The attraction's locomotives were acquired from the Ferrocarriles Unidos de Yucatán, a narrow-gauge railroad system in Mexico.

After being shipped to the United States, they were altered to resemble locomotives built in the 1880s and restored to operating condition.

The development of the Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) from the late 1960s to its opening in 1971 was overseen by Roger E. Broggie, vice president and general manager of Mapo, Inc., WED Enterprises' research and manufacturing branch.

[4] In May 1969, Broggie, along with fellow Disney employee and railroad-building expert Earl Vilmer, went to Mérida to investigate.

[4][5] The locomotives, along with an assortment of brass fittings and other spare parts given away for free, were immediately shipped by rail back to the United States.

[6] At the time, this was the closest facility to the Walt Disney World site in Bay Lake, Florida with the space and equipment needed to accommodate full-size railroad rolling stock.

[9][13] Their worn-out wood and steel cabs were replaced with new ones made of fiberglass, and they were given new tenders, which used the trucks from the originals.

[5][9] Many of the smaller original parts on the locomotives such as the domes and brass bells on top of the boilers, the frames, the wheels, and the side rods were successfully refurbished and retained.

[13][17] The restoration of the WDWRR's four locomotives, as well as the construction of five new open-air Narragansett-style excursion cars for each of them (twenty in total), was completed in less than two years.

[18][30] For the first few months after the WDWRR opened to the public, Main Street, USA Station at the Magic Kingdom park's entrance, modeled after the former Victorian-style Saratoga Springs station in Saratoga Springs, New York, was the only stop for passengers along its route, making only complete round trips possible.

[35][41] During construction of the Splash Mountain attraction and the current Frontierland Station, the WDWRR was temporarily renamed Backtrack Express and operated a single train in a shuttle mode along the section of track between the Main Street, USA and Mickey's Starland sections.

[8] In August 2018, a billboard sign promoting the upcoming TRON Lightcycle / Run roller coaster attraction was added next to the WDWRR's track in the Fantasyland section.

[51][52] On December 3, 2018, the WDWRR temporarily closed to accommodate construction of the TRON attraction in the Tomorrowland section.

[61] During a media preview for the attraction's reopening the previous day, the Magic Kingdom employees were offered to board the new WDWRR ride experience.

[52] On September 18, the WDWRR, along with several other Magic Kingdom attractions, temporarily closed due to a black bear that entered the Frontierland section.

[67][68] Around December, Frontierland Station began to be rethemed and renovated to match the future Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction.

[84][85][86] On the first floor of Main Street, USA Station, there are four commemorative plaques, representing information about each of the WDWRR's locomotives.

[11][16] As the train departs Main Street, USA Station, it passes the Magic Kingdom monorail station, crosses an access road in the Adventureland section, travels over a small bridge, enters a small tunnel, and crosses a second access road in the Frontierland section.

[88][89]: 47  After entering a tunnel through the Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction in which its finale can be viewed, the train arrives at Frontierland Station.

[91] Continuing down the line, the train passes the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad mine train roller coaster attraction and traverses a fully functional swing bridge, which crosses a canal connecting the Rivers of America to a dry dock area and the Seven Seas Lagoon.

[75]: 3 [93] The train then runs through the park's northern area where numerous static and Audio-Animatronic displays of Native Americans and wild animals are present.

[77][86] In the final segment of the train's journey around the park, it enters a two-percent grade tunnel adjacent to the TRON Lightcycle / Run roller coaster attraction.

[55][75]: 5  Additionally, there are some windows on the left side of the tunnel where passengers can get a glimpse of the TRON Lightcycle / Run roller coaster track.

[55][99] After exiting the tunnel, the train passes the Space Mountain and Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress attractions in the Tomorrowland section, and travels over a small bridge before it arrives back at Main Street, USA Station.

[103] Occasionally, locomotives and their passenger car sets will be switched when either one is out of service for maintenance, overhauls, refurbishments, or repairs.

[75]: 5  The locomotives' tenders each have an automatic train control box underneath, which detect red light frequencies from the signals' transmitters along the track and apply the passenger cars' brakes.

[119] Between 1997 and 2003, all four locomotives received major refurbishments at the Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, costing nearly $4 million.

[109][141] The fireman then throws a switch to let the train enter the WDWRR's mainline starting at Fantasyland Station to perform the last safety check where it runs past a red light to test the passenger cars' automatic brakes.

[75]: 5  The conductor activates a buzzer horn in the locomotive's cab to let the engineer know if the train is ready to depart or if an emergency stop is needed.