Continuing on with my recent trip to Walt Disney World... The last time I was in Orlando for work was September 2019. Before that I believe it went 2017, preceded by 2015, preceded by 2014? It's hard to remember because those pre-pandemic years all blend together (but are easier to remember than the period from 1990 to 2003 when I was going 3 to 4 times a year).

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train attraction opened in 2014 in Magic Kingdom. Which is to say that I had four opportunities to ride it when I was there, but by that point I was so burned out on Walt Disney World that the only reason I'd go to the parks for was a haircut or to eat (mostly at Epcot's World Showcase, but sometimes I'd go to Magic Kingdom for Casey's Corner or Disney Studios for Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater or 50's Prime Time Cafe).

This time I finally made time to ride it.

Which is tough because you either wait in the Standby Lane for 60 to 90 minutes or you have to pay $12 for an Individual Lightning Lane to skip the wait. But, hey, at least you have the option to wait in line (unlike Tiana's Bayou Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and TRON: Lightcycle Run). The ride is to the right of the castle across from The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh...

The ride itself is pretty cool.

The Bad...

• Length. I'm going to put this in both the Bad and Good columns. It's bad because it's under three minutes, but it's good because at least it's not under two minutes. If you've waited 90 minutes to ride or paid $12 to ride, that's not a great return on your investment.
• Price of Admission. Whether you're paying with your valuable time or paying with actual money, there's a cost to ride this attraction. I'd argue that any time you have a wait that's over an hour on a ride that you're overselling tickets to the park, but that's just me.
• Not Everybody Can Ride. When I rode it the second time, the car ahead of me had a couple on the large side trying to ride. They couldn't fit. At first I thought it was because the woman's backpack wouldn't fit on the floor because she was futzing with it and I was going to tell her that I'd set it at my feet... but that wasn't it. She couldn't get the lap-bar to lower far enough to engage. I don't know if it's because the two of them together were too big or it was just her... but she was understandably upset and on the verge of tears. What's worse is that the cast member couldn't accommodate them ride-swapping where one rides while the other hangs out with their bags, then they swap. It's not one big seat that two people sit in but two individual seats side-by-side. This is really unfair. And before anybody comments with "IF SHE WANTED TO RIDE, SHE SHOULD GO ON A DIET!" you should know that I've known people who live far healthier than I do... barely eating a salad for every meal and walking daily... that were very heavy, while I eat garbage and don't exercise and am thin. There's more to your weight than what you eat. But anyway... I don't understand why Disney doesn't have one car that's a single-wide seat which can be used by two people or one large person. Or something so that bigger people can ride. At the bare minimum they should have a "test car" out front like they do for TRON: Lightcycle Run so you can see if you can ride before standing in line 90 minutes or paying $12. Really bad form for Disney here.

The Good...

• Story. Imagineers took the time to make the ride make actual sense, which is nice. The segment in the middle which has you slowing down to see the miners in the mine actually mining is =chef's kiss= exactly the kind of thing I expect from a world-class Disney attraction.
• The Cars. Excepting the fact that they don't provide a cart which allows larger people to ride (as mentioned above) the way the cars swing from side-to-side is pretty cool. It's not a huge movement, but it's there and you do notice. Very cool.
• The Queue. A good chunk of the line is indoors and air conditioned. But it's better than that... they have interactive games and distractions you can play with here and there. Kinda nice if you're in line for an hour or more (especially if you have kids).