Welcome back to the WDW Ride Guide!  I hope you are ready to explore another great WDW Ride!  I’m your host Ben Crain and we are continuing on our mission to explore Walt Disney World one ride at a time.  As I’ve said before, there is so much to do and see at Disney World.  Knowing which rides to enjoy can require some serious planning.

Of course, knowing which rides you want to experience is only half the battle.  Once you have your list, you need to know when is the best time to ride in order to avoid those long lines.  That is certainly true of our ride today!  Two weeks ago we covered the Top 5 Fastpass+ Rides and this popular guy made #2 on our list.

It isn’t as simple as grabbing a Fastpass+ though, there is a lot to know and consider when selecting your time to ride.  Today, we are heading underground and digging for gems of knowledge that will send you flying through the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train on just the right track.  Let’s get rolling with our…

Know Before You Go Essential Facts

• The ride is located in the Magic Kingdom in Fantasyland


• You must be at least 38” tall to ride


• Fastpass + is offered and recommended


• The fright factor is 2 out of 5


• Guest must transfer from a wheelchair/ECV


• Expectant mothers should not ride


• Children under age 7 must be accompanied by a person age 14 years of older


• Rider switch is offered


• The ride is 2:30 long


• The ride opened on May 28, 2014

Heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to ride we go!  Say hello to this sparkling gem at the center of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom.  The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is equal parts roller coaster and Disney dark ride with a modern twist.  This short, but sweet family fun mine train is a can’t miss ride in the heart of the park.

To really appreciate everything this ride offers, we need to go back in time.  All the way back to opening day, October 1, 1971.  On that day a completely different ride made its Magic Kingdom debut.  Its name, Snow White’s Scary Adventures.  When you talk classic Disney dark ride, many will point to Snow White’s Scary Adventures as THE example of this ride genre.  The original version in the Magic Kingdom ran from 1971 to 1994, and truly lived up to the “Scary Adventures” title.  Snow White was not present in the ride, as you the rider were meant to be in her place.  Even the dwarfs only showed up in one scene of the ride.  What riders did see was the evil Queen disguised as the hag witch.  The ride was very dark, in both light level and theme.  In 1994 the ride was redesigned to include Snow White in several scenes, as well as more appearances by the lovable seven dwarfs.  With these additions the ride took on a lighter tone, although it could still be rather frightening for young children.  At the end of the ride, Dopey could be seen waving to riders, helping to end the ride on a positive note.

I believe it is good to understand the evolution of the Snow White themed ride as we move to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  Snow White premiered in 1937, and as we get further away from the film, we tend remember the movie’s fun, light-hearted moments most fondly.  Of course, those moments come courtesy of Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, and Doc, so when it came time to completely overhaul Fantasyland, the decision was made to retire Snow Whites Scary Adventures. The ride closed May 31, 2012, but Seven Dwarfs Mine Train had been previously announced on January 18, 2011.  However, the idea for a ride featuring the Dwarfs had not always been part of the plan.

The overhaul of Fantasyland was first announced in 2009.  The Imagineers got to work and chose to replace Snow White’s Scary Adventures with Princess Fairy Tale Hall.  Enchanted Tales with Belle, and Under the Sea-Journey of The Little Mermaid were added to the plans, and all of the sudden new Fantasyland felt a little princess-centric.  To help balance out Belle, Ariel, and the rest, Disney turned to the idea of a mine train featuring the Seven Dwarfs.  The full backstory of this ride is very fascinating, but to cover that we would need another podcast.  If you are interested in learning more, let me direct you to Episode 058 of The Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish with Jim Hill.

For now, let’s focus on our friendly Dwarfs.  With the mine train on the blueprints for Fantasyland, the Disney Imagineers turned their attention to creating a new type of roller coaster, filled with new high tech audio animatronic figures.  They began developing a new type of ride car that would allow riders to sway back and forth while they soared down the track.  This was inspired by the mine cars in the film which have the capability of tilting all the way over to unload their payload of precious gems.  The cars on the ride don’t tilt that far, but the Imagineers did a lot of experimenting with how far they could push this innovative technology.  I remember seeing a teaser video before the ride opened, showing Imagineers going for a ride in a parking lot aboard a mine car loaded in the back of a truck.  At the time I got really excited because it looked like there was going to be a lot of sway back and forth adding a whole new element to the roller coaster experience.  I can’t say with certainty, but I believe the limitations of the swaying motion were dialed back a bit from that early video.  Still, this is a patented new technology that you can only find in a Disney park.  It does add a gentle back and forth motion as you round the curves and come over the roller coaster drops.

The other focus for this ride came in pushing the envelope of the AA figures by utilizing projection mapping technology.  Rather than have classic Audio Animatronics, this ride features Dwarfs with lifelike facial movements.  If you have yet to experience this new tech, it is a little hard to describe.  The bodies of the dwarfs are created using the latest AA framework, but the faces are only partially sculpted.  You will still see 3-dimensional ears, noses, and beards, but the eyes, mouth, and surrounding facial features are all projected onto the surface.  This allows the Imagineers to literally animate the face with movement and expression.  The result is an overall figure that appears to have come to life right off the silver screen.  You can see the same technology utilized on a much smaller scale with Lumiere over at Enchanted Tales with Belle.  Before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s back up and talk about where to find these incredible creations of Dopey, Grumpy, and the crew.

As I said earlier, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is equal parts roller coaster and Disney dark ride.  By this, I mean don’t expect to go full blast from start to finish like you do on Big Thunder Railroad Mountain.  If I were to rate it on the Disney coaster scale, it is the next step above Goofy’s Barnstormer, making it a good coaster for almost anyone.  I would characterize it as having 3 distinct phases.  Phase 1 starts as the coaster gently rolls out of the station and into the surrounding landscape.  You will curve around several embankments, drop down a couple of low hills, and have some great views of Fantasyland.  I consider this the warm up phase.

Phase 2 begins by slowing the train down significantly as you enter the mountain.  Phase 2 is the dark ride phase, and where you can expect to see those amazing AA figures with projection mapping technology.  Inside the mine all Seven Dwarfs are busy dig, dig, digging, and sing, sing, singing as its off to work they go!  The mine is full of sparkling gems, brightly illuminated against the dark mine walls.  They come to life in 4 sizes and 6 different colors.  There is so much to take in during this part of the ride it makes repeat visits a must.  Eventually, the Dwarfs change their tune and the mine is filled with their familiar phrase, Heigh Ho!  This is a lot of fun as most riders join in singing the beloved tune.  Finally, you come to my absolute favorite part of the ride.  As your train begins its climb out of the mine, you will see the Dwarfs’ shadows moving along the mountain wall.  It is a simple effect, but I love it so much because it comes straight out of the animated movie, reminiscent of the scene where the dwarfs walk around a bend in the mountain and you see their shadows, larger than life on the mountainside.  This magical touch from 1937 blends in perfectly with the cutting edge technology, and gives the ride a timeless feel.

As you reach the crest of the mine, you get a wonderful view of the Beast’s castle in the distance, right before you drop and pick up speed as Phase 3 begins.  This is the most thrilling part o