Friday Photo

Ah, Thunder Mountain Railroad...how we miss you! Come back soon. :-)

Refurbishment Update & Test Track Plans

As a reminder, Thunder Mountain Railroad (Magic Kingdom) is now closed for a pretty significant refurbishment. It is expected to re-open on May 28.  Dumbo the Flying Elephant (MK) is also now closed in order to move the existing Dumbo to the new location of the "new and improved" Dumbo that will be twice its current size. The new Dumbo will re-open on February 18.

A few other closures worth noting:

• House of Innoventions (Epcot) remains closed and is expected to reopen on May 15 with a new sponsor.


• The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor (MK) is closed until March 28.


• Fantasmic! (Disney's Hollywood Studios) is dark until February 13.


• Tutto Italia Ristorante (Epcot) is closed until May 1.


• Typhoon Lagoon is closed for winter refurbishment until March 18.


• The Grand Floridian Spa is closed to accomodate work on the new DVC villas. It will reopen around June of 2013.


• The beach at the Polynesian Resort is closed for "sand renourishment" until January 17.

In other big news, Disney has confirmed that General Motors will renew its sponsorship of Test Track (Epcot) and that the attraction will undergo a lengthy refurbishment beginning in April. There are some unique elements in the works, as evidenced in this excerpt from the Disney press release:

As part of the re-imagining, the Future World attraction will feature a sleek new “Chevrolet Design Center at Epcot” immersing Guests in the fascinating world of automotive design. Amid upbeat music, engaging media, dramatic lighting and a collection of Chevrolet concept cars and model vehicles, guests themselves will become automotive designers – and peer into the future of personal transportation in the process.

At interactive design and styling workstations, Guests will be able to create their own custom concept vehicles. The adventure will then shift into high gear as Guests buckle into their 6-person “SimCar” ride vehicle and put their design through its paces on the exhilarating hills, switchbacks and straight-aways of the Test Track circuit.

You can read the press release in its entirety here.

Happy Birthday, Thunder Mountain Railroad!

It zoomed down the track with WDW guests for the first time on this date in 1980. Happy birthday to one of our family's favorite attractions, Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Friday Photo

In light of recent news of a rather lengthy refurbishment for Thunder Mountain Railroad, I offer this Friday Photo:



It will be interesting to see if and how this scene changes!

Reburbishment Schedule Changes

There are several new items worth mentioning on the Walt Disney World refurbishment schedule. First, we have actual dates for the Dumbo refurb: Jan. 9 through Feb. 17, 2012. Which, apparently means the new double-Dumbo will be opening on Feb. 18.

We also have confirmation now that Thunder Mountain Railroad will undergo a rather lengthy refurbishment beginning Jan. 9. It is currently scheduled to last through March 31, but that could always change. Not such good news if you have a trip planned during those dates, but great news for those who will visit after. TMR has been in need of this refurb, as several aspects of the ride are "broken"--such as some missing railroad tracks that should hide the actual coaster tracks and problems with the falling rock scene. In addition, expect the addition of an interactive queue, as seems to be the norm with almost all attraction refurbishments at WDW these days.



In slightly less exciting news, the Liberty Square Riverboat will also undergo a short refurbishment Jan. 28 through Feb. 3, 2012. And the Swiss Family Treehouse remains closed through Oct. 31, 2011 (a bit longer than originally scheduled).

UPDATE: I just read from another source that Thunder Mountain Railroad will actually be closed until May 28, 2012. Wow, that's a long time for one of WDW's most popular attractions to be closed! Hopefully all the changes/updates will be worth it.

Friday Photo

Here's a 40th birthday photo from our trip. That's me in the 2nd row with my youngest daughter, Presley. She's a happy screamer, so it's lots of fun to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad with her! In the first row are my oldest daughter Reagan and my cousin Camille. (Daddy was taking the photo.)