and the aesthetics. Take your last ride on Big Thunder 1.0 in September. - Al Lutz
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This is excellent, Frontierland is going to be dead for a while.
 
dweezil78

dweezil78

Well-Known Member
Exciting news! Even in its current state, Big Thunder is still one of my faves. Just noticed on Friday it has been a very long time since the rocks rumbled in the earthquake sequence. Guess it wasn't worth fixing up knowing a big overhaul was in the works, eh?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
The way I read that is that the ride will close in October, so we have the month of September to get our last rides in.

Disney's fiscal year starts in October, so it must be a massive enough project that they want to confine it to Fiscal '13 after having spent so much money on all of the projects massive and mid-sized that they tackled in Anaheim in Fiscal '12.

Sometimes the sharp pencil boys know what they're doing. Sometimes. :cool:
 
B

Brer Josh

Member
Yay for regulars but for those traveling from other countries this is terrible news.
Coming from Australia in late January with my wife who's doing the Tinkerbell run, the Haunted Mansion will be closed, Fantasy Faire will be boarded up and now this.
I think Disney should be a bit more open about it's refurbs and closures, finding out 2nd hand 2 months before about it closing is pretty disappointing.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
NemoRocks said:
Jeeze, might as well close down all of Frontierland. :p I can't say I've ever thought it was in dire need of a refurbishment like this, but hey, I'll take it.
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Aesthetically it's still looking fine, and I remember there being a few shorter (2 to 4 weeks) rehabs within the past decade. It's at another Disney property in this country where they let attractions sit for a decade or more without so much as a single one-week rehab to paint and polish a few things. :oops:

If Al Lutz is right, this is being driven by a need to replace the coaster track that has been running nearly daily, up to 16 hours per day, since 1979. That's probably what makes this a year-long project, and they've tacked on stuff like widening the rather narrow load areas and installing 21st century software on the computer systems, etc.

Then you've got Tony Baxter still as the WDI Executive in charge of Disneyland, who now works with a TDA executive team who is very willing to let WDI spend some money on stuff, and you've got yourself a big rehab so Thunder Mt. can operate for the next 30 years. It should be neat to see how it's been freshened and updated later in 2013.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Brer Josh said:
Yay for regulars but for those traveling from other countries this is terrible news.
Coming from Australia in late January with my wife...
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Huh? Don't you know that Disneyland is just a little locals theme park and hardly any tourists ever go to Disneyland? It's just for locals. If you are a tourist, and an international tourist at that, you should only be going to WDW. It's very common knowledge, at least on WDW message boards, that only locals go to Disneyland. :rolleyes:

That said, it would be a bummer if Thunder Mountain is your favorite ride. Although technically, you are finding out five months in advance of your January trip.

How are you sure about Haunted Mansion being closed? Usually it closes to remove Haunted Mansion Holiday in early January, it's closed for about 10 or 11 days, and then reopens the second weekend in January. Based on Haunted Mansion Holiday rehab calendars for the past decade, and using January 2013 as the guide, I would expect Haunted Mansion Holiday to close Monday, January 7th and reopen as Haunted Mansion on Friday, January 18th. That would be the weekend of the Tinkerbell Half Marathon, right?
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Brer Josh said:
Yay for regulars but for those traveling from other countries this is terrible news.
Coming from Australia in late January with my wife who's doing the Tinkerbell run, the Haunted Mansion will be closed, Fantasy Faire will be boarded up and now this.
I think Disney should be a bit more open about it's refurbs and closures, finding out 2nd hand 2 months before about it closing is pretty disappointing.
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Mansion should be open around that time.

The Disneyland Resort, unlike WDW isn't reluctant to close down multiple rides for refurbishments at once, especially if the refurb is greatly needed (I don't think a refurb for Thunder is needed but I don't care). It can suck sometimes but the good thing is there are plenty of other great attractions that will be open! Plus, it gives you an excuse to come back.:D
 
HMButler79

HMButler79

Member
Watch Tonyredo the earthquake scene to incorporate Pari's FX and bring back the shaking rocks. I hope the first lift becomes more of a tribute to the Rainbow Cavers (turn off all the lights and make it blacklight)
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Hopefully it will be open by the end of June 2013, that is when I go next! Well, if it isn't it gives me a reason to go back, just like this year when the Matterhorn was closed.
 
dweezil78

dweezil78

Well-Known Member
Didn't realize until I read the other thread in the WDW board, but apparently the shaking rocks in all Thunder Mountains were disabled following an accident last year in Paris where one of the rocks fell onto a track and injured a few riders when the train ran over it. Seems a little knee-jerky to me given that the ride ran totally fine without incident for 30 years. :( The effect is definitely missed, I hope they are able to find a decent replacement in the refurb.
 
mickeysbrother

mickeysbrother

Well-Known Member
dweezil78 said:
Exciting news! Even in its current state, Big Thunder is still one of my faves. Just noticed on Friday it has been a very long time since the rocks rumbled in the earthquake sequence. Guess it wasn't worth fixing up knowing a big overhaul was in the works, eh?
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Dont think the rocks will shake in the new refurb unfortunately
 
nemofinder22

nemofinder22

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Huh? Don't you know that Disneyland is just a little locals theme park and hardly any tourists ever go to Disneyland? It's just for locals. If you are a tourist, and an international tourist at that, you should only be going to WDW. It's very common knowledge, at least on WDW message boards, that only locals go to Disneyland. :rolleyes:
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:D hilarious!!!!!

Rufus T Firefly said:
No love for the Mark Twain? It's one of Walt's original attractions.
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The big river boats are GREAT it just sucks on a night when Fantasmic! is playing, with Thunder out there isn't really much of anything.
 

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