Today In Disney History ~ May 28th
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located at Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland Park. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster is situated in the Fantasyland sections of both parks. The Magic Kingdom version opened to the public on May 28, 2014, as part of a major park expansion called New Fantasyland, while the Shanghai version opened on June 16, 2016. The ride is themed to the Walt Disney’s 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first traditional-animated feature film.
The queue hosts a few interactive activities. One is a gem-sorting game where you match up three jewels of different shape but the same color. There is also a spot with barrels full of gems that you spin to create reflective animations of the Seven Dwarfs on the ceiling. If all of the dwarfs are present on the ceiling, an animation of Snow White appears in the middle of the Dwarfs’ animations. Finally there are the “musical spigots,” a gem washing station with wooden taps carved to woodland animals. There are 12 spigots each representing a note on the chromatic scale.
The ride travels both indoors and outdoors, similar to Frontierland’s major attractions, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. Unlike roller coasters such as California Screamin’ and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, this attraction is designed to appeal to a family-oriented crowd with enchanting scenery and cartoonish architecture; it retains details from the original 1937 film.The attraction features a new ride system of a “tilting vehicle.” This new technology simulates the swaying and tipping one would expect to experience in a mine cart.
Songs from the film, such as Heigh-Ho, are featured in the attraction. Most of the Audio-Animatronics, including the Dwarf figures of Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Grumpy, and Bashful performing their Yodel Song in the final scene are recycled from the demolished Snow White’s Scary Adventures attraction. Additionally, the vulture figures from the previous attraction ride are perched on a mining structure early in the ride. Many of the figures within the cave are new designs from the animation team, with the most important and recognizable contribution being Doc’s high range of motion, two degree-of-freedom wrist.
The ride features two on-ride cameras that provide videos and pictures for guests to buy through Disney’s Photopass, which it began doing on September 18, 2014. It is one of only two Walt Disney World attraction to provide videos for guests, the other being The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Unlike the rest of the rides at Walt Disney World with on-ride cameras (with the exception of Frozen Ever After), there are no monitors after the ride to view the pictures and there is no store to buy the pictures in.
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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