Seven Dwarfs Mine Train advice

[pschro1]

We are going to be at the Magic Kingdom next Friday. I did not get a Fastpass for the Mine Train because my wife is not able to ride (expecting our 2nd!). EMH starts at 8am and I expect that is when we will arrive. I would definitely like to do the ride with my 3 year old son. However, this is my sons first trip to Disney and I am not sure how well he will do with some of the "more exciting" rides as he has not been on any roller coasters before. So I am not sure if I want to do the Mine Train as my first ride of the day. I would hate to run him onto this ride and have him not like it, ruining our morning. Would I be safe to do the Mine Train second or third? Or should I just chance it?

Any other parents have any advice on how to approach these kind of rides with your smaller children? I have tried showing him the youtube videos and telling him about the "games" in the queue. But he very well could have a melt down when he gets there.

 

[LSUfan4444]

The only real difference between making 7DMT your first or third standby ride of the day is that you will wait longer if you make it your third. Chances are, you are looking at a 6+ hour day so whether he does it in the first 15 minutes or 30 minutes later he will have a long day after that if he doesn't like it. If this is not your first trip to MK with him, try Barnstomer first. It's a pretty decent comparison, but be prepared if you are scared he may melt down on Mine Train, he may melt down on Barnstomer. Sadly, there is no way to sample this other than to just do it.

My advice would be do do it first with the shortest wait...if it doesn't work out take him to meet his favorite character right afterwards.

 

[pschro1]

yea that's what I was going to try. I should have mentioned that this is our MK day #2 (we will be there Monday as well). But since there are no EMH and this is our first day in the parks I wasn't going to try the mine train, unless the line is short.

 

[busymommy2pink]

I personally felt more jolted around on the Barnstormer lol...the story line for the mine train is amazing and there is no scary part of it in my opinion. My very timid three year old nephew LOVED it in September

 

[pixiesprite]

If the EMH is on your second day then you are well positioned to check out two things on the first day. Riding Barnstormer is a great way to check out what he thinks of rollercoasters and it's all outdoors so it's bright and he can see the track to see how it all works etc. Then during some of the other rides you can get an idea of how happy he is with dark rides/dark queues. 7DMT is a combo of these two experiences so you'll hopefully then have a good idea how he will like it Have fun!

 

[LSUfan4444]

Try Barnstormer first, if that goes well then try Thunder Mnt. If that goes well he should be fine with Mine Train. My daughter was fine on all of them as soon as she was tall enough to ride them, but as you know every kid is different.

Test Track

Splash

Mine Train

Well, I lied....she HATES Tower of Terror...or Terrible Tower as she calls it

 

[mort1331]

Being at RD either day will get you when the line is short. That being said, I cant stress enough to make sure your son is the min height 40inchs I believe. The line sometimes is past where the height check is and he needs to be able to hit his head on it, walk under it and no go. If unsure check before getting in line. I have seen too many sad faces there.
If height is no problem, then the ride itself is great and not too scary itself, my 3yr( at the time) loved it and rode it twice and still says it is her favorite ride.
Enjoy

as PP says try Thunder second after barnstormer, I say 7dmt is less intense. I don't see trying out any other one first. It is a very smooth ride. IMO.

 

[SeilerBird]

The car ride to WDW is scarier than the mine train.

 

[pschro1]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Yes I am fairly certain that he is over the "magical 40"" per our height chart at home. My thought is to get him on barn stormer on Monday, Test Track on Tuesday, and then Mine Train Thursday (sorry i put the wrong day earlier). I would hope that by Thursday he will be a pro.

 

[mort1331]

Well if he can to TT, 7dmt will be no problem. Good luck

 

[pschro1]

yea that is what i am hoping.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

We are going to be at the Magic Kingdom next Friday. I did not get a Fastpass for the Mine Train because my wife is not able to ride (expecting our 2nd!). EMH starts at 8am and I expect that is when we will arrive. I would definitely like to do the ride with my 3 year old son. However, this is my sons first trip to Disney and I am not sure how well he will do with some of the "more exciting" rides as he has not been on any roller coasters before. So I am not sure if I want to do the Mine Train as my first ride of the day. I would hate to run him onto this ride and have him not like it, ruining our morning. Would I be safe to do the Mine Train second or third? Or should I just chance it?

Any other parents have any advice on how to approach these kind of rides with your smaller children? I have tried showing him the youtube videos and telling him about the "games" in the queue. But he very well could have a melt down when he gets there.

As PPs said, 7DMT is not as much a thrill ride, but a family themed roller coaster. I love it, it is absolutely one of my favorite rides at Disney World. Did you think of getting a FP for yourself for &DMT while your DW and DS got a FP for something else? Then you could ride it and could gage of how scary it was and if you think your son would like it. If you were going to MK for 2 days, then on the second day make a FP for you and your son and then you could ride it together! If not you could always try getting there at RD, you could ride it and make a FP for later in the day and if DS wants to ride it he can!

Best of Luck and Have a great trip!

 

[LoreoR]

I almost threw my detailed plans and FP for next week out the window when I read the MK EMH on Friday, lol. Phew, crisis averted Keep checking for those FP though. I got two 7DMT passes for next week in the last two weeks, one for Tuesday and one for Friday. They aren't my ideal times but they are a FP! I keep checking for new times because you never know what might pop up as people finalize their plans.

I can't offer much wisdom as this will be my first go at 7DMT too. I know my 3 y/o nephew braved many rides at WDW and liked most of them, except Stitch (didn't like being locked down in the seat).

 

[mirak]

My 4yo son did not like mine train. Too scary for him.

However, if you're set on trying it, do it first thing at rope drop because there's nothing that's going to warm him up for the ride that's worth doing, only to then wait in a much longer line for mine train.

Get to the entrance tunnel to the right about 20 minutes early. Walk briskly towards the hub, using the mainstreet sidewalk to bypass the congestion on the street. At the hub, take your second bridge on the right. There will be a line of CMs waiting there to escort you to mine train. If you do it right, you'll only wait in the line for the ride maybe 5-10 minutes (plus the time you waited for rope drop). You're not going to find a shorter line (or a FP) the rest of the day.

 

[Hezzy04]

I thought the height requirement was only 38 inches?? Can anyone confirm this?

 

[pschro1]

yes the requirement is only 38"