Fun Find Friday
February 28, 2014
Location: Frontierland, Magic Kingdom
Yee-haw! Welcome to this rootin' tootin' edition of
Fun Find Friday where we'll be heading off to the wildest ride in
the wilderness, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! Last year the
attraction's queue went through a refurbishment to make it
interactive. In addition to explosives, mine cameras, and more,
several different posters were added to help enhance the story
including this one:

While some of the cities found on the Butterfly
Stage Line poster are real, the second line destination is what we
will be focusing on today: Thunder Mesa to Rainbow Ridge. So what's
the back story between these two towns? It's a long history that
goes hand in hand with the Magic Kingdom.
When the park was first opening, Pirates of the
Caribbean was nowhere in the plans due to the reason that it could
already be found on the West Coast. The theory was guests on the
East Coast wouldn't be interested in an attraction that took place
in the Caribbean (which was just a short car ride away). In addition
to that, since many guests most likely wouldn't be able to travel
out West, they may as well have a large portion of the Magic Kingdom
dedicated to the wild Frontier.
The centerpiece of the land would be the Western
River Expedition attraction which would focus on multiple
attractions that were all intertwined. The attractions would focus
on a water ride that would pass through an attraction focused around
a runaway mine train which in turn would pass by an attraction
featuring stage coaches. When the park first opened, guests were
confused on why Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't present when they
had heard Walt discuss his plans for the attraction shortly before
he passed away.
Due to the demand for a Pirates attraction, the idea
of the Western River Expedition attraction was scratched and Pirates
of the Caribbean was put into the plans (eventually opening up two
years later). So what does this have to do with Thunder Mesa and
Rainbow Ridge? Thunder Mesa was the name of the fictional town the
entire Western River Expedition would be set in (and also the name
of the fictional town found in Disneyland Paris) while Rainbow Ridge
is the name of the fictional town where Big Thunder Mountain
Railroad is set in at Disneyland in California!
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