Seven Dwarves Mine Train construction start date.

[Charle]

7dmt

I think the main reason is there is a domino effect. Now that Toon Town is closed they are working that area - building the new dumbos. I'm guessing after the dumbos are finished and opened, then they'll wall off and remove the current dumbo and then begin the 7dmt. Otherwise we'd have even less fantasyland to enjoy.....you've got to remember that tons of guests are still having their first visits to the MK every day. Dumbo is a signature ride that goes back to Walt. I don't think they want to keep people from experiencing that ride.

It's one thing to show up on your first visit and find out that you have to meet Mickey in the front of the park instead of at Toon Town, but to show up and find a ride that has been in tons of advertisements totally shut down - that's very disappointing.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Right now, FLE construction is walled off outside the pedestrian areas, so crews can bring in bulldozers or trucks or whatever as needed. What happens when Beast and LM are open? Will there be a circled off area of scrims and walls right in the middle of FLE, surrounded by pedestrian walkways? How would they get equipment in and out -- only after hours? Or, will there be some sort of walled-off corridor right between LM and Beast directly to the access road?

Utilidores. :lookaroun

 

[BigThunderMatt]

I'd rather have a land on the scale of HP(with an amazing e tickect)than a diner and a nice d ticket with a kiddie coaster. And it's going to take Disney longer to finish the FLE than HP!! Plus im not even a big HP fan. Run and tell that home boy!

Harry Potter was announced in May of 2007 and didn't open officially until June of 2010.

FLE was announced in August(ish) of 2009 and is slated to be mostly open by the beginning of 2013.

I'm one of the biggest HP nuts you will find and I will swear up and down that I'm glad Disney didn't get HP just so they could screw it up and dumb it down, but even I'll admit that FLE is a much larger and more ambitious project than Harry Potter. HP utilized a lot of existing structures, developed land, and attractions with Forbidden Journey being one of the few things made from scratch. FLE, on the other hand, IS building pretty much everything from scratch and therefore would require a larger time investment.

 

[gamedude]

Harry Potter was announced in May of 2007 and didn't open officially until June of 2010.

FLE was announced in August(ish) of 2009 and is slated to be mostly open by the beginning of 2013.

I'm one of the biggest HP nuts you will find and I will swear up and down that I'm glad Disney didn't get HP just so they could screw it up and dumb it down, but even I'll admit that FLE is a much larger and more ambitious project than Harry Potter. HP utilized a lot of existing structures, developed land, and attractions with Forbidden Journey being one of the few things made from scratch. FLE, on the other hand, IS building pretty much everything from scratch and therefore would require a larger time investment.

Well said sir. I am heading to Disney next week, and people are asking me if I plan on seeing HP, I have absolutely no intention upon seeing it. I have lunch/dinner/gold reservations And I will keep it that way.

 

[Lee]

Well said sir. I am heading to Disney next week, and people are asking me if I plan on seeing HP, I have absolutely no intention upon seeing it.

Mistake.
Every theme park fan should go to IOA and check out Potter. Gives you a chance to see how Disney isn't setting the bar at the moment.

Yes FLE is larger, and mostly from scratch. But it's like comparing a brand new Honda to a restored Ferrari. FLE just can't compare, nor is it meant to.

 

[cbconglom]

i personally don't like the hp movies at all.. but you have to go see it.. amazing

 

[BoardwalkGlenn]

Well said sir. I am heading to Disney next week, and people are asking me if I plan on seeing HP, I have absolutely no intention upon seeing it. I have lunch/dinner/gold reservations And I will keep it that way.

Mistake.
Every theme park fan should go to IOA and check out Potter. Gives you a chance to see how Disney isn't setting the bar at the moment.

Yes FLE is larger, and mostly from scratch. But it's like comparing a brand new Honda to a restored Ferrari. FLE just can't compare, nor is it meant to.

I agree with Lee. It's definitely a Must-See. I visited family in Orlando in February and did a day trip to IoA (and still squeezed in lunch at the Poly and a monorail ride with my face pressed up against the window as it passed by the MK).

But this fall, it's all Disney-all the time. Other friends are going with me and I told them they should take a day to go to IoA, but I won't be ::animwink:

 

[raiden]

Harry Potter was announced in May of 2007 and didn't open officially until June of 2010.

FLE was announced in August(ish) of 2009 and is slated to be mostly open by the beginning of 2013.

I'm one of the biggest HP nuts you will find and I will swear up and down that I'm glad Disney didn't get HP just so they could screw it up and dumb it down, but even I'll admit that FLE is a much larger and more ambitious project than Harry Potter. HP utilized a lot of existing structures, developed land, and attractions with Forbidden Journey being one of the few things made from scratch. FLE, on the other hand, IS building pretty much everything from scratch and therefore would require a larger time investment.

That's somewhat true. But hogsmeade was from scratch and it is truly amazing. Forbidden journey and the que will still put to shame anything in FLE and circusland.

The point I was making is that this is TWDC. They should have this thing done in record time. We aren't getting an amazing $150+ million attraction. Hmm maybe that's why they are taking so long?
TDO isn't excited to spend any cash and replace the lost capacity?

IF 7dmt isn't even close to exciting as mystery mine at dollywood. What's the point?

 

[DocMcHulk]

I'll need to go back and check the plans, but I seem to recall an access road for construction running between Mermaid and the circus tents and connecting with the main site.
That would make it a dead-end going to Mermaid by way of BatB.

That would make sense. It sucks for traffic flow, but would allow the projected to continue while the other two are open.

 

[Condorman]

But it's like comparing a brand new Honda to a restored Ferrari. FLE just can't compare, nor is it meant to.

I don't understand, Lee.

Are you saying FLE is the Honda or the Ferrari? Don't tell me it's the Honda, because then you'll have lost all credibility in my eyes.

IoA took the shortcut by re-theming two attractions (which, BTW, were designed by former Imagineers, though I'm sure you knew that) and then totally underwhelmed Hogsmeade by making it way too small. Now, they'll have to bastardize the rest of The Lost Continent to expand for Phase II. They failed to size up the potential attendance/audience and now, like some third world virus, TWWoHP is going to gnaw its way through the rest of IoA by way of half-baked re-theming of preexisting attractions.

Sometimes I feel sorry for USO. They could honestly build a meet-n-greet for Jesus Christ -- and I mean the savior himself, resurrected for no other reason but photos and autographs -- and their total yearly numbers would still fall short of Stitch's Great Escape.

 

[BigThunderMatt]

I think my comments were a bit misconstrued. I don't think that FLE is meant to trump Harry Potter. There was a complaint further back that Potter opened so quickly compared to these drawn out phases for FLE.

I was merely pointing out that the length of time from announcement to fully open was a little shorter for Potter (although for Potter fans those three years felt like three decades), the scale of FLE is definitely a larger project overall in terms of what they're doing, the infrastructure they've had to move backstage, the phasing to avoid too many parts of the park being closed at once, etc.

The only attraction closure IOA suffered from during Potter's construction was the loss of Flying Unicorn. Dueling Dragons continued to operate almost uninterrupted the entirety of construction. MK is severely lacking in attraction numbers and still will be to some degree post FLE-opening. They can't afford to have too many things closed at once under the auspices of speeding up construction, which it wouldn't do anyway.

 

[Lee]

Are you saying FLE is the Honda or the Ferrari? Don't tell me it's the Honda, because then you'll have lost all credibility in my eyes.
FLE would be the Honda, of course. Nice, functional, but utterly lacking in WOW. And by WOW I mean a ground-breaking, revolutionary, lauded by everyone including legendary imagineers, E-Tic.
IoA took the shortcut by re-theming two attractions (which, BTW, were designed by former Imagineers, though I'm sure you knew that)
I don't see it as a shortcut. I see it as a clever, cost-conscious way to improve the park. Nothing wrong with that. They are a little short on size over there. And yes, I am fully aware of the lineage of Lost Continent.

and then totally underwhelmed Hogsmeade by making it way too small.
That comes direct from JKR and Warners. And it's not too small, in my opinion. It's realistic. Sure, you can't have a giant superstore like the west side of Main St., but it does a great job of maintaining the theme of the land.
Now, they'll have to bastardize the rest of The Lost Continent to expand for Phase II.
Like...say...what happened to Toontown Fair? It's meaningless and in no way detracts from anything.

They failed to size up the potential attendance/audience and now, like some third world virus, TWWoHP is going to gnaw its way through the rest of IoA by way of half-baked re-theming of preexisting attractions.
Actually, not really. Much of what is going to come next for WWoHP will be totally original.

Sometimes I feel sorry for USO. They could honestly build a meet-n-greet for Jesus Christ -- and I mean the savior himself, resurrected for no other reason but photos and autographs -- and their total yearly numbers would still fall short of Stitch's Great Escape.
*sigh*
Hyperbole. Such fun. Let me try...Disney "could honestly build a meet-n-greet for Jesus Christ -- and I mean the savior himself, resurrected for no other reason but photos and autographs --" and they would still not have built a bar-raising, revolutionary attraction or land in Orlando in nearly 20 years.

Response in bold.
None of which is to knock FLE. Its gonna be nice, for sure.

Dig your avatar by the way. Michael Crawford's second coolest role.:lol:

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Dig your avatar by the way. Michael Crawford's second coolest role.:lol:

Doesn't say much about his roles does it? :lol:

Though he wasn't bad in the film versions of Hello, Dolly! and ...Forum.

 

[Condorman]

Dig your avatar by the way. Michael Crawford's second coolest role.:lol:

Though he wasn't bad in the film versions of Hello, Dolly! and ...Forum.

C'mon, now... Condorman, Hello, Dolly!, Phantom of the Opera -- This guy has paid his dues.

Whether it was USO or WDW, I'm just glad somebody took HP and made it a physical destination to appreciate the stories long after the books and films are done.

 

[AEfx]

I don't understand, Lee.

Are you saying FLE is the Honda or the Ferrari? Don't tell me it's the Honda, because then you'll have lost all credibility in my eyes.

IoA took the shortcut by re-theming two attractions (which, BTW, were designed by former Imagineers, though I'm sure you knew that) and then totally underwhelmed Hogsmeade by making it way too small. Now, they'll have to bastardize the rest of The Lost Continent to expand for Phase II. They failed to size up the potential attendance/audience and now, like some third world virus, TWWoHP is going to gnaw its way through the rest of IoA by way of half-baked re-theming of preexisting attractions.

Um, yeah...you left out the part about building the most technically modern and immersive dark ride on Earth as the centerpiece. I'm not really a Potter fan (I've seen most of the films, I found the first book boring and never even finished it - whiny boy under the stairs didn't capture me), but you won't find a #1 list it isn't on.

And the fact that the last most technically modern and immersive dark ride on Earth is on the other side of the same park.

I love Disney, but they haven't build a new "WOW" ride in a couple of decades now.

 

[headhoncho34]

Um, yeah...you left out the part about building the most technically modern and immersive dark ride on Earth as the centerpiece. I'm not really a Potter fan (I've seen most of the films, I found the first book boring and never even finished it - whiny boy under the stairs didn't capture me), but you won't find a #1 list it isn't on.

And the fact that the last most technically modern and immersive dark ride on Earth is on the other side of the same park.

I love Disney, but they haven't build a new "WOW" ride in a couple of decades now.

The question is, does Disney have the technology to compete with Forbidden Journey? Universal bought the rights to the kuka arm on a track technology, which is the most advanced technology available at the moment. Im not sure Disney has the technology under their arsenal right now to build an attraction that could compete with Forbidden Journey.

 

[ChrisM]

Um, yeah...you left out the part about building the most technically modern and immersive dark ride on Earth as the centerpiece. I'm not really a Potter fan (I've seen most of the films, I found the first book boring and never even finished it - whiny boy under the stairs didn't capture me), but you won't find a #1 list it isn't on.

And the fact that the last most technically modern and immersive dark ride on Earth is on the other side of the same park.

I love Disney, but they haven't build a new "WOW" ride in a couple of decades now.

Does Mission: Space not qualify as a "wow" ride? The ride system was certainly innovative and the experience still unique as far as I'm aware.

 

[Scuttle]

The question is, does Disney have the technology to compete with Forbidden Journey? Universal bought the rights to the kuka arm on a track technology, which is the most advanced technology available at the moment. Im not sure Disney has the technology under their arsenal right now to build an attraction that could compete with Forbidden Journey.

Yes they do. Disney also just patented the magnetic levitation ride system. I am not sure how this will work or if it even will, but I see a lot of potential in this. This use of technology incorporated into a ride would definetly have that "wow" factor. Here's to hoping.

 

[Lee]

Does Mission: Space not qualify as a "wow" ride? The ride system was certainly innovative and the experience still unique as far as I'm aware.

M:S is close. It certainly provides a unique experience.
But, keep in mind, in many ways its just the preshow for what was meant to be a much larger, more immersive pavillion.

 

[IWant2GoNow]

Lee, I'm not sure if you can answer this or not but I'm not exactly sure what the process will be with building SDMT. Is it at all possible that they could finish constructing the exterior parts and then continuing working on the set pieces and track layout at nights? Or is this something that kinda needs to be built from the inside out?

The only reason I ask is that if they could construct the exterior first and have it spiffy for the openings of TLM & BOGR, then they at least wouldn't have to have the construction walls all the way around and could just have a themed sign stating the rides projected opening date or something. Just being curious. Thanks for any info.