 Jason Chandler is a character that was created for the unbuilt Disneyland concept Discovery Bay and early versions of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. In recent years, however, he has been incorporated into the Society of Explorers and Adventurers storyline in the parks and appeared as a major character in Disney Kingdoms: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Jason Chandler was a 19th century inventor who was a member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. By 1851 he served as the club secretary under president of SEA Vitale Robustelli. At some point following this, Chandler would rise to the position of president of the society while continuing developing his own inventions. By the 1880s, he would begin selling this technology to the Big Thunder Mining Company for their operations in Big Thunder Mountain to assist his friend from SEA, Barnabas T. Bullion. Source: DisneyWiki    Jason Chandler was an inventor, who built a drill big and powerful enough to dig into the hardest of places. It attracted the attention of Barnabas T. Bullion, who bought it off of him to mine into Big Thunder Mountain. The two became close friends, going on expeditions together, exchanging letters, and visiting each other. However, Chandler was more cognizant of the troubles that would come with the mining, believing the stories about Big Thunder and urging his friend to stop before it was too late.
Chandler joined the Society of Explorers and Adventurers in the mid-1800s, as a secretary as early as 1851 and later as a chairman. He went on expeditions with other members, including one with Captain Brieux on the Hyperion ship to chart flying animals.
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 There are four different versions of Big Thunder: One at Disneyland, one in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, one at Disneyland Paris, and one at Tokyo Disneyland. With that said, the story of Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain may differ from that of the other park’s attractions. I know for a fact that Disneyland Paris’s Big Thunder is set in their version of Frontierland which has a completely different story and connects with their version of The Haunted Mansion!  The setting of Big Thunder is in the city of Rainbow Ridge, a small town that grew quickly when gold was found within Big Thunder Mountain. You can see the theming of Frontierland hint towards this town in mulitple places, especially back on Big Thunder Trail.  Once the gold was found, miners started using pick axes and other hand tools to get to the gold. Little did the townspeople or workers know, Big Thunder Mountain is actually the location of an ancient Indian burial ground, and the destruction of the mountain by the miners displeased the spirits.  The miners then decided that the hand tools weren’t working well enough, and that they could get rich faster with a different method: explosives. Thus, the miners started blowing up sections of the mountain. This was too much for the Indian ancestors, who decided to fight back against the miners and townsfolk. Accidents started occurring at the Big Thunder Mountain Mining Co., with explosives blowing up on their own and mine trains running all by themselves. Big Thunder is the only attraction that has ‘trains’ that aren’t driven by a person.  After mining became too dangerous because of the spirit’s anger, the mining company and the town of Rainbow Ridge was abandoned. That’s why there are animals crawling all over Big Thunder, because there are no people to scare them away!     Two mountains visible at night!
Along the Frontierland path on the way to Fantasyland, north of Big Thunder Mtn Railroad, you will see two photo ops. Now they are positioned behind railing a fair distance back, but you can get a picture of both vignettes.    The red wagon is parked about 3-feet from the railing and though one is not supposed to climb over, I DID! LOL  I was able to get a good look inside the Wilderness Expeditions and Delivery Wagon.   |
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Growing up in Los Angeles in the 70s/80s we visited Disneyland on a regular basis and often after school, before "Annual Passes". 
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