• After seven years of planning and two years of construction, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opened in Frontierland on September 15, 1979. Huge cranes were used to hoist the complete upper buttes (weighing up to 28 tons) into position atop the massive steel framework. Big Thunder Mountain cost $17 million to build, which is close to the figure it cost to build all of Disneyland in 1955!

• Replacing the Mine Train Thru Nature’s Wonderland, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad covers two acres.

• The landscape of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is reminiscent of the fanciful red-rock buttes (or hoodoo's) of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Hoodoo is an indian word meaning "spellbinding", which they certainly are!

• The little town of Rainbow Ridge at the base of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was originally the departure point for the former Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland.

• Disney Imagineers scouted swap meets, auctions, ghost towns, and abandoned mines for items to incorporate into the theming of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, including a 1,200-pound cogwheel used to break down ore, a hand-powered drill press, and a 100 foot-tall, 1880 stamp mill.

• The two "Donkey Engines" that are by the queue are from the Disney movie, "Hot Lead and Cold Feet." In that movie they were used in a race.

• And did you know the doors at the end of the earthquake shaft used to open for each train and close behind it?

• Above the entrance to the part of the mine where the avalanche occurs, is a horseshoe. It is upside down - According to superstition, this is bad luck!

• At the end of the ride, it appears that the train splashes through water. Actually, there is not enough water there to cause the big splash created by the train, and the water is really sprayed out by a couple of pipes under the tracks. You can see the pipes if you are standing in line watching the trains go through the water, as the pipes continue to dribble water until the next train comes along.

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