I have finally been on the recently revamped Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland. Today's post shows the little mining town of Rainbow Ridge, which had the online community in a dither when there were rumors that it was going to be leveled.
Nothing could be farther from the truth as you can see from today's photos.
After walking through the queue, it suddenly dawned on me that, "Oh yeah…this has been completely rebuilt."
That's what a great job the Imagineers did and fixing up/restoring/rebuilding everyone's favorite detail about this attraction, which is a fairly large homage to the attraction that used to reside on this parcel of real estate, Nature's Wonderland.
I haven't had a chance to compare old vs. new, but as far as I'm concerned, there can't be much (if any) of a significant difference.
Last one for today shows a view of the Rancho del Zocalo restaurant, one of my favorite hidden gems for Disneyland Dining.
See more vintage & current Daveland Disneyland Big Thunder Mountain Railroad photos on my main website.
So glad you got to go on this. The new track makes such a huge difference, it's so smooth. It's weird to see the trains with only one set of drive wheels, not two like before but there's probably a good reason they were removed. ( No clue ) The finale is a welcomed change too, when it works.
ReplyDeleteDid they darken the ride vehicles (mine cars)? I seem to remember them being a brighter orange before. Also the new track stands out a bit much from the railroad ties lessening the illusion of an actual mine train track. Perhaps it needs to get a little dirty and "worn" looking to blend in better. But then, maybe it looks better in person. Looking forward to the rest of your BTMRR series. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSome of the color schemes on the buildings look a bit more saturated to my eye, or it could be that they just haven't faded in the sun yet to the look I remember. The lettering on the Big Thunder Saloon is slightly different - not quite as clean and straight as before. Something only a graphics geek like me would notice. I do like that they changed the sign to say "Rainbow Ridge." Nice touch
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to check this out in person. From what I'm hearing, the rehab went really well. Great job with the photos!
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