“Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it’s off to work we go!”
It’s off to work for the Disney Imagineers team who are designing the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Disney released details in a behind-the-scenes video of the new attraction, set to roll out this spring in New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. (View the video in the link or at the bottom of the article.)
The family-style musical rollercoaster features the “first of its kind vehicles mounted in cradle-like pivots that allow the vehicles to swing back and forth during the ride,” according to a press release.
Inspired by the Disney’s first feature-length animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the company said guests will enjoy an authentic experience as they enter the attraction. Guests walk across rolling stone bridges and through a forest to see the Dwarfs’ cottage and the stars of the film: Sleepy, Doc, Grumpy, Bashful, Sneezy, Happy, Dopey and of course Snow White. They then will board specialized, wood-carved train cars to ride into the mine “where a million diamonds shine.”
In the video, Disney Imagineers Ben VanBeusekon and Mary Mac Eachin shared some of the secrets behind creating an authentic experience for guests.
Imagineers are painstakingly designing and redesigning the cars to make them look old. VanBeusekon says it’s crucial to make every car authentic and individual for guests.
“In order to immerse the guests into the story and actually have them believe they are in the mine train with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it has to be right down to the detail.”
The simulation ride depicted in the video takes guests on a bumpy ride deep inside the mineshaft where the Dwarfs work. Guests will travel indoors and outdoors during the musical ride. The turns are quick and sharp, and the cars ride and sway along the tracks, like a real mine car might. Disney says the ride is similar to a ride on its Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster.
Theme park officials have not released a specific date for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train set to open sometime this spring. The attraction completes the final addition to the expanded New Fantasyland that began in 2012.