Magic Kingdom had Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closed Saturday, May 23, after a reported all-day outage at the Frontierland coaster.
ThrillGeek reported at 4:19 p.m. CDT that the ride had been down all day and shared a Walt Disney World park operations push alert about the closure. CrowdLevels data showed Big Thunder still closed later that afternoon.
View the original ThrillGeek post about Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on X.
The closure hits one of Magic Kingdom's classic pressure-release rides on a Saturday with a long operating day. Big Thunder is a high-capacity Frontierland coaster, and when it is out of the mix, nearby Lightning Lane and standby demand usually pushes harder toward Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and the Fantasyland coasters.
Big Thunder remains part of the regular Magic Kingdom lineup, with a 38-inch height requirement and a Frontierland location near Tiana's Bayou Adventure. While the ride was down, Frontierland plans needed a backup.
Source: ThrillGeek on X, Walt Disney World Resort, and CrowdLevels ride status.
Update, 6:30 p.m. CDT: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is now open. CrowdLevels showed the Frontierland coaster operating with an 80-minute posted wait at 6:25 p.m. CDT.