Disney’s Fantasyland within the Magic Kingdom, part of Disneyworld in Orlando, received a huge update earlier today! It is about the most anticipated ride in the brand new extension, that is still being built, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
According to Disney Park Blogs , the Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Tom Staggs, spoke at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at Anaheim, California and shared updates on what’s new at Disney parks around the world. During the presentation, he unveiled a video that offered a first look at the amazing new character who will be part of the Disney mine train ride. He further stated that the Disney Mine Train utilizes some of the most advanced audio-animatronic figures Walt Disney Imagineering (Disney’s cutesy name for “Engineering) has ever created.
The video above shows a CGI representation of what the Disney Mine Train ride would look like. This writer is actually wondering where guests will sit. It seems all the carts are filled with gems and rubies, but maybe the actual cart is hollow. As for the video below, it is the video Tom Staggs showed off at the celebration. It shows an “imagineer” programming various characters – mostly dwarfs – in the ride itself.
In related news, there were more updates added to Fantasyland too. Along with the progress on the Disney Mine Train, there have been some improvements made to the original parts of Fantasyland, just to accommodate the new extensions, as reported by Orlando Park News . The one added detail that is getting a lot of attention is the completion of the Dwarf’s Cottage – which of course fits very well with the Disney Mine Train.
The attention-to-detail is amazing. Just how similar it looks to the original design, first introduced in the first Disney Animated Classic, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs back in 1937. It is not known if animatronic animals will also be included – either inside or out – but it would be a nice touch to the detail, as well as being a compliment to all the detail being engineered (sorry imagineered) into the Disney Mine Train.
Right now, Disney specified no date on when the ride will open to the public. Being a former engineer, I know there still needs to be some testing involved, mostly for safety and security. Nevertheless, the Disney Mine Train is an amazing attraction to observe. This writer personally got to experience the New Fantasyland extension when it first opened to the public. The progress the Disney Mine Train made from when I first saw it, is astounding.
[Featured Image via Youtube Screencap] [Article Image via Bing]