Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
About this ride
The mine train weaves through desert canyons, past goats chewing on the tracks, through caverns filled with glowing gems. The island location means the track circles an actual body of water, giving outdoor sections a panoramic quality you won't find at other parks. Multiple lifts and drops keep the pacing lively without ever becoming genuinely frightening.
Best time to ride
Multi Pass or early evening when Frontierland crowds thin. Avoid midday — Big Thunder's line routinely hits 60+ minutes from 11 AM to 3 PM on busy days.
Insider tips
- Sit in the very last car of the train — it whips around corners faster than the front.
- Look for a chicken sitting in a window during one of the outdoor canyon sections.
- This is an excellent first real coaster for kids who have outgrown the Toontown coasters.
- The queue has fun mining-town theming including an operational scale-model mining drill.
What to know before you ride
- Moderate speed.
- Sudden dips and turns.
- Mild vibration.
- Brief dark tunnels.
- Much gentler than Space Mountain or Matterhorn.
- No major drops.
Good for
Mateo's Take
“The best Big Thunder Mountain in the world and one of the most fun rides in Disneyland. Sit in the last car. Thank me later.”
— Mateo, Lead Disney Parks Specialist
Related guides
Planning a Disneyland trip?
Save on tickets before your visit — same parks, lower prices.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep the site free.
More rides at Disneyland
View all →Rise of the Resistance is the most ambitious, most immersive, and most technically jaw-dropping attraction Walt Disney Imagineering has ever built. Before you ever step into a ride vehicle, you've already experienced a life-size Star Destroyer hangar bay, live First Order stormtroopers, a full-scale AT-AT walker, and Kylo Ren himself.
rating
5
/ 5.0
Smugglers Run puts you in the cockpit of the actual Millennium Falcon and sends you on a smuggling run through hyperspace and asteroid fields. Every seat has a different role — pilot, gunner, or engineer — and how well your crew performs actually affects the experience.
rating
4.3
/ 5.0
Star Tours is a motion simulator with dozens of possible destination and storyline combinations — almost every ride-through is different. The randomized scenario system is still genius and makes it one of the best replay-value rides in any Disney park.
rating
4.1
/ 5.0