A full Magic Kingdom day kicking off with rope drop — January 5th, 2025, and the last day Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is open before heading into refurbishment. The park opens with the full Main Street train station show: Mickey and Minnie lead the welcome ceremony with the whole cast, the countdown to the magic beginning, and the crowd flooding in toward Frontierland. The crane is already set up near Big Thunder Mountain, visible to those who know where to look — the refurbishment is real and imminent.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is the first stop, and the wait builds quickly from 30 to 40 minutes by 9:12 AM at rope drop — still a manageable queue for a last-day sendoff. Front row seat secured. The ride delivers as it always does: the mining coaster’s signature dips and turns, the gold-filled mine scenery, and that particular Big Thunder energy that earns it the title of “the wildest ride in the wilderness.” Captured on the Meta Ray-Ban glasses, which produce a distinctive square video format. Pirates of the Caribbean follows at 15 minutes, then Country Bear Jamboree, then the Liberty Belle Steamboat.
The Liberty Belle is worth calling out specifically: it’s sailing on borrowed time as the Rivers of America is slated for significant changes with the Star Wars land expansion coming. Riding it while you can — watching the whole riverfront scene from the upper decks, the Tom Sawyer Island fort visible, the Mark Twain-era ambiance — is genuinely worth doing before the landscape changes permanently. Tom Sawyer Island gets a proper exploration after: the fort, the rope bridges, the caves, the chickens and horse in the stable. A classic Magic Kingdom day done properly — and a proper goodbye to Big Thunder for its refurbishment season.
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