Ride Profile
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Seven fun facts
To convince themselves the ride system would work, Disney Imagineers built a plywood box that could swing, mounted it in the back of a pickup truck, and drove it around the Walt Disney Imagineering parking lot in Glendale, California.
The shadows of the dwarfs seen marching homeward
along the track on the lift inside Seven Dwarfs Mine Train were rotoscoped from the scene in the original film where the dwarfs march across a log bridge, singing “…home from work we go.” Rotoscoping is a technique where the movements of a figure in original live or animated footage is copied, or traced, frame-by-frame.
At the jewel washing game within the attraction’s pre-
show, a melody from the classic film can be created by moving from spigot to spigot. There are 12 spigots, corresponding to the notes of the musical scale.
In the original Snow White tale by the Brothers Grimm,
the seven dwarfs were unnamed. When Walt Disney and his animators decided to name them to correspond with their character, scores of names were rejected including Wheezy, Jumpy, Baldy, Hickey, Sniffy, Stuffy, Burpy, Tubby, Shorty, Deafy and Dizzy.
The original Fantasyland debuted when the Magic
Kingdom opened in 1971.
The total cost of the New Fantasyland expansion is $425 million.
The Magic Kingdom is one of four theme parks at Walt
Disney World in Lake Buena near Orlando, Florida, and attracted over 18.5 million guests in 2013.
the original Disney film add to the experience. Exiting the mine, the train climbs to the top of the second lift, where guests have a brief moment to enjoy views across New Fantasyland towards Belle’s cottage and the Beast’s Castle above the Be Our Guest restaurant and beyond. Then the track drops precipitously, passing under a trestle and looping around the mountain crossing over the same trestle. The vehicle picks up speed as it careens down the mountain, twisting and turning, with its cars swinging back and forth. At the foot of the mountain, the mine train loops back to cross a pool at the bottom of a waterfall.
Time to tell the story
"Guests will enjoy this ride because of the new technology, the animatronics, the dwarfs; there's something for everyone," smiles Stachnik. "The ride is smooth, it slows down in the mine so people can see the animation and the dwarfs mining the jewels. There are a couple of thrills with two lifts and drops out the mine shaft, and there is time to tell the story. Guests will be singing along with several of the songs from the movie."
"We collaborated with our feature animation people to make the animatronics even more lifelike," Rawlins adds. "The attraction has three unique elements: the ride vehicles, audio animatronics, and a full-scale replica of the cottage." For those who like to pay attention to the richness of Disney detail, WDI Imagineers added an item atop the mine train's first lift hill. There's a jib crane upon which two vultures are sitting. These birds first appeared in Snow White's Scary Adventures, one of the Florida park's original attractions that closed in May 2012. In the mine and elsewhere one can find shovels, picks and barrels, the dwarfs' names carved into the wood, and even a carved wooden clock like that from the film. Representing the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom – the world’s busiest theme park – New Fantasyland features several other attractions, dining and retail opportunities. Located just beyond the existing Fantasyland, in the shadows of Cinderella Castle, a new train station links Fantasyland to other areas of the Magic Kingdom via the Walt Disney World Railroad.
Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid is a dark ride that takes guests on a journey with Ariel and her friends against a musical soundtrack taken from Disney’s animated Little Mermaid movies. Then there’s the Barnstormer featuring the Great Goofini family rollercoaster, Casey Jr Splash ‘N’ Soak Station waterplay area and not one but two flying Dumbo rides at Storybook Circus. Opened last autumn/fall, Princess Fairytale Hall is the new home where Disney princesses greet their loyal subjects.
Shopping is found at Bonjour! Village Gifts and Big Top
Souvenirs, while food and drink is
available from the Be Our Guest restaurant and Gaston’s Tavern. The new expansion now doubles Fantasyland in size.
*Read Paul Ruben’s personal views on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Park Hoppin’ on page 6
Disney Imagineer Chad Stachnik demonstrates one of the interactive games in the pre-show area
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JUNE 2014
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