It's been called the "crowning jewel" of New Fantasyland, a five mine car-long vehicle that just wastes no time when it comes to getting you right to the thrills. Just seconds after you pull out of the station, you're suddenly plunging down a steep hill and then twisting around a sharp turn as your oar car swings out crazily to one side.
But as this first-of-its-kind ride vehicles hugs the terrain as it whizzes along through the wooded landscape heading for the Seven Dwarfs Mine, you have to ask yourself: However did Disney's Imagineers dream up this family thrill ride? Well, it involves the back of a pick-up truck and some plywood.
To explain: It was January of 2010 and Tom Staggs -- the then-newly installed Chairman of Walt Disney Park and Resorts -- was meeting with the Imagineers about the New Fantasyland project. Work on this $400 million expansion of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom would officially be getting underway the following month. And Staggs just wanted to make sure that WDI had all of its ducks in a row before they then began draining the "20,000 Leagues" lagoon in preparation for its removal.
"This all looks great, guys," Staggs enthused as he looked all of the models & concept art that Imagineering had prepped for this long-in-the-works expansion / enhancement of the most popular land at WDW's most popular theme park. "But before we lock this all in, is there anything else that you wish could have been included as part of New Fantasyland?"
And right after Tom said this, there was this weird hesitancy in the room at 1401 Flower Street, because there was in fact something that the Imagineers had actually once hoped to include as part of WDW's New Fantasyland. And that was the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride.
Truth be told, this family coaster (or family thrill ride. Disney still hasn't quite decided what it wants to call 7DMT -- which won't officially open to the public 'til May 28th) actually predated the whole New Fantasyland project by a number of years.
"We were actually revisiting the idea of Snow White, looking for new ways to bring this classic Disney character into the parks," Chris Beatty recalled during a recent interview. "So we repeatedly re-watched that 1937 film and then finally fixated on that scene in this animated feature where one of the Dwarfs empties an oar car. The swaying motion of that oar car made us think that it might be fun to travel through the Seven Dwarfs Mine while riding in a car which swayed back & forth like that."
So the next thing you know, the Imagineers had mocked up a crude prototype ride vehicle out of plywood, which they then threw in the back of someone's pick-up truck and -- after lashing this pretty unsafe looking oar car into place -- climbed inside. And as that pick-up truck began zooming around that WDI parking lot, making sudden turns here & there, the Imagineer seated inside of that plywood oar car got a pretty wild ride.
So after a few more Imagineers climbed into the back of that pick-up truck and then went for a ride around WDI's parking area aboard this plywood prototype, everyone agreed there was something genuinely entertaining to this idea. More to the point, a thrill ride that took Guests through the Seven Dwarfs Mine would be an interesting departure from Imagineering's previous take on this same motion picture, "Snow White's Scary Adventures," which was this more traditional dark ride that dated all the way back to opening of Disneyland Park in July of 1955.
But when the Imagineers initially began dummying out a Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride, they originally saw this attraction as more of a stand-alone. Not part of a massive reimagining/enhancement of the Fantasyland portion of WDW's Magic Kingdom.
But as soon as Tom Staggs saw the models & the plans for this family coaster/thrill ride, he just knew that it had to be part of New Fantasyland, if only because of the kinetic energy that the mine train would bring to that corner of this theme park.
And soon as Tom said 'Yes,' the Imagineers immediately began revising their plans for New Fantasyland, scrapping the massive Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty meet-n-greet structure that occupied this spot on the original site plan. And I won't lie to you folks. It was a huge challenge to find a way to cram 2000 linear feet of ride track (not to mention two drops, one 31 feet in height & another that's 41 feet-tall) into this relatively tiny corner of the Magic Kingdom. But the Imagineers did eventually find a way to do this without compromising show quality.
And you know what's really impressive about Seven Dwarfs Mine Train? Given that this attraction was supposed to be " ... a rollicking, musical ride through the mine 'where a million diamonds shine' " ... Well, in order to actually be able to hear those memorable songs from "Snow White," the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had to be extremely quiet. So when you finally get the chance to experience this new Magic Kingdom attraction, please note that -- as you climb this thrill ride's two load hills -- you don't then hear that traditional coaster clack-clack-clack.
Mind you, if you want to experience the same sort of wild ride that the Imagineers experienced way back when they were rolling around the WDI parking lot in the back of a pick-up truck, you might want to bring a few hefty friends & family members along when you finally go to experience Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. You see, the more weight that you have inside of your individual oar car, the more that it will sway as your mine train twists & turns its way through this ground-hugging track layout.
And as for this attraction's centerpiece (i.e., That elaborate recreation of the interior of the Seven Dwarfs Mine as it was first seen in the 1937 film. Not to mention that magical moment when the Dwarfs all burst into "Heigh Ho" as their work day ends and they all begin marching back to their cottage in the woods) ... Given that a lot of the lighting effects & projections in this portion of that family thrill ride look their best at lower light levels, you might then want to consider holding off on riding Seven Dwarfs Mine Train until just before dusk. That way, you can not only see the silhouettes of the Dwarfs as they climb up this coaster's second load hill, but you will also then have a better chance of actually being able to see inside the Seven Dwarfs Cottage when your mine train briefly stops at this scene before then pulling into this New Fantasyland attraction's off-load area.
And given that the very last scene for this family coaster features an amazingly life-like Snow White, Dopey & Sneezy dancing together (not to mention the Evil Queen in her Old Crone disguise looking on from outside the cottage as she clutches a basket of apples) ... I'd honestly have to say that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train easily dwarfs the Snow White dark ride that came before it.
Which is why I'm just so glad that -- back in January of 2010 -- Tom Staggs asked the Imagineers if they had anything else that they wanted to show him.
Orlando, FL – 05/05/14
By: Jim Hill | 
