"Hang onto your hats and glasses, folks, 'cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!"
Big Thunder Mountain is a train-style roller coaster. It's fast, with
some dark moments, some loud moments, and lots of twists and turns. The
ride lasts 3 1/2 minutes and travels at speeds of 25-30 mph.
The queue for this ride is a short climb up the mountain and then a ramp
down into the old mine where you board the train. The queue can be
deceptively long, as little of it is visible from the outside. However, new interactive sections have been added to the queue, making it a lot of fun to wait. You can play with explosives, see mine canaries, and help the miners do their work. Even so, I would
recommend a Fast pass if the posted wait time is more than 30 minutes.
Each train consists of a locomotive and 5 cars, and each has a unique
name. The trains are U.B. Bold, U.R. Daring, U.R. Courageous, I.M.
Brave, I.B. Hearty, and I.M. Fearless.
Each car has three seats, which are big enough for 2 average adults,
although I have squished in 2 adults and 1 child when Bean wanted to
ride together in the front. The restraint for each seat is a lap bar that goes across everyone in
the seat. It locks into place and provides something to hold onto around
tight turns as you will slide across the seat. It can be a little tricky if an adult and small child ride together, as the lap bar won't close down tightly across the child, but it's not really a problem if you know about it ahead of time.
The train travels in and out of the mine several times and goes up and
down frequently. There are bats and rumbling rocks inside the mine as
well as authentic antique mining equipment. The outside of the mountain
is reminiscent of Utah and Arizona's Monument Valley.
As you travel around the mountain, you pass through Tumbleweed, an old
mining town, where a party is going on in the Saloon, beneath the
skeleton of a dinosaur, and partway over the Rivers of America. (If you
go to Tom Sawyer's Island, head over to Fort Langhorn where you can
"shoot" at the trains on Big Thunder Mountain as they pass by across the
water.) For a wilder ride, request the last car on the train, and for a milder
ride, request the front car. And don't forget to ride this at night,
there are several unexpected sights that can really only be seen at
night.
You must be 40" to ride
Big Thunder Mountain, but if your kids like roller coasters, be sure to
add this one to the list. It is also a great ride for introducing younger kids to "real" roller coasters , especially if
they have enjoyed Goofy's Barnstormer. Bean has been riding Big Thunder Mountain
since she was 4 years old and it is still one of her favorites.
I love Big Thunder Mountain and make sure to ride it every time I go to
the Magic Kingdom. This may not be the wildest roller coaster at Disney
World, but it is definitely one not to miss.
In my opinion, one of the scariest rides at Disney World is Expedition Everest. I've always been afraid of roller coasters and yeti, and this ride combines the most thrilling of both! Expedition Everest is located in Asia in the Animal Kingdom.
Disney's Hollywood Studios also has several free items that can be found within the park. As with the Magic Kingdom, there are maps, times guides, buttons, and stickers from cast members. However, Hollywood Studios has several unique freebies of it's own. If you have small children, you'll probably watch the Playhouse Disney Live Onstage show. During the show, tissue paper confetti will rain down on the audience. The shape of the confetti changes whenever they change the lineup of Playhouse Disney shows that are featured during the stage show. The last time I was there, it was large tissue paper leaves, which Bean gathered up to put in her scrapbook.
