Spirited Spring Break News, Observations & Thoughts ...

[jlsHouston]

The amount of swing is dependent upon the mass of the contents of the car. Such that if you are in a car with Honey Boo Boo' s mother, the car will swing wildly as opposed to riding in a car with Honey Boo Boo herself. Therefore, it would be very difficult to load cars based on combined mass so it is easier to restrict the ability of the cars to swing.

This is when I need @flynnibus to enter and explain so I can make sure I sit in the least swinging car.

 

[flynnibus]

This is when I need @flynnibus to enter and explain so I can make sure I sit in the least swinging car.

Force = Mass x Acceleration

The more weight you have in your car, the more force trying to push the car to swing, and presumably will result in more swinging action. Ancedeotal comments from riders so far support that as well. Want to minimize? ride with a small child

 

[jlsHouston]

Force = Mass x Acceleration

The more weight you have in your car, the more force trying to push the car to swing, and presumably will result in more swinging action. Ancedeotal comments from riders so far support that as well. Want to minimize? ride with a small child

Got it..so front cars, middle cars, the rear??? Location doesn't play a factor?

 

[flynnibus]

Got it..so front cars, middle cars, the rear??? Location doesn't play a factor?

Should be negligible on this coaster since it's more banked turns then hills or bunny hops. The swinging looks to just exaggerate the change in directions and not like being on the ocean the whole time I wouldn't think twice about it.

 

[DisneyDad1977]

Yeah, the ride is clearly "pathetic." Good call.

When I said pathetic I was really looking at what might have been. The original is easily double what the finished layout delivers.

 

[Lee]

Let's just agree that your use of the word "pathetic" was ludicrous at best.

Perhaps the word "sad" or "disappointing" would have been better choices.

 

[DisneyDad1977]

Let's just agree that your use of the word "pathetic" was ludicrous at best.

If you even understand what ludicrous means, then no it wasn't.

 

[DisneyDad1977]

Perhaps the word "sad" or "disappointing" would have been better choices.

When you cut a track in half and take the same amount of time to build it, then IMO all three apply.

 

[Bairstow]

When I said pathetic I was really looking at what might have been. The original is easily double what the finished layout delivers.

I'm not so sure.
The "original" layout that Lee and others are posting has several alleged indoor show scenes, but since this is a rollercoaster and must maintain a certain amount of momentum between the lift hills, you would have needed to move past them at a certain clip. This means that any details in the scenes wouldn't have been as important as you would probably just whip by them, Big Thunder style.
Instead, Disney went with one big, long show scene with a slow, metered pace, so you can enjoy the nuances of the figures and their animation. To my way of thinking, this makes Mine Train more of a dark ride/coaster hybrid like Mummy and less of a themed Runwaway mine car coaster like Big Thunder, ie. it makes it more unique and more interesting. Overall ride duration might actually be the same when you figure in the actual speed of the train in these parts.
Now, whether this was a conscious design decision based on how nice the final versions of the figures would become or simply a cutback due to cost overruns (or other design considerations like envelope clearance), I don't know, but if all the "original" track layout offered was some additional low-speed helices and blow-through cave portions, I'm not particularly sore for missing them.

 

[DisneyDad1977]

I'm not so sure.
The "original" layout that Lee and others are posting has several alleged indoor show scenes, but since this is a rollercoaster and must maintain a certain amount of momentum between the lift hills, you would have needed to move past them at a certain clip. This means that any details in the scenes wouldn't have been as important as you would probably just whip by them, Big Thunder style.
Instead, Disney went with one big, long show scene with a slow, metered pace, so you can enjoy the nuances of the figures and their animation. To my way of thinking, this makes Mine Train more of a dark ride/coaster hybrid like Mummy and less of a themed Runwaway mine car coaster like Big Thunder, ie. it makes it more unique and more interesting. Overall ride duration might actually be the same when you figure in the actual speed of the train in these parts.
Now, whether this was a conscious design decision based on how nice the final versions of the figures would become or simply a cutback due to cost overruns (or other design considerations like envelope clearance), I don't know, but if all the "original" track layout offered was some additional low-speed helices and blow-through cave portions, I'm not particularly sore for missing them.

I completely agree. You are probably very close to being correct. However, how would they have known how amazing the AA characters would have turned out while still doing track layout?

 

[Lee]

I'm not so sure.
The "original" layout that Lee and others are posting has several alleged indoor show scenes, but since this is a rollercoaster and must maintain a certain amount of momentum between the lift hills, you would have needed to move past them at a certain clip. This means that any details in the scenes wouldn't have been as important as you would probably just whip by them, Big Thunder style.
Instead, Disney went with one big, long show scene with a slow, metered pace, so you can enjoy the nuances of the figures and their animation. To my way of thinking, this makes Mine Train more of a dark ride/coaster hybrid like Mummy and less of a themed Runwaway mine car coaster like Big Thunder, ie. it makes it more unique and more interesting. Overall ride duration might actually be the same when you figure in the actual speed of the train in these parts.
Now, whether this was a conscious design decision based on how nice the final versions of the figures would become or simply a cutback due to cost overruns (or other design considerations like envelope clearance), I don't know, but if all the "original" track layout offered was some additional low-speed helices and blow-through cave portions, I'm not particularly sore for missing them.

The show scenes would have been at the same speed as the mine is now. Nothing "blown-through".
Same type of ride, just longer and...more.

 

[Bairstow]

The show scenes would have been at the same speed as the mine is now.
Same type of ride, just longer and...more.

So how many sets of block brakes and chain drives are we talking about here?

 

[Sevier]

You just have to love this community. It will say the most adorable things to try to paint the 7 DMT as anything but a major win. You have to admire their dedication,

 

[Lee]

So how many sets of block brakes and chain drives are we talking about here?

My diagrams don't show the zones. Several, I'm sure. Still two chain lifts.

 

[jlsHouston]

You just have to love this community. It will say the most adorable things to try to paint the 7 DMT as anything but a major win. You have to admire their dedication,

What are you saying? I think everyone is happy 7DMT is finished and the product looks good. Doesn't mean there can't be discussion over design and decisions and construction. And of course some will think it should have been more of this or less of this and how much did budget play a factor. It's just discussion.

 

[Lee]

You just have to love this community. It will say the most adorable things to try to paint the 7 DMT as anything but a major win. You have to admire their dedication,

Oh, it's a "win", for sure.
As I said in another thread, it's the world's greatest kiddie coaster and easily the best thing in Fantasyland.
Granted, that's not saying much...

 

[DisneyDad1977]

You just have to love this community. It will say the most adorable things to try to paint the 7 DMT as anything but a major win. You have to admire their dedication,

I think it is a HUGE win and I will love riding it with my kids. However, I always have been the "what might have been" kind of guy.

BTW happy Star Wars Day to all of you! It is now 8am where I am so time to go dodge some more tanks and roadblocks for me!

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I think most people are very positive about Mine Train. I'm one of those people, I think it's quite good. Doesn't mean there aren't flaws with it or that people shouldn't express it. I'm a huge fan of Maelstrom for example, i've a real nostalgic soft spot in my heart for it, but that doesn't mean i'm going to deny that it has glaring problems (length is one problem both Maelstrom and Mine Train share in fact).

Mine Train is a very good ride, but it's not some sort of an incredible achievement. It could have been far worse (and was going to be before the animatronic upgrades), but it could have been far better as well had they gone with the superior original track layout and given the outside scenes some more love.

@Lee
Do you know if the version going to Shanghai is going to be an exact clone of WDW's, or is it going to have some differences such as upgrades or downgrades?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Smells like CountryBearFan in here for some reason (or maybe it's the smell of the banhammer fast approaching that just has some of his scent still stuck to it from last time)...

Lee said from the very beginning that this was a nice D ticket, he has always stuck to that statement even when the ride's track layout and outside show scenes were downgraded immensely. He was spot on in calling it.

 

[Sped2424]

Now while I don't think mermaid is anything special I truly think the mine train is an absolutely wonderful addition to fantasyland. True not a full blown e ticket, but I don't think that matters because the ride is really just such a charmer. Perhaps if mermaid would have actually been a full blown dark ride like the one baxter imagined we would all be singing a different tune about new fantasyland. Either way I don't think the mine train is an area of concern it is great for what it is, a fun family coaster.