GET READY DISNEY FANS, IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED. What has happened? What is “it”? Well, let us explain!
Main Street Railroad Station
Fans of the Walt Disney World Railroad have been deprived of their scenic and relaxing rides around the Most Magical Place on Earth for quite some time as construction on the TRON attraction continues. Late last year, Disney announced that the Walt Disney World Railroad had been undergoing some refurbishment, and shared that it would even start testing soon in Magic Kingdom. And recently one Disney fan witnessed something that’ll make every Disney World Railroad fan incredibly jealous!
A huge thank you to @DisneyfiedAsh on Twitter for sharing this video and allowing us to share it with all of you! Recently, @DisneyfiedAsh shared a video on Twitter of the Walt Disney World railroad being tested in Magic Kingdom! After not seeing the railroad in action for a LONG, LONG time, it was absolutely incredible to see this video and catch the railroad back in action (even if only for a moment).
Walt 👏 Disney 👏 World 👏 RAILROAD TESTING! 🚂 The excitement is *beyond* real ✨
Thank you to @DisneyfiedAsh for the video! 🎥 pic.twitter.com/CvcN6LRDYV
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 1, 2022
As we mentioned, railroad testing had been announced to begin back in December of 2021. The Orlando Sentinel later noted Disney officials confirmed that they plan to start using their railroad trains along “select segments of the new track.”
Disney World Railroad Sign Retro
During the railroad’s down time, it’s gotten quite a bit of love and refurbishment. Greg Kelsaris, a project manager in Disney World’s facility asset management department shared, “We’re doing a lot of things that either haven’t been done since Walt Disney World opened, or just kind of really revolutionary things.”
There have been changes on a variety of things related to the railroad including the railroad ties, the railroad’s path, and more.
Click here to see more about the railroad’s refurbishment!
In addition, Disney previously shared that the Number 1 Engine has been completely refurbished.
The train looks great!
According to the Orlando Sentinel, more engines will be refurbished in the future. Major changes aren’t expected to come from the Railroad testing, but it will give Disney the chance to get some “run time” on these trains. Kelsaris said, “It’s just nice to kind of get the wheels turning.”
And boy was it nice for us to hear those wheels turning!!
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Discussion from Destination D23
An opening date for the TRON attraction has not yet been announced, and it continues to be under construction. A reopening date also has not yet been announced for the Walt Disney World Railroad. We anticipate that the Railroad will also continue to be closed temporarily until things are in the right spot to allow it to circle Magic Kingdom again. Still, it was great to get a glimpse of it in testing. Be sure to keep your eyes open for any more signs of testing during your trips.
We’ll keep an eye out for more updates!
Click here to check out the Railroad dress (with POCKETS!) that you can get online!
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Is there an extra charge to ride the train?
Hi Jan,
Disney is just testing the train right now, but it should be free to ride back when it’s up and running again. We are keeping a close eye on it and will update with all the details once we have them. 🙂
YAYYYYY! Soo ready for the train to be running again — I don’t even care about Tron!
Cannot wait! I’ve been a fan of Disney trains (WDW & DL) since the beginning. Walt was a train aficionado and I’m certain wherever he is (NOT frozen, surely) he is smiling in anticipation of the wonderful train’s return to service in WDW. My last ride was in a hot August 2017 and I can’t wait to get back aboard!!!
OMG, I hope that they will take some time to improve the scenic route behind the Magic Kingdom between Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. The view is simply poor as other than the small Indian village, there is nothing to look at but trees and thick undergrowth. This area should be improved and if it was not reimagined during this long shut down, the imagineers, Park Management, Rides and Attractions Management should all be looking for new jobs. Long overdue for a re-do…
“Disney officials confirmed that they plan to start using their railroad trains along “select segments of the new track.”
Seriously? If they don’t use the entire track, they will be running it backwards at times! That would be something to see!