lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
It demonstrates that the powers that be in Disney are still not convinced of the value of building attractions.
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7DMT: E Ticket??
- Thread starter Magic Feather
- Start date
kap91
Well-Known Member
If you want to go that route...no, only not convinced in the value of spending huge extra sums of money to build something 6 months quicker....and historically very few attractions have been built in less than 3 years. And considering the amount of effort being put into, amount being spent, and sheer number of attractions being built by Disney at one time (worldwide) I think they very much understand the value of attractions. They're just not building 5 at a time in Florida like the park down the road because A) they don't need to, B) their resources are spread further, and C) have other priorities (infrastructure).
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
My assessment is not based on the tired Universal Orlando Resort vs Walt Disney World arguments or by looking at just Walt Disney World. It is the primary trend at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts since 1992.
yeah its pretty amazing to think that DA actually started being built about 3 months after 7DMT but is pretty much opening at the same time
this is a good ride but the time to build was/is crazy
Six. And a bit.
DVCOwner
A Long Time DVC Member
I watch test being done on this coaster two weeks ago. I was amazed at how smooth the ride was and how little noise it made. I think we can write off some of the time it took to build in the development of the new ride system and the new cars that where designed for this ride. Also, reminder that this ride was a late add to the expansion of the Magic Kingdom and a lot of development may not have been done before the announcement was made.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
The Mine Train was planned long before FLE was announced, it was part of an original plan well before even Tremaine Chateau and Pixie Hollow (later changed back).
danlb_2000
Premium Member
The question is, how far along was that development?
Tonka's Skipper
Well-Known Member
Everyone is entitled to a opinion and the more I look at the videos, the more a see an E ticket attraction.
However when you take into account the blending of a family attraction, a Disney classic treasure loved b millions around the world, perfect theming, the new innovative technos and AA's, it easy the see how this will soon be another Disney Classic.
I will agree the imaginers did start out with D ticket, however they ended up with a out of the park home run, E ticket.
However when you take into account the blending of a family attraction, a Disney classic treasure loved b millions around the world, perfect theming, the new innovative technos and AA's, it easy the see how this will soon be another Disney Classic.
I will agree the imaginers did start out with D ticket, however they ended up with a out of the park home run, E ticket.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
The theming is FAR from perfect IMHO. The inside is very well done and showcases some good AA figures for sure, but the outside is surprisingly lacking in some aspects and doesn't convey being in a forest as well as I thought it would. It's not even close to their best theming on the outside (Splash Mountain and the entirety of Disneysea are just two examples that both blow it away in regard to theming), and the Mine Train underwent a lot of disappointing thematic cuts from its original form shown in the art. Besides the log bridge and outdoor figures of the dwarfs marching home from work being cut, they passed up a great opportunity to add a lot of glittering gems on the outside (again as seen in the art) to give it more of a beautiful presence at night.
The night time lighting package as a whole is rather lacking compared to Disney's other facade lighting, one hopes they're planning on improvements in that regard before full opening (not expecting it though). Not to even mention the DRASTIC reduction in track length and complexity from the original plan. How popular and well loved an IP is has nothing to do with a ride's status on the ticketing scale (Little Mermaid is a classic just as well loved if not more so than Snow White and you don't see people using that as an excuse to elevate the ride's status on the ticketing scale). It invokes nostalgia, but it really doesn't make the ride any better than it truly is. You can make an amazing E ticket without basing it on any pre-existing IP (which pretty much describes all E tickets in existence prior to Splash Mountain).
This ride is a nice D ticket. It doesn't hold a candle to Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Splash Mountain or even Big Thunder though. They did manage to actually hit the ball this round and make it to first base (unlike other strike outs like Mermaid), but it's no home run compared to the other E tickets. I like it, but i'm not going to elevate it to a status it doesn't achieve or deserve.
The night time lighting package as a whole is rather lacking compared to Disney's other facade lighting, one hopes they're planning on improvements in that regard before full opening (not expecting it though). Not to even mention the DRASTIC reduction in track length and complexity from the original plan. How popular and well loved an IP is has nothing to do with a ride's status on the ticketing scale (Little Mermaid is a classic just as well loved if not more so than Snow White and you don't see people using that as an excuse to elevate the ride's status on the ticketing scale). It invokes nostalgia, but it really doesn't make the ride any better than it truly is. You can make an amazing E ticket without basing it on any pre-existing IP (which pretty much describes all E tickets in existence prior to Splash Mountain).
This ride is a nice D ticket. It doesn't hold a candle to Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Splash Mountain or even Big Thunder though. They did manage to actually hit the ball this round and make it to first base (unlike other strike outs like Mermaid), but it's no home run compared to the other E tickets. I like it, but i'm not going to elevate it to a status it doesn't achieve or deserve.
Sped2424
Well-Known Member
How cool would it have been if the mine train weaved in and out of other sections of new fantasyland? For exampled if it went underneath the bridge by the be our guest restaurant and passed by maurice's cottage on the way back to the mine area. Would have lengthened the ride and really connected the whole enchanted forest idea.
Tonka's Skipper
Well-Known Member
Now that is a interesting idea!, If this attraction is lacking in anything, it is on the short side.
AKK
doctornick
Well-Known Member
I actually don't like the idea of the gems outside as that doesn't make much sense. Sure, it might have looked pretty, but there are better ways to have the external lighting be improved.
I do think some more scenary on the outdoor portions of the ride would have been good. I think having the drawfs marching to (first half of the ride) or from (second half) the mine would be a nice touch -- Lee said that they built some less impressive AAs that were later returned and replaced by the new projection ones of the dwarfs. Is it possible that Disney could use and maybe slightly modify those figures to be placed along the track somewhere? Honestly, even static figures would be fine given the speed of the ride vehicle, just for ambiance.
I also liked the idea that others have mentioned about putting some animals along the ride route to make it more of a "forest".
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
I don't see how it wouldn't make sense. I can think of several logical reasons for it based on both the logic in the movie as well as the circumstances of the ride itself. It's a diamond mine, and a lot of the outside has been dug up by the dwarfs to build mine cart track and shafts. Makes sense that there would be some visible gems scattered around sticking out of the rockwork (either that or some of the gems having fallen out of the cars as they traveled along the track). On top of that, there's even a scene in the movie where they just throw some of the flawed gems away. During the Digging song Doc is seen gauging the quality of the gems by hitting them with a small mallet and listening to the sound they make. He actually throws away the ones that make an unpleasant sound (the gems don't have any outward signs of flaws so they'd still look good to the naked eye). Dopey sweeps the scraps Doc tossed aside into a dustpan and just flings them off the cliff outside as if they were worthless trash. Even within the movie's own logic it makes perfect sense that the mountain would be littered with scattered gems and shards that the dwarfs just threw away.
If you really want to get picky and question such technicalities, ask yourself how it makes any sense (and this goes for both the movie and the ride) that the gems all look like they've been cut by a professional jeweler and ready for use right out of the mountain? They're all either freshly dug out of the ground or still protruding from the rock and wouldn't look like they do in real life. No real gem in existence look like them when they first come out of the ground.
I wonder what became of those figures myself. I guess it's possible they used some of the same coverings for the new figures (not the underlying animatronic but rather the external parts), but it would be interesting to know if anything remains of them. Their designs weren't really made for the Heigh Ho scene though, they were designed to look like they were working in the mine so reusing them in an outside scene where the dwarfs march home may not be such a good idea if they still exist.
Real animatronics like the witch would have been welcome, though simpler moving figures would be fine as long as they have some basic motion and can be placed on a moving platform to appear to be marching. The fallen tree bridge seen in the art and movie would be perfect for hiding the underlying machinery that moves them. They could also have created a little alcove within the rockwork for them so the figures aren't as exposed to the elements. Simpler figures wouldn't even be as affected by rain and wind anyways so they could potentially include a small waterfall in front of the alcove (which is seen in the movie at the end of the Heigh Ho song) which would help further disguise the simple movement and add another bit of beauty to the scene.
Anyway, a missed opportunity. Plus thanks to the drastically reduced track layout there's probably not much room for such a scene anymore. I could see some animal figures scattered about at least. The lack of many animals is something the ride is lacking, there were TONS of woodland critters onscreen almost constantly in the movie and even a good deal more in the original Snow White ride. I'll have to wait and see how well the plant life grows up over the next couple of years, it may improve the forest feel a bit. Though a lot of the trees look too fake and I doubt time will help them any (the fake ones they planted that is).
flynnibus
Premium Member
The concept was... not the design they ultimately fit into the NFL project.
Thunderstruck
Member
I'm confused. Ya'll have taken it for a ride?
Bless your heart, Tonka, but if this is an "out of the park home run", how would you label an attraction such as Splash, which has waaaay more theming, more thrills, story, AA's, views, sight gags, etc.? Not to mention it took less time to build and is based of a far less popular IP. It shows the difference between quality through and through (SplashM), and quality in doses (7DMT), and by doses, you get one great scene (the mine) and a decent scene at the end (cottage), what else is there? The bare forest that is "enchanted" in name only? Im not picking the ride apart, I cant wait to experience it, but I think people are desperate to prove that FLE is better than it is.
Its a nice addition to MK, but for the time and money sunk into FLE and the lack of anything truly awe-inspiring, its nothing that will actually be a driving force to keep guests coming back. For most families, their first stop at MK is going to be the real "out of the park home run" attractions like HM, POTC, SM, Pan, etc. Those are the attractions created by a higher caliber of Imagineers who obviously knew more about every aspect of creating magic than the current regime does.