Seven Dwarfs mine train won't be open until 2014

[jl3283]

Just told by a one of my buds who works underground magic kingdom, that the way their labor is going with the workers, it won't be finished until 2014. The whole Fantasyland opening has already been extended because of labor issues. This sucks, but I guess you can't overwork the builders. They're only human. It will be interesting to see the rollercoaster when finished.

 

[menamechris]

Yeah, Disney already announced that it wouldn't be open till 2014. 2014 will actually be "on schedule" at this point.

 

[acishere]

Does anyone know when in 2014 it is projected to open? Like before the summer or later in the year?

 

[luv]

Either they're playing some kind of joke on us where they say it won't open and then they surprise us with it...or they pretty much suck at this expansion business.

I do want them to get it right this time and not have another Yetish fiasco, but this Mine Train thing is almost funny.

 

[spacemt354]

I'm actually at a loss as to why this isn't going to be open by at least next summer in 2013.

Opening in 2014 means that you will have missed 2 holiday seasons (this year and next) It doesn't make sense to me. The sturcture is up, how long does this coaster take to build??

Now I will hold out hope that it is taking this long for a good reason, so that everything will look perfect. if that is what they are doing I don't mind the wait. But other than that, I have no clue what is taking so long.

 

[Lee]

This isn't a delay.
The original target date for opening the ride was second quarter of fiscal 2014 (Jan-March).

 

[Patricia Melton]

I've heard a lot of weird theories as to why the Mine Coaster isn't opening until 2014. The strangest one is that "it wasn't part of the original FLE plan and so because it was designed later it's taking longer to build". That makes no sense to me because it's being built right now...and it's not like engineers are rushing to finish designing the inside as the outside is being built. It's my understanding that this ride was in development for many years and was being planned for Shanghai's part and then the opportunity arose to just use the same plans and put it in WDW too. So there was no design delay of any kind...it's just that it was put into the FLE when other things were taken out but when the ground was broken for FLE the Mine Coaster was indeed part of the plans at that point.

I personally think the delay in opening this is just to keep something as a last-hurrah, cherry on the sundae, for when the FLE is completed. This also means that people going to WDW in 2013 would have to come back again in 2014 to ride the Mine Coaster. I think Disney purposefully staggers the opening of big attractions like this to give people a reason to come back again a year later, having just missed the opening of the attraction in 2013.
I really bet the Mine Coaster will open in the summer of 2014, just in time for the busy period. And then I think in 2015 we'll see some new things open in Tomorrowland and Frontierland if the rumors are true. After that, looking into the future, DHS and DAK will get some love and exciting new things too, so every year the parks can boast a new addition.

I bet the Mine Coaster could be ready before 2014 but TDO doesn't want it to be.

 

[WDW1974]

That is just tragic. A good thing other parks will have all sorts of things to experience while we wait for a glorified kiddie coaster to debut that will no doubt have absurd lines made worse by FP+.

 

[luv]

Maybe they are purposely staggering all this. Maybe they don't want the kind of Grand Opening crowds Harry Potter had (or maybe they're afraid they wouldn't get them and would compare poorly?) Maybe they think people won't put off visits if there is something - anything - new to come and see.

I don't know.

I think it would be better to have it all up and running. The way they're opening it on stages just kind of detracts from the fun, as do the continued construction walls and cranes and stuff.

They know more about running theme parks than i do, I'm sure, but one big Opening Day would have been more fun, IMO.

 

[Patricia Melton]

Maybe they are purposely staggering all this. Maybe they don't want the kind of Grand Opening crowds Harry Potter had (or maybe they're afraid they wouldn't get them and would compare poorly?) Maybe they think people won't put off visits if there is something - anything - new to come and see.

I don't know.

I think it would be better to have it all up and running. The way they're opening it on stages just kind of detracts from the fun, as do the continued construction walls and cranes and stuff.

They know more about running theme parks than i do, I'm sure, but one big Opening Day would have been more fun, IMO.

I can tell you that my gut feeling is that you are correct in terms of no "Grand Opening" -- they are very deliberately not having one giant ribbon cutting opening of everything so that this cannot compare to Harry Potter's opening.

I actually don't think FLE was supposed to compete with Potterland though. I think FLE was just something that needed to happen. Maybe Potterland finally made TDO do it, but the response to Potterland was the buying of the rights to Avatar. That was totally a knee jerk reaction on Disney's part so that Universal could not beat them to another franchise like they did with Potter.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Oh well. It'll still beat the original idea of Princess meet-and-greets.

 

[TestTrack Dummy]

i rather let them take their time instead of rushing. Dont get me wrong i would love for it to open sooner, I just dont mind the wait as long as it means a greater product.

 

[jaredliu]

That is just tragic. A good thing other parks will have all sorts of things to experience while we wait for a glorified kiddie coaster to debut that will no doubt have absurd lines made worse by FP+.

Most people here wouldn't know that. By 2014, Ratatouille Ride and land will be coming to Paris, Mystic Point and land coming to HK, Antarctica Empire of the Penguin Ride/ Transformers coming to Orlando. They seems all bigger attractions than a gloified Branstormer but who cares. All the good toys are so spreaded out it is just impossible to have a taste of them all.

 

[WDW1974]

Most people here wouldn't know that. By 2014, Ratatouille Ride and land will be coming to Paris, Mystic Point and land coming to HK, Antarctica Empire of the Penguin Ride/ Transformers coming to Orlando. They seems all bigger attractions than a gloified Branstormer but who cares. All the good toys are so spreaded out it is just impossible to have a taste of them all.

That's sorta why I save my pennies these days and can say that since early 2010 I have visited every Disney resort on the planet and taken two transatlantic cruises (one with DCL) and been to UNI/IOA numerous times and spent three weeks in France and Germany and almost a week in the UK and spent 12 days in Las Vegas and spent weeks in SoCal that didn't involve DL (although I've had five 'trips' there in that time span with a sixth coming in September) and spent 10 days in North Carolina and Virginia (including my first ever visits to BGW) ... and all the while with just a 3 1/2 hour drive seperating me from WDW and with admission paid for, I have spent exactly four days there this year.

My point isn't simply that I get around and some of you can too. It's that WDW is largely a bore these days and a pricey one at that. Much better to go elsewhere.

 

[jaredliu]

That's sorta why I save my pennies these days and can say that since early 2010 I have visited every Disney resort on the planet and taken two transatlantic cruises (one with DCL) and been to UNI/IOA numerous times and spent three weeks in France and Germany and almost a week in the UK and spent 12 days in Las Vegas and spent weeks in SoCal that didn't involve DL (although I've had five 'trips' there in that time span with a sixth coming in September) and spent 10 days in North Carolina and Virginia (including my first ever visits to BGW) ... and all the while with just a 3 1/2 hour drive seperating me from WDW and with admission paid for, I have spent exactly four days there this year.

My point isn't simply that I get around and some of you can too. It's that WDW is largely a bore these days and a pricey one at that. Much better to go elsewhere.

Wow, what a exciting life here! My point is the same with you. I kept saying the same thing happen to the world of theme parks is beyond WDW fanboys could imagine. Right now they are very satisified with FLE it seems.

Although I cannot make a trip to taste all the good toys, I am glad I lived in Asia now. At least I can reach TDS, HKDL, Uni Singapore and maybe the future shanghai DL. I have a feeling that Asia is doing a lot of catching up these days with TDS already being the Mecca of theme park study. So I am good now, maybe saving some money for a trip of France.

 

[jlevis]

A guy I met last week told me that he talked to a guy who was told by a former CM at DL that the mine ride will open Augus 3rd, 2017. The hold up is they can't decide if the ride should go clockwise or counterclockwise.

 

[Californian Elitist]

A guy I met last week told me that he talked to a guy who was told by a former CM at DL that the mine ride will open Augus 3rd, 2017. The hold up is they can't decide if the ride should go clockwise or counterclockwise.

Proof that no one should really take what CMs say about upcoming/future attractions seriously.

 

[danlb_2000]

I've heard a lot of weird theories as to why the Mine Coaster isn't opening until 2014. The strangest one is that "it wasn't part of the original FLE plan and so because it was designed later it's taking longer to build".

I think you mis-interpret this "theroy". People were ciritical of the 2014 opening date because the Fantasyland expansion started construction in early 2010, so they say it's ridiculous that the mine ride would take 4 years to build. But, since the mine ride was not part of the original plan it didn't start construction until late 2011.

The length of the construction for the mine ride isn't really out of line for other Disney attractions, it's even in line with how long the rest of the expansion took to build. They were doing the rock work on the BatB area for over a year. Seeing as they are still working on the framework for the mine ride right now, it's not unreasonable to think that the cosmetic park of the exterior will take another year or more to complete. Just look at the concept art, the exterior is fairly detailed.

Now, could something like this be built faster if they wanted to? Well that's a whole nother debate.

 

[Lord Pheonix]

the devil is in the details...

in the case of disney rides, this is exceptionally true. building anything is easy. i can build a garage, roof and all, with 2 people, in a weekend, but will take another week to trim, paint, electrical, etc, etc. with the level of detail disney puts into rides, im suprised that its gonna be open in 2014, instead of 2020, lol.

 

[MansionGoer13z]

I say send in the droids to complete this project ASAP-- Oh, wait, we aren't in that, "Long Ago in a Galaxy far, far away." But what's another 2 more years of TDO dragging their feet again? Its not like they are even interested in competition with Universal or anything anymore.