News Big Thunder Mountain to receive full retrack

cjkeating

Well-Known Member
Paris as well a few years back (not sure if it was as extensive as DL's retrack).
Paris hasn't been retracted. It is expected to happen in the near future. They are in a similar situation whereby Thunder, Space and Indy all need retracking and they aren't sure what's the best order to do them in.
I can’t imagine WDW Operations closing Big Thunder when a new attraction is opening right next door
If the park survived with Splash closed it will survive with Thunder down... it's literally like for like.
If new trains are true, then it's about time we get train cars that look more textured.
Hopefully like the Paris trains, it always shocks me how the MK trains look so plastic compared to Paris.
 

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
But it's got a ton of theming wrapped around it.
Disneyland's version of BTM only took 14 months to retrack, and IIRC that was considerably longer than originally planned due to the discovery of other underlying issues that weren't initially known when they first began work. Unless WDW is in immensely worse condition underneath, there's no excuse to drag it out across more than a year and a few months. Even two years is unacceptably long, three would be absurd.
 
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eddie104

Well-Known Member
Disneyland's version of BTM only took 14 months to retrack, and that was longer than originally planned due to discovery of underlying issues. Unless WDW is in immensely worse condition underneath, there's no excuse to drag it out across more than a year and a few months. Even two years is unacceptably long, three would be absurd.
Well good thing insiders are saying the three years is most likely false.
 

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Paris hasn't been retracted. It is expected to happen in the near future. They are in a similar situation whereby Thunder, Space and Indy all need retracking and they aren't sure what's the best order to do them in.
I didn't realize that. I recall reading some comments elsewhere saying it had a retrack, so there must have been some false information going around. I haven't ridden Paris' BTM since the early-mid 90s when it was very new (so can't speak to its current condition), but it was wonderfully comfortable and smooth back then compared to WDW's. Even during the 90s, WDW's was already pretty rough. And it has gotten way worse since. I won't complain about it getting a retrack, but again I still don't understand why Space Mountain isn't at the top of the priorities...

If the park survived with Splash closed it will survive with Thunder down... it's literally like for like.
"Survive" is one way to put it. Splash being closed for this long has been pretty ugly. And Country Bears as well.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
Big Thunder has a higher capacity than Splash (and breaks down less). Hopefully, issues causing breakdowns were at least addressed with the Bayou Adventure update.

There is no reality where they close BTMRR longer than necessary for its work. They are well aware of MKs capacity struggles AND they need Space Mtn. to close for similar work once BTMRR is back on line. Many moving pieces prevented dilly-dallying on TBA and will for the other two mountains.

I suspect, at the end of the day, BTMRR gets to go before Space Mtn. because of Beyond Big Thunder. They will need modifications to the way in which unused trains are stored in order to get guests to the new area.
 

Fido Chuckwagon

Well-Known Member
The conspiracy theorist in me believes they’re doing a retracting of BTMRR because they want to extend its useful life, and that they are not doing the same to SSE because they have no desire to extend its useful life.
Well they’re not going to tear down Epcot’s literal icon, and even if they wanted to retheme the ride inside they would still need to retrack it because not much besides what’s currently in there will go in there…
 

Delta-7

Active Member
Considering the “show improvements” other than potential new effects for the third lift hill, I’d love if they added color ripple effects to the pools in the first cavern like in the other versions of BTM. Not sure whether that’s present in this version and just not working, but it’d be cool to see.

Also I hope they fix some of the train sound effects. The ones that play on the drop following C-lift cut off instead of fading out, and the sound effects for Spiral Butte (the 540 degree helix) have not worked for some time.
 

mikejs78

Premium Member
You should definitely prepare for an extended closure of BTM. This has been in the planning stages for quite some time now. I don’t believe it will be closed for 3 years but it will be closed for a significant period.

It’s not directly related to beyond big thunder mountain, but it is convenient timing.
Do you see it startjng within the next few months? Next 12 months? Or further out?
 

Bill Cipher

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Several Big Thunder refurbs of varying scope have been kicked down the road for years now. Pre 50th anniversary there were plans for a smaller, more show related refurb (C lift projections) which were delayed by COVID and by TBA moving forward. Following that, another refurb almost happened when issues with the ride's intrusion detection system began causing operations headaches. This got far enough along where operations cast were informed they might be displaced for several months at some point. Now it seems the scope creep has expanded further and the refurb would involve retracking, control/intrusion system, show elements, and site work for the Beyond Big Thunder project. Timelines are always somewhat ethereal but this definitely seems to be quite extensive.
 

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