MAY 28th Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will Officially OPEN! Fast Passes are also open!

[ajwolfe]

This completely sucks....We will be leaving on the 24th.

 

[ajwolfe]

I"m surprised they aren't opening it for memorial day weekend and the 24-hour event. Not a fun day if intermittent soft opening is going on. Lots of checking back I imagine.

Agreed!! I would have for sure thought it would have been open by this event.

 

[MOM POPPINS]

As stated here there will be soft openings before the 28th. I know its not a guarantee and there will not be Fast passes.. but it's something!

 

[bladiator]

Uggghhhhh, going to be there 5/11-18. I thought for sure when they originally said late spring that it wouldn't be the last day of spring.

Hoping for soft openings but not going to stand around waiting for it.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

My take on this is that it was a way (and probably a necessary way) to deal with the first distribution of FP+ for the ride.

Essentially, they are announcing today that you can start making FP+ reservations for the mine train and that those FPs will first be available on May 28. Between now and then, the ride will be standby only, and may not always be operating. That may help spread out the crush that might occur otherwise.

I have said before that the visibility of the mine train in a prominent location makes it impossible to do the same kind of clandestine soft openings that they did for things like Soarin and TSMM.

I think what they are doing makes perfect sense.

I like the taste of Disney kool aid and drink it often, but I need some of that super strength formula that you have.

 

[taramoz]

Our last day is the 27th. I'm praying for a soft opening.

Me too!

 

[linskypens]

While bummed (not mad) about the date, as we leave Disney on the 16th, the thought of perhaps a soft opening is nice.
At least everyone here can go back to moaning about FP+, instead of moaning about the Mine Train.

 

[jlwhitney]

Uggghhhhh, going to be there 5/11-18. I thought for sure when they originally said late spring that it wouldn't be the last day of spring.

Hoping for soft openings but not going to stand around waiting for it.

It is still late spring. First day of summer is not till June. 20

 

[wisblue]

I like the taste of Disney kool aid and drink it often, but I need some of that super strength formula that you have.

OK. If you were in charge, how would you have handled the timing of the opening and the release of FPs in a way that would satisfy everyone without creating chaos?

And, if you plan to conduct soft openings to test the ride to make sure it is operating properly, how would you do that? Would you rather have to shut down the ride with thousands of people outside holding FPs, or just disappoint guests who entered the park with no real expectation that they would get to ride it?

I just think it is hilarious that there are so many people who have convinced themselves that they know more about how to run the biggest theme park in the world than those who are actually doing it, and making a ton of money while they're at it.

Most people are glad that a date has been announced and that they can now proceed with their plans. Others have found just one more thing to complain about.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Well, looks like I'll miss it by 4 days. I really gotta think I'll get it on soft openings. I'd be shocked if it wasn't open at some point during the 24 hour event

 

[budafam]

We're leaving on the 26th. We missed BOG by 2 days as well!!! I see a trend here.. lol. I do hope it's running for the 24 hour event. I can't think of a better birthday present than getting to ride that!

 

[ConnieB]

Agreed!! I would have for sure thought it would have been open by this event.

They may be worried it would be overwhelming....crowds will be high and adding this in the mix could be insane. Oh wait...Disney thrives on insane!


I wish I'd not had breakfast and missed this announcement......been trying for about 10 minutes now to get onto Fastpass on MDE...but keep getting "system challenge". We'll be there 28 thru June 2, so hopefully somewhere in there we can get a FP....if I can ever get thru!

 

[ConnieB]

We're leaving on the 26th. We missed BOG by 2 days as well!!! I see a trend here.. lol. I do hope it's running for the 24 hour event. I can't think of a better birthday present than getting to ride that!

Hope you get your birthday wish! But then I also look at the list in your banner of all that you're doing and thinking....gee, and I am lucky if I get taken out to dinner for my birthday...so hard to have sympathy that you're going to miss 7DMT

 

[sandgrace]

Oh wow!!! I can't believe they picked the 28th for the opening day! I picked it as our first MK day since it was recommended by easywdw. I have BOG dinner and Wishes Dessert party reserved so we have to be there on that day.

I've never been at any of the parks for an official ride opening I know the crowds will be out of control, but is there any advantage to being there on that day? Do they give out anything special? I'm trying to feel better about this, although I am happy that the ride will be open while we're there.

 

[budafam]

Hope you get your birthday wish! But then I also look at the list in your banner of all that you're doing and thinking....gee, and I am lucky if I get taken out to dinner for my birthday...so hard to have sympathy that you're going to miss 7DMT

Lol.. I can't blame you for the lack of sympathy. I will be extremely happy either way. and tired... haha

 

[BuckeyeBama]

OK. If you were in charge, how would you have handled the timing of the opening and the release of FPs in a way that would satisfy everyone without creating chaos?

By being more transparent. They announced the May 2nd media date a long time ago. A whole lot of people assumed that with that kind of lead time that Disney was going to open the ride within a day or two of that event. They assumed that because this has been Disney's MO for as long as I can remember. That was probably the original plan, since the date aligns with a slow time at WDW.

The result - people booked vacations around that date hoping and expecting to be able to ride this attraction this week or next.

When it became clear to Disney that this was not going to be the case, they could/should have made some sort of announcement so patrons could adjust vacation plans where possible. They did not do so because they did not want to lose the revenue during a relatively slow time of the year.

To avoid problems with FP+ you just need to announce the opening date 3-4 weeks in advance, but it could be months in advance - the longer the lead time, the better.

Are you telling me that they just found out today that this ride was not going to be ready until 5/28? Let's be real - they knew a long time ago. They delayed the announcement to avoid lost revenue.

 

[5 Disney Fans]

"we are unable to fully complete your request due to system challenges..."

For half an hour now

 

[ConnieB]

Well count me in the frustrated group over this. We leave the 26th. I guess we can hope for a soft opening. Do they do FP+ for soft openings or is that just stand by?

Do they usually do a sneak peek for AP holders (which we are)? If so how does that work? What about my 7 year niece coming along who does not have an AP?

Argh so annoyed.

Well, obviously, anything is possible with Disney, but I seriously doubt they'll do FP for soft openings...the whole idea of the soft opening is to train/test the ride and it will open for a few minutes or a few hours and shut down without notice or rhyme/reason, so having FP would be a mess if they shut it down and don't open it in your window....even if they somehow extended your window it would get intense with all the other FP who got put off.

Soft openings typically are you walk by and see it is open and get lucky and get in line....when they close the soft opening they usually make everyone in line leave, no waiting to see when/if it opens again.

Sneak peek....possible, and it's usually posted on the blog and filled within minutes....but if it's an AP only event...then your niece without an AP is out of luck, even if she's with all of you. So are the people with only AP vouchers because you need the AP # to register for the event (or at least that's been the requirement for past AP meet ups).

Your best bet....spend a lot of time walking past the ride and hoping for a soft opening.

I'll be there May 14 thru June 2 but I can't get the FP+ in MDE to open, so I may have to hang out near the ride....or just wait and book a FP+ for our September trip....probably easier.

 

[tec71]

"we are unable to fully complete your request due to system challenges..."

For half an hour now

Me too. Grrrrrr.

 

[Ravenne]

"we are unable to fully complete your request due to system challenges..."

For half an hour now

2 hours here. I probably could've waited the standby time to get on the ride by the time the site goes back up.

Between A&E and 7DMT, they're packing so many people into MK, I wouldn't be surprised if they shut the place down and people can't get in to make their FP+s even if they could book it. Ya know, just because Disney needs a coup de gras cherry on top of their poor crowd dispersing plan.