Big Thunder Testing Newly Painted Trains and Weight Simulators?

We were in the Magic Kingdom today and were pleased to see Big Thunder Mountain trains running. But, wait! There’s more!

Our observant pal, Ben, noticed that the trains have been painted since Big Thunder closed for refurbishment! The photo above shows the trains in their old gold / yellow color.

The photo above, from today, shows the trains in a deep brown color. We hung out for a while because, well, it was just nice to see the trains running. During our stalking, we also noticed another detail:

This wasn’t confirmed by Disney, but the white objects in the train appear to be weights to simulate passengers. We know that Disney has announced that The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness will reopen in early May with new magic, and these tests seem to indicate they’re right on track – pun intended.

Big Thunder has been closed for refurbishment for 15 months and bringing it back online will help ease wait times in the Magic Kingdom. We will update all of our free and Premium TouringPlans the minute it’s up and racing again!

Want to see video of the trains running from earlier today? Check out our YouTube shorts here: