Why is the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train taking until 2014 to open?

[DragoHarley]

This might be obvious to some people, but I can't figure out why it's going to take until early 2014 for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to open up.

I've been looking at the construction progress pictures put up here on MiceChat and the steel skeleton for this ride is already going up, with the hole dug for it and everything. It's currently April of 2012...and the Ariel and Beauty and the Beast parts of the expansion are all supposed to be up and running this year if I understand things.

I just don't know why it's going to take 20 more months for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to be finished if it's not supposed to be a big e-ticket ride or anything but just a fun little Jr. coaster type thing.

Do rides take that long to build?

Or is it just that Disney is trying to stagger the opening of new things so that people come back two or more times to be able to see them all?

I know that I am planning a big trip to WDW in September of 2013...but the thing I most want to experience is the Mine Train...so I am torn on whether I should wait to do my trip until September of 2014 instead...or if I should do the big trip and then come back later for one day just to experience the Mine Train at some point.

If the delay in opening is due to wanting to stagger the opening of these attractions, then I get it...but if the delay is because it really is going to take 20+ months to build this Mine Train then I just don't get it.

Does anyone smarter and more knowledgeable about this stuff than me have any idea of what's going on and why it's going to take until 2014 for the Mine Train to open?

[lazyboy97O]

The project started after everything else and the entire Fantasyland project always had an anticipated end date of early 2014. Before that spot was for Pixie Hollow, but that was swapped out along with the meet and greets for Storybook Circus and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It is how the money has always been allocated.

Disney is also not interested in some big grand opening because the Fantasyland expansion is not about trying to increase attendane. It is being built to increase the capacity of the park for existing crowd growth.

[SpectroMan]

By no means does it take that long to open a C ticket. I suspect they're constantly revising the designs, even now with supports in place, and are staggering the openings to help assimilate the new budgets for having more attractions open. Then again, knowing WDW they're not increasing budgets at all and are just planning to spread CMs thinner.

[toonaspie]

The Mine Train was a last minute change to the Fantasyland Expansion that was probably not planned out before it was greenlit. There was also a lot of design and structure problems with the coaster during the planning process and I wouldn't be surprised if more problems happen along the way as we have no clue how the coaster is gonna work or what kind of coaster it will be in the end.

[DragoHarley]

but that was swapped out along with the meet and greets for Storybook Circus and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It is how the money has always been allocated.

What does this mean, "Meat and Greets for Storybook Circus".

I thought the M&Gs were going to be where Snow White's Scary Adventure dark ride is now, with the Princess M&G. Am I misunderstanding something?

[lazyboy97O]

What does this mean, "Meat and Greets for Storybook Circus".

I thought the M&Gs were going to be where Snow White's Scary Adventure dark ride is now, with the Princess M&G. Am I misunderstanding something?

The space that is now the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was originally going to feature Cunderella's Chateau and Sleeping Beauty's Cottge which would each house larger interactive Meet and greets. They were killed due to their abysmal hourly capacity and the limited demographic to which they appealed, very young girls. The biggest laughing stock, in my opinion, was the offering to make birthday cards for Princeas Aurora.

Princess Fantasy Faire was added to the project when Seven Dwarfs Mine Train took the planned meet and greet space and made Snow White's Scary Adventures "redundant."

[DragoHarley]

@lazyboy970 -

Okay, I am totally confused. Why would people be making birthday cards for Princess Aurora? I don't get it. And I don't get why they would have made a Chateau for Cinderella when they already have Cinderella's castle.

Am I missing something? Sorry if this is obvious to people but I don't get it.

[lazyboy97O]

@lazyboy970 -

Okay, I am totally confused. Why would people be making birthday cards for Princess Aurora? I don't get it. And I don't get why they would have made a Chateau for Cinderella when they already have Cinderella's castle.

Am I missing something? Sorry if this is obvious to people but I don't get it.

You are not the only one who is confused. That was the plan. They were supposed to be more interactive meet and greets. Sleeping Beauty takes place around Aurora's birthday. Cinderella would have transformed from her rags to her gown before the ball. The first page of the Fantasyland Project Tracker seems to have a pretty good run down of the changes including the art that was released.

[toonaspie]

I think what actually killed the Princess Meet n Greets was The Princess and the Frog's modest box office return. As it did not create the massive Disney 2D renaissance they hoped for, the suits panicked and decided to cut down on the princess stuff and anything appealing to the girl demographic, even announcing that they wouldn't be doing anymore fairy tales after Tangled (considering that "The Snow Queen" is coming out around 2013, that "anymore" wasn't very long). It is just idiocy to call half a dozen meet n greets, a restaurant, and only one new ride an actual expansion.

[disneylandfan95]

I think what actually killed the Princess Meet n Greets was The Princess and the Frog's modest box office return.

Not really. What killed all the meet-and-greets was the new Parks and Resorts Chairman, Tom Staggs. Staggs, in contrast to Rasulo, actually really cares about the parks and wants to deliver a quality product. Along with the fact that he has 2 boys, the princess meet-and-greets were cut.

[DragoHarley]

What does having two boys have to do with cutting the Meet and Greets? There's tons of stuff for boys in the parks...Advetureland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland are 100% designed for boys. Fantasyland is really the only place that's appealing for girls. Why not have the meet & greets?

It really can't be all that expensive to find attractive college school actresses who'd love to get paid to wear pretty costumes and pretend to be princesses all day to entertain little girls.

[lazyboy97O]

Staggs did make comments about Fantasy Forest being young girl centric. Remember, there was no Storybook Circus in this plan, most of that area was set to become Pixie Hollow.

That makes for a nice story that makes Staggs look personable, but I do not think it is the big factor people make it out to be. Concerns over the hourly capacity of the expanded meet and greets was coming out before Staggs and Rasulo switched jobs.

[ttintagel]

That's one thing about the Magic Kingdom that doesn't sit well with me: there's an awful lot of strict gender division going on. I suspect it originates with parents rather than with the parks themselves, but sometimes it feels like the park is playing into it. On my last visit, I was really bummed at the number of families I saw splitting up, with Mom taking the girls to "do princesses" and Dad taking the boys to "do pirates."

I just don't remember de facto segregation like that when I was a kid - at least not at such early ages. My male classmates enjoyed movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as much as we girls did while our ages were in the single digits, and we girls liked The Jungle Book as much as our brothers did. And when we were at the parks, the family stayed together until the kids were old enough to go off by themselves.

I don't think Walt would have bought into the aggressive gender-specific marketing. When he took his daughters to ride the carousel at Griffith park, he imagined a park the whole family could enjoy together, not boys in one area and girls in another.

OK, I'm coming down off the soapbox now.

I want the coaster finished!

[DragoHarley]

That's one thing about the Magic Kingdom that doesn't sit well with me: there's an awful lot of strict gender division going on. I suspect it originates with parents rather than with the parks themselves, but sometimes it feels like the park is playing into it. On my last visit, I was really bummed at the number of families I saw splitting up, with Mom taking the girls to "do princesses" and Dad taking the boys to "do pirates."

I just don't remember de facto segregation like that when I was a kid - at least not at such early ages. My male classmates enjoyed movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as much as we girls did while our ages were in the single digits, and we girls liked The Jungle Book as much as our brothers did. And when we were at the parks, the family stayed together until the kids were old enough to go off by themselves.

I don't think Walt would have bought into the aggressive gender-specific marketing. When he took his daughters to ride the carousel at Griffith park, he imagined a park the whole family could enjoy together, not boys in one area and girls in another.

OK, I'm coming down off the soapbox now.

I want the coaster finished!

Here's something you probably haven't thought about too, but it's something I notice because I'm gay...but there are little boys who like the princess stuff more than pirates and there are little girls who like pirates more than princesses.

When I was last at WDW, I saw a few "Tomboy" girls who were very rough and tumble and wanted to do all the classic "boy" things...while I also spotted some little boys who were most excited about meeting the princesses (especially Tiana, who seems to be far too rare to get to meet).

My point is that if Disney is really focused on "this is for boys" and "this is for girls" there are some little boys and some little girls who gravitate towards the thing that Disney thinks won't appeal to them.

I still have never been on Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster but you better believe I stood in line for 35 minutes to meet Tiana and get a picture with her -- and I'm a grown man. I couldn't care less about pirates, but I am counting the days until I can eat in Beauty and the Beast's castle restaurant.

[ttintagel]

Here's something you probably haven't thought about too, but it's something I notice because I'm gay...but there are little boys who like the princess stuff more than pirates and there are little girls who like pirates more than princesses.

When I was last at WDW, I saw a few "Tomboy" girls who were very rough and tumble and wanted to do all the classic "boy" things...while I also spotted some little boys who were most excited about meeting the princesses (especially Tiana, who seems to be far too rare to get to meet).

My point is that if Disney is really focused on "this is for boys" and "this is for girls" there are some little boys and some little girls who gravitate towards the thing that Disney thinks won't appeal to them.

I still have never been on Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster but you better believe I stood in line for 35 minutes to meet Tiana and get a picture with her -- and I'm a grown man. I couldn't care less about pirates, but I am counting the days until I can eat in Beauty and the Beast's castle restaurant.

I was VERY pleased on my last visit to see a guy having a mock swordfight with his little daughter outside the Tortuga Tavern!