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Disney's D23 Auction Reveals Its First Walt Disney World Lots, Including a Big Thunder Mountain Mine Car, With Bidding Open July 20
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Disney's D23 Auction Reveals Its First Walt Disney World Lots, Including a Big Thunder Mountain Mine Car, With Bidding Open July 20

Michael Travels
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You may soon be able to own a real, physical piece of Walt Disney World. Disney has revealed the first lots in its D23 memorabilia sale, and the headliners are unmistakably ours: a section of a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad mine car rebuilt into a bench, and decorative figures from the recently shuttered MuppetVision 3D at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Online bidding opens Monday, July 20.

The sale is called The Disney Experiences Auction: Rare and Remarkable Finds, and Disney is running it through D23 in partnership with Heritage Auctions. It was first teased in late June, but this week brought the part fans actually care about: the specific, park-used pieces going under the hammer. Disney's D23 frames it this way:

Through live and online bidding, discover select, verified pieces from Disney's theme parks and resorts that are ready for their next chapter with the fans who treasure them most.

The quick facts: The Disney Experiences Auction: Rare and Remarkable Finds is a live and online sale of retired Walt Disney World and Disneyland pieces, run by D23 with Heritage Auctions. Online bidding opens July 20, 2026. The live auction is Sunday, August 16, 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event (August 14 to 16), and is hosted by Bret Iwan, the current official voice of Mickey Mouse.

The headliner: a Big Thunder Mountain mine car you can actually sit on

The piece drawing the most attention is a chunk of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from Magic Kingdom. A passenger section of one of the ride's mine cars has been remounted on a length of faux track with a Big Thunder Iron Works boiler-plate emblem, and heavily modified so it works as a bench. According to the early online listing, two of these benches were built from cars pulled during the coaster's recent refurbishment, each sold with a Disney certificate of verification.

A Big Thunder Mountain Railroad mine-car section rebuilt as a bench, an auction lotOne of the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad mine-car benches up for bid, complete with the Big Thunder Iron Works emblem and faux track. Image: Heritage Auctions.

MuppetVision 3D says goodbye, one prop at a time

The other big Walt Disney World draw comes from MuppetVision 3D, the Muppets attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios that closed in 2025. Several of the show building's decorative pieces are in the sale, including a Miss Piggy figure, a Kermit the Frog figure, and one of the 3D-glasses distribution bins from the pre-show queue.

A decorative Miss Piggy figure from MuppetVision 3D, an auction lotA decorative Miss Piggy figure from MuppetVision 3D is among the lots. Image: Heritage Auctions.

What else is in the sale

Beyond those two headliners, the pool of items is drawn from recently retired attractions and lands across the parks, including DINOSAUR in DinoLand U.S.A. at Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Tom Sawyer Island and Rivers of America area at Magic Kingdom. Early listings also preview pieces tied to the Haunted Mansion, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and an EPCOT Spaceship Earth exit sign, though the full Heritage catalog is still being finalized ahead of the July 20 opening.

How the bidding works

Online bidding opens July 20 on Heritage's platform, and the live auction takes place August 16 during D23 in Anaheim. Bidding in person requires a D23 event ticket. Per the early online listings, a 22% buyer's premium and a $29 minimum bid apply to each lot. Disney has not published price estimates yet, but for context, past Heritage sales of Disney pieces have gone big: a Haunted Mansion stretching-room portrait sold for $90,000 in 2024, and a 1967 Disneyland Autopia car brought $180,000 in 2022.

Sources

Image credits: MuppetVision 3D facade photo by Chip and Company. Big Thunder Mountain bench and Miss Piggy figure images by Heritage Auctions (HA.com).

Mentioned in this story

Check out our guides for more on each place in this story:

Magic Kingdom Hollywood Studios Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Haunted Mansion Spaceship Earth The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

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