Seven Dwarves Mine Train

[xipetotec]

Does anyone have any insight on current progress of the attraction?

I *know* it's a lot to hope for if past history is any indication. But I'm *really* hoping it will be open by March... ( I know, you can laugh now )

 

[ghtx]

Probably not by March. Who knows?

 

[ashg8r]

Could be soft openings in March? I'd bet they are hoping for full opening by Easter. Opening for new Fantasyland was Dec 6, but were in soft openings in October.

 

[xipetotec]

Probably not by March. Who knows?

Yeah. I mean I see stories like the first carts arriving, and I get all excited, thinking it's only July, lots of time to finish this thing up!!

But I've been following WDW long enough now to have seen many projects and they rarely make it in that time.

still. Fingers crossed!

 

[Senator Tressel]

How in the world would it not be open at all by March? It's amazing how they are dragging their feet with this thing. You can give all the excuses you want, but it's taking way longer than it has to. There's no doubt about that.

 

[Tinkerboy00]

How in the world would it not be open at all by March? It's amazing how they are dragging their feet with this thing. You can give all the excuses you want, but it's taking way longer than it has to. There's no doubt about that.

I agree, it seems like its taking an awful long time compare to how quickly they get other stuff up and running. wonder if there were some snafus along the way.

Im sure it will be worth the wait though, and I cant wait to ride it!

 

[Missyrose]

The only real snafu so far was the fact that the coaster wasn't in the original designs for NewFL. It was added just before they broke ground for construction on the expansion, so the plans for the coaster were finalized quite late (compared with the rest of the project).

 

[xipetotec]

How in the world would it not be open at all by March? It's amazing how they are dragging their feet with this thing. You can give all the excuses you want, but it's taking way longer than it has to. There's no doubt about that.

Well that could very well be actually! I don't have any insider info ( I started the thread in case anyone DID ) and certainly HOPE it will be open.

It's just when I hear "Opening in a given year" it's *rarely* in the first couple of months. That being said, Phase 1 of New FantasyLand ( Dumbo/Goofy ) opened in 2012 while we were there in March. So here's hoping...

 

[Senator Tressel]

Just to make a stark comparison here, Disney broke ground on the Mine Train coaster, two months before the Jaws ride at Universal even closed down. That is where the Harry Potter area is opening up next summer.

So Disney is taking roughly the same amount of time to build ONE attraction that it is going to take Universal to build the ENTIRE Harry Potter phase 2 land. And it might even be a bit longer than Harry Potter in the end when you consider that they first had to get rid of all the Jaws stuff.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

A lot of progress has been made since February. They even have the crews working weekends at times to speed things up. The back side of the mountain has skin on it now as compared to even the progress in April. Things are definitely coming along and I wouldn't be surprised if it opened much earlier than expected.

 

[jsw1114]

I don't get why it's taking so long, cedar point can build a brand new coaster in a year but Disney takes over 2 years??? Confused

 

[xipetotec]

I don't get why it's taking so long, cedar point can build a brand new coaster in a year but Disney takes over 2 years??? Confused

Well there is a considerable amount of theming that goes around most Disney attractions. It's not just "a coaster"... That being said, I think they've had plenty of time. Hopefully open before March 2014!

 

[DisneyFive]

Just to make a stark comparison here, Disney broke ground on the Mine Train coaster, two months before the Jaws ride at Universal even closed down. That is where the Harry Potter area is opening up next summer.

So Disney is taking roughly the same amount of time to build ONE attraction that it is going to take Universal to build the ENTIRE Harry Potter phase 2 land. And it might even be a bit longer than Harry Potter in the end when you consider that they first had to get rid of all the Jaws stuff.

I don't get why it's taking so long, cedar point can build a brand new coaster in a year but Disney takes over 2 years??? Confused

Not disagreeing, but to be fair, there is a whole lot more than just a coaster being built with the new fantasyland expansion.

Dan

 

[pepe of ohio]

Not disagreeing, but to be fair, there is a whole lot more than just a coaster being built with the new fantasyland expansion.

Dan

I agree, it's in and out a mountain mine.... Think you go to Wal Mart and pick it off a shelf.... These are intricately built and designed attractions with an inside and outside theme...Cedar Point.... Skeleton structure and ride cars...

Give Disney it's do, when its done, it's done...

 

[cantslowdownptwn]

yes Disney does not simply slap a sign on a bathroom and call it The Android's Dungeon and Baseball Card Shop.

 

[Polydweller]

I don't get why it's taking so long, cedar point can build a brand new coaster in a year but Disney takes over 2 years??? Confused

It really isn't, its circumstances that make it seem that way. It wasn't in the original plans and then Disney management looked at FLE as it was constructed and decided it needed a signature ride. Now normally there is a lot of behind the scenes planning, design and prep work that goes into producing a ride before its announced. We don't know or see that and it may be a year or more before any announcement is made. But in this case, it was decided after FLE was designed and started so we all have basically seen it since it started and they have been doing design and site work simultaneously, especially early in the process. So, not really that long but we are seeing it right from its inception.

By the way, even at Cedar Point there are long periods of engineering, design, and testing that you never see or hear about and goes on before an announcement. Plus, nowhere near the theming work that Disney does which takes lots of work by imagineer artists.

 

[Senator Tressel]

Not disagreeing, but to be fair, there is a whole lot more than just a coaster being built with the new fantasyland expansion.

Dan

I'm not talking about Fantasyland though. This one attraction, they started construction on two months before Universal even closed the attraction that was in the spot where Harry Potter is going.

And they're not going to finish that much sooner. One large, immersive, cutting edge, detailed, game-changing land (including a ride that goes between the two parks) vs. one cutting edge, detailed ride. There has been a clear lack of motivation in getting this done.

 

[WDSearcher]

I'm not talking about Fantasyland though. This one attraction, they started construction on two months before Universal even closed the attraction that was in the spot where Harry Potter is going.

And they're not going to finish that much sooner. One large, immersive, cutting edge, detailed, game-changing land (including a ride that goes between the two parks) vs. one cutting edge, detailed ride. There has been a clear lack of motivation in getting this done.

Sure, they started construction on it two months before Universal even closed ... yadda yadda yadda. Whatever. When Disney started construction on 7DMT, they said it wasn't going to open until 2014. They've said that from the very beginning. They didn't say "hopefully summer 2013" and then decide to change that to 2014. They didn't say "January 1, 2014" and then change that to "sometime in 2014". They were clear from the get-go that the coaster would open in 2014 ... no specific date given.

The time to be all up in arms about the timeline was when they announced it two years ago. To be mad at them now is like saying to someone, "You told me what you were going to do and you're doing exactly what it is you said you were going to do and boy, am I mad at you about that!!" It makes no sense.

 

[Missyrose]

I'm not talking about Fantasyland though. This one attraction, they started construction on two months before Universal even closed the attraction that was in the spot where Harry Potter is going.

And they're not going to finish that much sooner. One large, immersive, cutting edge, detailed, game-changing land (including a ride that goes between the two parks) vs. one cutting edge, detailed ride. There has been a clear lack of motivation in getting this done.

Also, they're building this coaster basically on an island in the middle of the park. They can only move stuff in and out during hours in which the park is closed (and there aren't many of those during the spring and summer). Trust me, I'm not a a Disney apologist and I'm envious of how quickly Universal is churning out new attractions, but I don't believe Disney is dragging its feet on SDMT.

 

[xipetotec]

Well I, for one, am not up in arms or angry or anything. Just *hopeful* ...