Big Thunder Mountain's worth.

STITCHGEFAN

STITCHGEFAN

Member
Original Poster
I mentioned this in the fantastic 'Unpopular Disney Opinions' thread and thought it was worth its own thread.

Since the arrival of the Dwarves Mine Train, how valuable is the BTM to the Magic Kingdom and Disney as a whole?

With two runaway mine trains now in one park, is there the demand and desire to ride BTM anymore?

I think the general consensus is that it is the least popular mountain of the three and, in my opinion, the worst overall ride. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a decent ride that kids enjoy, but compared to other mine trains it lacks excitement and speed that is admittedly replaced by a charming theme and design that fits the ride perfectly.

However, whilst the Dwarves Mine Train apparently lacks the thrills some hoped for, it is likely to be preferred by the kids given it's movie tie-in. As a result, what does BTM offer differently to anything else? Not a lot, and given the large area it takes up, IMO the space could be used better.

Of course there is the sentimental value that it possesses, but with the 50 year anniversary nearing and *he says in blind optimism* a huge update due in Magic Kingdom by 2021, might it be time to say farewell to BTM and give Frontierland a new, breathtaking ride?
 
O

odmichael

Well-Known Member
Tough to say. I haven't rode the mine train yet. But BTMR has a lot of nostalgia. Therefore, I believe there is no immediate need to get ride of it. While I agree removing it would open up space, it would cost a lot of money just to get rid of such a large ride. Looking at the map, there is a lot of open space behind Haunted Mansion which I would rather see them build upon.
 
xdan0920

xdan0920

Think for yourselfer
STITCHGEFAN said:
I mentioned this in the fantastic 'Unpopular Disney Opinions' thread and thought it was worth its own thread.

Since the arrival of the Dwarves Mine Train, how valuable is the BTM to the Magic Kingdom and Disney as a whole?

With two runaway mine trains now in one park, is there the demand and desire to ride BTM anymore?

I think the general consensus is that it is the least popular mountain of the three and, in my opinion, the worst overall ride. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a decent ride that kids enjoy, but compared to other mine trains it lacks excitement and speed that is admittedly replaced by a charming theme and design that fits the ride perfectly.

However, whilst the Dwarves Mine Train apparently lacks the thrills some hoped for, it is likely to be preferred by the kids given it's movie tie-in. As a result, what does BTM offer differently to anything else? Not a lot, and given the large area it takes up, IMO the space could be used better.

Of course there is the sentimental value that it possesses, but with the 50 year anniversary nearing and *he says in blind optimism* a huge update due in Magic Kingdom by 2021, might it be time to say farewell to BTM and give Frontierland a new, breathtaking ride?
Click to expand...

What in tarnation are you talkin about? That's the wildest ride in the wilderness you are bad mouthing.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
STITCHGEFAN said:
With two runaway mine trains now in one park,
Click to expand...
On a more serious note. See, this is why somebody should've veto'ed the Dwarf Train. There really are now two runaway mine train rides in the same park. Which is useless, adds nothing to thematic diversity of the lands or the variety of the experiences.

Sadly I wouldn't bet against Thunder disappearing eventually for the Dwarf toddler version of itself. It is in line with the rest of the MK's slow, painful transformation from an adult to a toddler park.
 
Nextinline

Nextinline

Well-Known Member
I don't think there is TOO much of a comparison. The setting (theme, style, place, time, characters, etc) for each is totally different.

This might be a dumb analogy, but if Disney decided that on Space Mountain we were riding rocket mine cars transporting space rocks through space, would we all of a sudden need to get rid of BTMR due to redundancy?
 
R W B

R W B

Well-Known Member
Yea, I don't see BTMR going any where. It's still considered an E ticket attraction where as the Dwarfs train is not. Also, it's a cult classic, it will always have riders.
 
BrianV

BrianV

Well-Known Member
Haven't yet ridden dwarf ride, but of the three mountains (space, thunder and splash), thunder is my favorite. I confess to being a bit scared of space mountain and haven't gotten the nerve to ride in many years (think 1990ish) but big thunder has just the right amount of thrill (I'm a low thrill person) and scenery.
 
SAV

SAV

Well-Known Member
All I know is BTMRR is our family's favorite of the 3 Mountains and is #1 for us to do in MK...often multiple rides, especially at night.

7DMT was very underwhelming and too short. I rode it one day at MK and since we switched our days around at the last minute, I didn't get to ride it on our second MK day. We weren't upset about it at all.

As to your question of what does it offer? I get off of BTMRR and always say "When you think you are done, here comes another drop". When I got of off 7DMT I said "That's it? Glad I didn't wait standby for it".
 
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
For me, the worth of BTMRR, and its uniqueness among all other attractions (including the short kiddie coaster 7DMT -- sorry, they may both feature a mine theme, but otherwise there is no comparison to be made), is immense. We can only go to WDW once every 2-3 years: if either BTMRR [or HM, or POTC, for that matter] had a pre-scheduled refurbishment announced before my trip, I would consider canceling my entire Disney vacation and rebooking for a time when the attraction was "up." I can't say that about any other attractions besides those 3.
 
Aurora1

Aurora1

Well-Known Member
For me, BTMRR is one of my favorites in the park and a tie for my favorite mountain (with Splash). On our trip a few weeks ago we rode the 7 Dwarves Mine train 2 times, enjoyed it, but it was nowhere near as fun and our favorite as BTMRR, which we ended up riding a grand total of 15 times in 2 days (6 times without getting off right at park opening, a few times at night each day). BTMRR is a classic for us and even though there are now 2 mine trains, it still is worth having in the park for us!
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
I see Big Thunder as a mountain with the Mine Train as more of a molehill (an admittedly fun and pretty well themed coaster for the younger ones, but criminally short and with far too many severe budget slashes when considering what we could and should have gotten). The one single advantage the Mine Train has is the very brief but well done dark ride sequence with the nice Dwarf animatronics. Other than that, BTM blows it away in every other way.

And while i'm critical of Mine Train, for the record I think it's a good (albeit flawed) ride. It was something I was looking forward to since New Fantasyland's announcement (after they canned the Cinderella chateau). It mostly met my expectations of nice D ticket, though under-delivered in a variety of other ways (particularly the value engineered parts cut out from its initial form).
 
BufordTJustice

BufordTJustice

Member
BTMR has a 40" height minimum and SDMT has a 38" height minimum so there must a difference when it comes to speed, drops, etc.. I can't attest to this difference because I have never been on SDMT.
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
To be honest I never had the thought that the 7 dwarfs would replace Big Thunder. Even though they are coasters they are two completely different rides and stories. I like them both but Big Thunder is the best!
 
Lucky

Lucky

Well-Known Member
STITCHGEFAN said:
With two runaway mine trains now in one park, is there the demand and desire to ride BTM anymore?
Click to expand...

Is this a trick question?

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