Seven Dwarves Mine Train Soft Opening???

**Altair** · 02-09-2014, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by TheVBs

As for how long it's taking.... not knowing a thing about what it takes or what their problems may be, and not having any genuinely, well educated knowledge of anything else to compare it to... I'll avoid offering my uneducated opinion here.

Let's put it this way, here they just built a new bridge across the Mississippi River in less than two years. I would think a bridge is a bigger job than a roller coaster.

**Scar** · 02-09-2014, 11:10 AM

Is it possible that this has nothing to do with "how long it takes" as opposed to "when will opening it be best for increasing attendance?"

**r4kids** · 02-09-2014, 04:10 PM

Originally Posted by Strmchsr

That information is incorrect. They are not to the human testing phase yet. Some of the Imagineers have ridden through parts to test it out, but not random CMs.

Dang it..... I was afraid that was the case.

**TheVBs** · 02-09-2014, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by Altair

Let's put it this way, here they just built a new bridge across the Mississippi River in less than two years. I would think a bridge is a bigger job than a roller coaster.

I get what you're saying, but how do we know that's a fair comparison? I mean, genuinely, I don't know. Maybe they've built that kind of bridge in other places 20 times before? Maybe Disney is doing something different with the mine ride? I don't know. I want it open soon too. I just don't have any genuine knowledge to back up a statement that it should be done by now. Hope that makes sense!

**disneynarula** · 02-10-2014, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by Ian

I'm very surprised to see/hear people bad-mouthing Little Mermaid. Sometimes I really feel like Disney, for as much as they admittedly get wrong, can't win.

Some of the exact same people I've seen lamenting the fact that Disney seemed to have abandoned the classic dark ride then turn around and complain when they build what I think is one of the best they've ever done?

My family and I really, really enjoy Little Mermaid and goodness knows it's my twins' favorite. I think it's incredibly well done, fun, and 100% in line with what I expect from a classic Disney dark ride.

I'm not one to defend Disney, but sheesh ... give credit where credit is due.

I agree with you 100%. IMHO The Little Mermaid is something that Disney did right. Part of what I love about Disney is the classic dark rides. I love that we can ride it as a complete family. My DD loves the ride and my DSs agree (even though they pretend not too).

**AgentC** · 02-11-2014, 09:55 AM

Still no news on when the Mine Train will open, but the construction walls on Belle's side of the ride are down today. You can find pictures on Twitter.

**seanyred** · 04-08-2014, 10:06 PM

Saw picks today of imagineers riding the trains! Hope that means they are close to the soft openings for any folks that will be visiting soon.

**yjgirl32** · 04-09-2014, 08:37 AM

I don't think the park down the street is all that great. They have more 3d,4d rides than anything. It was nice to experience it once but have no desire to return. I think the Dwarf ride will be a lot of fun to ride and to me really doesn't matter how long they take- they want to get it done right and safely and I trust them to do it right.

**joonyer** · 04-09-2014, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by TheVBs

I get what you're saying, but how do we know that's a fair comparison? I mean, genuinely, I don't know. Maybe they've built that kind of bridge in other places 20 times before? Maybe Disney is doing something different with the mine ride? I don't know. I want it open soon too. I just don't have any genuine knowledge to back up a statement that it should be done by now. Hope that makes sense!

It all comes down to the amount of resources they want to allocate to the project. The U.S. Government & NASA put a man on the moon in just 9 years. Highways and bridges can be built relatively quickly if enough money and manpower are applied to the project. Disney could have built the SDMT attraction in just 3 months if they wanted to devote the resources ($$$) to get it done that fast. They simply have chosen not to, most likely for budget reasons. They take their time and can spread the cost over months and years.

**princessgirls** · 04-09-2014, 10:52 AM

When I was last in DW in November of 2012, we were blessed and got to be a part of the new Fantasyland "soft opening" and did all of the new attractions. I thought the whole addition was a good one to the park, and the signage up at that time said the Mine Coaster would be coming late Fall 2013. OK....I bet it will be exactly a year behind schedule. A YEAR!!! That is crazy to me. CRAZY.
I do hope it's a fun attraction, worth the wait and better than The Great Goofini!
Julie

**John** · 04-29-2014, 10:18 PM

I will be there for the press event Wed-Friday - ride on's are to take place Thursday... I'll be shooting video if they allow and posting plenty of pictures to Twitter and FB.

**MyDisneyworld** · 04-30-2014, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by John

I will be there for the press event Wed-Friday - ride on's are to take place Thursday... I'll be shooting video if they allow and posting plenty of pictures to Twitter and FB.

Can't wait to hear about it. Does this mean next week it will be open to the public?

**DizneyFreak2002** · 04-30-2014, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by MyDisneyworld

Can't wait to hear about it. Does this mean next week it will be open to the public?

Nope...

**joanna71985** · 04-30-2014, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by John

I will be there for the press event Wed-Friday - ride on's are to take place Thursday... I'll be shooting video if they allow and posting plenty of pictures to Twitter and FB.

So jealous! I can't wait to hear about it

**Ian** · 05-01-2014, 07:41 AM

John and I talked to one of the press liaisons last night and the official story seems to be an opening in late May or early June.

No word on soft openings at all. We've been here all week and it hasn't been open once. They haven't even done Cast previews yet and they are, in fact, still doing the test runs with the weighted dummies.

**RBrooksC** · 05-01-2014, 07:50 AM

My guess is this is the Fantasyland Crown Jewel. It is going to be a "D" ticket ride in an area that always had the basic "C" ticket rides.

They are going to test, do a tollgate or phase meeting, test again, do another meeting until all the bugs are out of it.

There is no way they are going to miss something or have an issue with this after opening.

**Buttercup** · 05-01-2014, 07:13 PM

Saw a video today of the ride; a POV ride through the whole thing. If you don't want spoilers don't read this...................

I was kind of "meh" about it. I thought there would be more indoor dark ride stuff, similar to Splash Mountain. But it looks like just a quick jaunt through the mine with the jewels in the walls and the dwarfs... And the rest is Rollercoaster (save for one drive by of the dwarf cottage with Snow White inside). And, I saw two different ride-thrus and each time through the mine it looked as though the audio wasn't working properly! At one point there was no background music in the mine, so it seemed really quiet with just the dwarfs talking.... And the next ride thru Doc was moving but he had no voice! Strange they would let that happen during a press event! (If you want to watch the video look on YouTube for the Attractions Magazine video. I haven't seen John's Intercot video yet).

I wonder if the delay in opening to the public has to do with problems like that?

Overall it looks cute and the animatronics are neat, but for years and years of construction I was expecting a little more dark-ride and a little less Barnstormer Rollercoaster.