Originally Posted By Jenny512 We stayed in Tahoe for three days on our big California driving tour. One of our activities there was to take the cable car to the high camp at Squaw Valley, where the 1960 Olympics were held. The cable car operator asked if anyone had been to Disneyland (where we'll be in 8 days!!!) because they might recognize the rocks on the mountain side. Walt had come to Squaw to produce (?) the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, and had been so taken with the rock formations that he sent a team of designers up the mountain on horseback--and they re-created the formations in Big Thunder. We laughed because we always thought BT looked a little on the fake side--so did the formations on the mountain! They captured it perfectly.
Originally Posted By smd4 No too sure I believe that. Actually, I am sure. I don't. Big Thunder was built more than a decade after Walt died. John Olson, one of the imagineers involved with the scenery, said that the rock formations of Bryce Canyon, along with others, was the inspiration.
Originally Posted By barboy Yes smd4, I think I'm with you here. Based on what I've read Bryce inspired BTMRR. But there is something to note also--- Geographically Squaw Valley is fairly proximal to Sugar Bowl Ski resort's mountains(if one were to consider the entire vast Tahoe region)and Sugar Bowl has some Disney history.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 It's possible that the stories got mixed up too. It might be that Walt used the Squaw Valley as inspiration for parts of the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland. However, since Big Thunder took over that same location, I would guess that they just grafted the story onto that attraction. But, I agree with smd4 that Bryce Canyon was the major inspiration behind the rock formations of Big Thunder.
Originally Posted By netenyahoo Bryce Canyon is in southern Utah if anyone who reads this doesn't know. I've always heard the inspiration was Bryce as well.
Originally Posted By gadzuux There's a slightly more accessible location that is similar to BTM - the "valley of fire" just outside las vegas. While it might not be the dead-ringer for big thunder mountain - close enough. If you're ever in vegas I recommend it highly - both for it's own merits and as a much needed excuse to get out and away from the strip and see something that's "real".
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I've always heard Bryce Canyon, but I have also seen pictures of many other places that have a very very similar look as well. I think that Bryce Canyon is just bigger and has more formations than the others, which would be a better place to do the research, economically.
Originally Posted By everyyearofmylife It's so odd that I come home from work and see a topic on this because on my lunch break I was reading Magic Quizdom (by Kevin Yee and Jason Schultz) and there was a question on this very topic! Q: "What national park served as the inspiration for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad's towering buttes?" A: "Bryce Canyon. Originally, lead designer Tony Baxter had considered the imposing cliffs of Monument Valley for a project called 'Thunder Mesa' under development for Walt Disney World Resort....As it turns out, the side-project Tony was working on (Big Thunder) came to be chosen over [that project]. He found the scenery too uniform and straight, however, so he turned to the towers of Bryce Canyon for inspiration, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was born."
Originally Posted By Jenny512 The following is from the Squaw Valley website (<a href="http://www.squaw.com/summer/html/geology.html" target="_blank">http://www.squaw.com/summer/ht ml/geology.html</a>) "Riders on Squaw Valley’s Cable Car often point out an unusual area of rocks just off Broken Arrow Peak between the first two towers of the Cable Car. This rock formation is reddish in color, rounded and sandy looking. Many people often mistake them for sandstone, yet, they too are granite. They are reddish in color and shaped this way because of the extreme heat associated with lava flows from nearby volcanoes millions of years ago. Walt Disney visited Squaw Valley in 1960 to help orchestrate the opening ceremonies of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games and was so enchanted by these rocks that he returned home and designed The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Ride at Disneyland after this ridgeline of red granite rocks."
Originally Posted By Jenny512 Oh! and from <a href="http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/Disneyland/Secrets/Frontier/BigThunder.html" target="_blank">http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/D isneyland/Secrets/Frontier/BigThunder.html</a> "The Mountain that houses Thunder Mountain Railroad is modeled after the granite outcroppings of rock that constitute the "Rock Pile" on Broken Arrow Mountain in Squaw Valley, USA. Walt had a house in Squaw for some time after he did the opening ceremonies for the 1960 Olympics held there, and modeled the bare, rough granite of Thunder Mountain after them."
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Yeah...lots of misinformation there...considering Walt had NOTHING to do with design on Big Thunder Mountain. Tony Baxter was the guy behind that. The ONLY explanation that I can think of is these people are mistaking Big Thunder for the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland attraction.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Wasn't that created in the fifties - long before the 1960 olympics in squaw valley? I wonder if disney legal knows about these comments? Especially included in a national park website, and apparently as part of the official tram tour.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Didn't they redo the Mine Train in the late 50's or early 60's? I think it was around the time that they got rid of the stagecoaches and pack mules, when ever that was. That gave them more room for the train tracks, which then gave them more room for theming, so I believe they added and reconfigured a lot of stuff through out the ride.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 The Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland actuallly opened in 1960. It was previously the Rainbow Cavern's Mine Train (which opened in 1956). So, it's entirely possible that the Squaw Valley info does apply to the Nature's Wonderland version.
Originally Posted By dr jones The John Olson statement is probably correct. RE #2. I've mountain biked in both Bryce and Zion canyons as well as Moab Utah, the rock formations in those places are just like those on BTMRR. They don't look real out there either!
Originally Posted By dhgifford *smile* What's funny here is that in Sedona, Arizona the guides all say that the Big Thunder Mountain inspiration was the red rock formations around there. I guess everyone wants credit.
Originally Posted By Judy from Boise The Mammoth hot springs section of Yellowstone National Park is so similar to especially the WDW version of BTMRR, that i have always thought that an imagineer had visited and been inspired.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo For those unfamiliar with Bryce Canyon, here are some photos: <a href="http://www.travelwest.net/parks/brycecanyon/photogallery.html" target="_blank">http://www.travelwest.net/park s/brycecanyon/photogallery.html</a> Those hoodoos are truly awe inspiring.
Originally Posted By everyyearofmylife Thanks for the pics tiggertoo. Certainly looks like Thunder Mountain to me!
Originally Posted By englishboy I'm surprised that no one has brought this up. BUT on the mine train through nature's wondeland there was a rock formation called Big Thunder. This is where the Big Thunder name originates. that rock formation was a pyramid-shaped arrangement, the tallest on the ride. Now, I'm not positive about this next part, but I believe part of that old formation can still be seen from Sawyer's island and from the Mark Twain. I think this is what is causing the confusion between Walt overseeing the old Big Thunder formation, based perhaps on formations around Squaw, and the new Big Thunder Mesa which later took over that section of the park (based on the Utah high desert) but retaining the same name.
