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[[Category:Disney parks and attractions]] |
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[[Category:Roller coasters at Disneyland Resort Paris]] |
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Revision as of 16:57, 19 January 2012
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a roller coaster attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, opened 1979; Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, opened 1980; Tokyo Disneyland in Uryasu, Chiba, Japan, opened 1987; and at Disneyland Resort Paris' Disneyland Park in Marne-la-Vallée, France, opened 1992 (the only park that opened together with the park). A similar attraction will open at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2012 in a land called Grizzly Gulch (which is part of the expansion).
Theme
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is set in the American Southwest and follows the same general runaway train experience, though with varying backstories and geological structure.
During the Gold Rush in the late 1800s, gold was discovered in Big Thunder Mountain and boomtowns sprung up nearby accordingly such as Ridge (Disneyland), Tumbleweed (Magic Kingdom) and Thunder Mesa (Disneyland Paris). A Mine Train system was established to transport the ore, but what the settlers didn't count on was that Big Thunder was sacred ground for local Indian tribes. The spirit of Big Thunder was not pleased with the gold being removed from the mountain and the towns and mining company suffered accidents from flooding (Magic Kingdom) and earthquakes (Disneyland, Disneyland Paris). The trains themselves began operating on their own, possessed by mischievous spirits. Though the towns promptly became abandoned, adventurous visitors still arrived to ride the haunted trains.
History
The first verison of the attraction opened in 1979 in Disneyland after Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland closed. It is widely believed the roller coaster trains were reused from Nature's Wonderland. It is also well known that the Western Town at the end of the ride and the animal Audio-Animatronics were recycled from Nature's Wonderland.
The second version opened in Walt Disney World in 1980. The WDW verison is based around Red Rock Canyon and provides a less tame experience. This time, it centers around a haunted mine in Big Thunder Mountain.
Both the Euro Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland verisons use the same Bryce Canyon setting as Disneyland but have different track layouts.
Trivia
- The Disneyland verison of BTMR replaced Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland, a sedate train ride through different animal habitats.
Incidents and Accidents
Disneyland
- On September 5, 2003, A 22-year-old man from Gardena, California was killed after suffering severe blunt trauma and extensive eternal bleeding in a derailment of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad that also injured 10 other guests. It was determined that the cause of the accident was improper maintenance. Fasteners on the left side upstop/guide wheel on the floating axle of the locomotive were not tightened and safetied in accordance with specifications. As the train entered a tunnel the axle came loose and jammed against a brake section, causing the locomotive to become airborne and hit the ceiling of the tunnel. The locomotive then fell on top of the first passenger car, crushing the victim. The name of the train was I.M. Brave which retired after the accident.
Disneyland Park (Paris)
- On April 25, 2011 at around 2:50pm, a fiberglass rock and some wood on Lift C fell on the train, injuring 5 people out of 25 who were in the train. One of them was a 38-year-old man who was severely hit on the head and was transported to the Beaujon Hospital at Clichy Sur Seine, France. The other four returned to the park on the same day. The men left the hospital a few days later. The ride was closed for investigations to determine the accident. Once the attraction reopened, the falling rock scene was removed from the attraction.