Walt Disney World Railroad Reopening

I don't know if anyone on here is a Disney fan or not, but the Walt Disney World Railroad has been closed since 2018 for a major refurb while the new TRON roller coaster is being built over the ROW.

Through several Disney fan news sites it looks like Disney is preparing to test the ROW in place (everywhere except the section under TRON).

Per Disney Food Blog:

According to Scott Gustin on Twitter, testing of the Walt Disney World Railroad is set to begin today, December 8th. Gustin notes that this testing is part of the refurbishment of the Railroad overall.

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2021/12/ ... ting-soon/

When we were there on our trip in December 2019 they had a train on display at the station but had already torn up most of the track.


We're going back next December, so I'm hopeful by then the trains will be running again. Right now the main barrier in construction is the tunnel structure being constructed for the train to pass under the new ride, which has really started to come along in the past weeks. It looks like engine #1, Walter Disney, spent some time in PA getting an overhaul as well.

It's not a long ride or an overly interesting one, but I loved riding it as a kid and look forward to seeing the trains steam around the park again when we return.

I had the same experience January 2019 and was disappointed the railroad was not running because the construction project. I did the Behind the scenes tour early one morning. We walked around to see the rail yard, the equipment up close to watch them fire up an engine. We were only able to view the rail shops from the yard.

Going off the most recent video update I can find, the tunnel is in early stages of construction. Plastic ties have been stacked near Fantasyland station. I’m not sure about you guys but I don’t think they’ll be running trains this year. Maybe by spring 2022?

We're booked for Port Orleans Riverside for the first week of December 2022, so I'm hoping lol

Oh sorry I miss read your first comment and thought you were going this December LOL. If all goes smoothly they should be running by then seeing as how the tunnel is already being built.

No worries, I do that all the time lol.

I think they're pushing pretty hard to get TRON done before the 50th Celebrations conclude at the end of next year. It's too bad Disney's contractors aren't building Gateway!

toolmaker wrote: ↑Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:52 pm I had the same experience January 2019 and was disappointed the railroad was not running because the construction project. I did the Behind the scenes tour early one morning. We walked around to see the rail yard, the equipment up close to watch them fire up an engine. We were only able to view the rail shops from the yard.

I was looking into that for our trip, but they stopped by the time we went. It's too bad they don't let people into the shops, the dual monorail and narrow gauge engine house looks fascinating.

A view of the shops

Track maintenance in the yard.

Well that's cool. I always wondered what they had for diesel work equipment.

Don’t they have a Diesel engine to tow trains with should one break down? I thought that’s what this yellow thing was originally.

I know the monorail has a diesel tow tractor or two. One sits on the EPCOT beam just outside the TTC. I don't know what else the railroad has for non-steam equipment.

Looks like we're getting closer to a reopening. A Twitter user caught a video of Lilly testing with a single coach today. With work progressing so quickly on Tron, I'm hoping the train comes back this year.

https://wdwnt.com/2022/02/video-walt-di ... c-kingdom/

Some outstanding news yesterday!

https://wdwnt.com/2022/11/photos-video- ... near-tron/

Fair Use

So, it seems they are testing the train out on most – if not all – of the track.

We fly out on December 3rd and are staying through the 10th, so it looks like at the very least I may get to see the trains testing even if I cannot ride. With the way Disney has been nickel-and-diming everyone lately this will be our last trip down for some time, so I still have fingers crossed they'll reopen for passengers over the next two weeks.

A new TRON Roller Coaster..!! Does that mean that Disney is coming up with a new TRON Movie??!!