A roller coaster in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World has been closed for over a year and is finally preparing to reopen. As the ride’s closure ends, availability for Lightning Lane, the park’s skip-the-line service, will change. This comes after another Lightning Lane lineup change.
This update comes ahead of the busy summer season and among other changes across Disney World. We break down how to plan for your Magic Kingdom day with this Lightning Lane change and how it connects to other recent Lightning Lane changes that happened recently. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including new Hallmark Disney ornaments and concerns about live streaming in Disney theme parks.
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Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Refurbishment Ending
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will reopen on May 3, 2026, at Magic Kingdom. This classic roller coaster has been closed for refurbishment since January 2025, and its reopening is highly anticipated.
Disney World just updated its website with some clarity on what to expect from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s Lightning Lane availability. The attraction is eligible for Lightning Lane Multi Pass, for which guests can make up to three reservations before their visit.
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Magic Kingdom attractions eligible for Lightning Lane Multi Pass are sorted into two groups by Disney. Among the first group, guests can only select one attraction at a time. In the second group, guests can select up to three attractions at once.
When it reopens, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will belong to the first, more limited tier, as was the case before its refurbishment.
Along with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, other Magic Kingdom attractions in this group are Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. This means guests can only possess a Lightning Lane Multi Pass for one attraction within this group at a time.
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Here’s the full breakdown of Magic Kingdom’s Lightning Lane groups, as of May 3, 2026, when Big Thunder Mountain Railroad reopens.
Choose up to one experience from this group:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Space Mountain
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this group:
- The Barnstormer
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Haunted Mansion
- “it’s a small world”
- Mad Tea Party
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
The first guests that will be able to reserve advance selections of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad on its reopening day of May 3 will be guests checking in April 19 at a Disney Resort hotel with Lightning Lane reservations opening up April 12 at 7 AM ET. For off-site guests, advance booking for that reopening date will start April 30 at 7AM ET.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad returning to that first group of Lightning Lane Multi Pass availability takes some of the demand off of Peter Pan’s Flight and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Those two attractions consistently sell out first, so guests who want them as their top pick should be able to obtain them more easily with one more attraction thrown into the mix.
We wondered if we might see a shakeup to the selection one group of Lightning Lane options since Big Thunder Mountain Railroad rejoining brings the total to five, the highest number out of the other parks. If we had to place bets on any rides in the top tier moving down, it would have been Jungle Cruise. But as of now, the selection is remaining the same which could be an indicator that Disney expects big demand, at least at first, for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s Lightning Lane reservations.
Disney’s work on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad includes replacing the entire track and installing new special effects inside one of the ride’s tunnels.
Accessing Big Thunder Mountain for Rope Drop, and Early Entry
With five attractions in the first Lightning Lane Multi Pass tier, and guests only able to reserve one of them ahead of time, having a “rope drop” strategy for Magic Kingdom is especially important. For whichever attractions you don’t obtain a Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you might want to prioritize rope-dropping those to beat the crowds.
Planners should also note that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is not open during Early Theme Park Entry, the 30 minutes of extra ride time exclusive to guests staying at Walt Disney World hotels. Only select attractions in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland operate during Magic Kingdom’s Early Theme Park Entry.
With Big Thunder Mountain Railroad not opening early for resort guests, all guests have an even playing field for rope-dropping the ride.
Across the park, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin also just reopened from a lengthy refurbishment. It belongs to the second, non-limiting Lightning Lane Multi Pass tier, so a reservation for Buzz can be combined with any other two Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections. Unlike Big Thunder, Buzz Lightyear is open during Early Theme Park Entry.
Magic Kingdom is in the middle of an ambitious era of growth. In addition to the reopenings of Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the park is under construction on two huge new areas, is currently repainting Cinderella Castle, and in the future will reimagine Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. Read about everything coming to Magic Kingdom here.
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We had lightening lane Friday for Buzz Light Year at 8:00. The ride was not operating at that time. We waited about an hour and chose to leave. I do not know if it ever started again. We were disappointed.