Magic Kingdom’s hottest attraction is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, a family-friendly curler coaster in Fantasyland based mostly on Snow White. This Walt Disney World trip information covers how you can keep away from lengthy strains and decrease the hour-plus wait occasions, with technique for efficiently beating the crowds with out shopping for an Individual Lightning Lane.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is now practically a decade previous, and its reputation hasn’t dropped a lot in any respect throughout that point. It stays the preferred trip in Magic Kingdom with a mean every day wait time above an hour on low to reasonably crowded days and triple-digit waits on busier days. While TRON Lightcycle Run will undoubtedly move it in reputation, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train may also command lengthy strains on account of its relatively-unique mixture of thrills and all ages enchantment.
Over the previous a number of years, we’ve completed Seven Dwarfs Mine Train extra occasions than I can depend. Never as soon as have we bought Lightning Lane line-skipping entry, nor have we waited wherever near an hour for it within the final a number of years. (I can’t say “ever” since I’m fairly certain we did just a few occasions when it first opened.) This trip information breaks down how, explaining your finest and worst choices for doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
One factor to notice up entrance is that technique shouldn’t be static. In the final year-plus alone, there have been loads of different adjustments: Walt Disney World’s fiftieth Anniversary plus the debut of Early Theme Park Entry for on-site lodge friends plus the controversial Lightning Lane and Genie+ system. Then there have been different curveballs because of park hours, particular occasions in Magic Kingdom, and extra.
As with our different trip guides for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, we’ll be diligent in retaining this up to date. Be certain to test again earlier than your journey for the newest information–or subscribe to our free Walt Disney World e-mail e-newsletter for immediate updates about this and all the different newest information, when reductions are launched, and so on.
Currently, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train makes use of a conventional standby line and is Magic Kingdom’s Individual Lightning Lane (ILL) sights, which implies it’s not included within the flat-rate Genie+ service.
While it nearly actually gained’t use a digital queue (by no means say by no means with Disney!) it’s unknown whether or not Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will stay an ILL trip (nicely, it’s fairly “ill” within the parlance of the youth!) or will transfer to Genie+ when TRON Lightcycle Run opens in Spring 2023. Our guess is that it’ll transfer to Genie Plus, however maybe not instantly.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the least in style Individual Lightning Lane at Walt Disney World, routinely having skill after park opening besides throughout peak seasons. In normal, we’re not followers of paying additional for ILLs. Our Individual Lightning Lane Info & Tips submit covers the why of that and exceptions to our normal rule–however Seven Dwarfs Mine Train shouldn’t be one in all them. We at all times do it through standby and advocate the identical for many friends, until cash isn’t any problem.
With that stated, that is largely as a result of we often do advocate that guests to Magic Kingdom buy the Genie+ service. This makes the remainder of the day a lot simpler, and never having to attend in lengthy strains for Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise, the Magic Kingdom Mountain Range, and extra is big. For recommendation on that, seek the advice of our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World and Lightning Lane FAQ.
Now let’s get right down to the brass tacks of doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with minimal wait. Before Magic Kingdom formally opens for the day, there’s the choice of Early Theme Park Entry, which changed morning Extra Magic Hours.
Officially, Early Entry is obtainable in any respect 4 theme parks each single day and provides 30-minute entry to friends staying in on-site resorts at Walt Disney World. (See our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World for more information & technique.)
On a traditional morning proper now, Magic Kingdom opens at 9 am, which places Early Entry at 8:30 am. Despite Magic Kingdom being the preferred park at Walt Disney World, it’s the park that opens newest–and at a time that doesn’t current a ‘barrier to entry’ for most individuals.
This is critical, as you’ll discover Early Entry at Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios to be vastly advantageous. That’s as a result of it begins earlier at these parks, and the time is an insurmountable hurdle for lots of friends. In different phrases, there are way more folks at Early Entry in Magic Kingdom than some other park.
Another noteworthy part of Early Entry at Magic Kingdom is that solely Tomorrowland and Fantasyland are open, slightly than all the park. This consolidates the (bigger) crowd to 2 lands of all the park. It ought to go with out saying, however extra folks and fewer rides is a recipe for bigger crowds and longer strains.
To that time, there are two “starting points” at Magic Kingdom the place crowds are held till Early Entry formally begins–the bridges to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. Typically, there are exponentially extra friends ready on the Fantasyland Bridge. Approximately 90% of these persons are planning on doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
The temper can be extra tense on the Fantasyland facet. Guests are revving up their double-wide strollers, getting ready to do some severe harm to the ankles of anybody strolling too gingerly. The dash to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a excessive stakes, eat-or-be-eaten recreation.
Not actually, however the ambiance does really feel tense earlier than the group begins transferring. Once it does, it’s extra like a sluggish trudge in a sea of humanity. No one is doing something even resembling working. We name it the “SDMT Shuffle.” Ironic that that is for Fantasyland, because it’s a bit nightmarish.
We strongly advocate skipping the SDMT Shuffle. For one, it’s a easy numbers recreation. If there are 5 occasions as many friends heading to Fantasyland and the overwhelming majority of these persons are racing (at sloth velocity) to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, that leaves loads of different sights in each lands with decrease crowds and considerably shorter waits.
Heading to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is uncomfortable and ugly, with everybody “competing” for the very best spot in a line that types shortly and aggressively. It doesn’t set the best tone for day in Magic Kingdom.
To make certain, for those who’re at or close to the entrance of the pack–within the first few hundred folks–your wait time for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will likely be brief. You can doubtless be out and in in beneath half-hour, which is much better than common.
However, you needed to rise up and arrive to Magic Kingdom super-early to “accomplish” that. So you’ve merely shifted your wait from the precise queue to standing in a sea of individuals for 30-45 minutes ready for Early Entry to start out. By distinction, it’s easy to indicate up a couple of minutes earlier than Early Entry begins and knock out Peter Pan’s Flight or something in Tomorrowland with none stress and a ~5 minute wait.
Another variable is that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train routinely has delayed openings on account of technical difficulties. While the trip doesn’t undergo from a lot downtime all through the day, it (and all the mountains, for that matter) is infamous for not being able to open initially of Early Entry. Granted, that will solely occur 20% of the time or much less, so the chances are in your favor. But it’s a really irritating feeling while you dedicate loads of time to beating the group to SDMT and get unfortunate.
Given all of that and the chance value of doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train as an alternative of brief waits elsewhere, it’s simply not price it more often than not. This is why we’re anti-Seven Dwarfs Mine Train throughout Early Entry or at rope drop. It’s a subjectively dangerous solution to begin the day, dangerous, and there are good alternate options.
With that stated, there’s one exception to this rule: Magic Kingdom Early Entry on Party Days. (Or actually, any day when the park opens earlier than 9 am. Right now, that’s solely get together days, although.)
The motive for that is easy, and what’s intimated above. Moving from a 9 am opening time to eight am is enormous. It shrinks the pool of potential friends who’re keen and capable of rise up early on trip. This is very true for households with babies–the core viewers for Fantasyland sights.
In brief, that 7:30 am begin time for Early Entry reduces the group to such a big diploma that doing SDMT is much less of a hectic sloth-like shuffle and extra…regular. You can simply be completed with the attraction in <20 minutes with minimal effort or lead time, and nonetheless do Peter Pan’s Flight after as a close to walk-on.
With Early Entry out of the best way, this brings us to regular park opening time or “rope drop” for everybody else. This is actually the worst time to do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. There are two causes for that.
First, the truth that the overwhelming majority of Early Entry friends are doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, even those who arrive later. This implies that the road is usually getting longer over the course of Early Entry. Regular park opening continues to be below-peak for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train’s every day wait time, nevertheless it isn’t too far off.
Second, and the larger motive, is as soon as once more the chance value. Racing to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, a trip that has been open for half-hour, to affix the again of a line that’s already fairly lengthy would possibly prevent 5-20 minutes as in comparison with lining up at 10 am or 1 pm. But it’s nonetheless a nasty thought.
That’s as a result of, as mentioned above, solely Fantasyland and Tomorrowland open throughout Early Entry. This means which you could rope drop each single different land and be on the entrance of the pack–not becoming a member of a line already in progress. This means doing Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, or actually any trip on that facet of the park as a close to walk-on. That will prevent far, way more time within the grand scheme of issues.
To this level, seek the advice of our 1-Day Magic Kingdom Itinerary for step-by-step technique for attraction order and beating the crowds at rope drop and all through a day within the park.
If you need the very best time to do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train within the first half of the day after the preliminary rush, line up round 11:30 am to midday. The posted wait time will nonetheless doubtless be above 60 minutes, nevertheless it’s sometimes falling at this level slightly than rising. Typically, the posted wait time will drop within the 12 pm hour, however that’s reactionary–on account of fewer friends lining up pre-lunch.
This is as a result of the inflow of park opening friends is biking out, and fewer new friends are leaping into line as a result of the wait will battle with lunch. Objectively, that is the optimum time until you’re staying late–assuming no trip breakdowns.
Subjectively, we nonetheless don’t like doing Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at this level.
Our massive hesitation is because of a lot of the queue being outside, and far of it in direct daylight. This is very true when the overflow line is in use–the pavement displays the sunshine and slow-cooks friends. The precise queue has some shade because of a partial cover of timber, and it additionally has followers to maintain issues cool.
Nevertheless, we favor ready till later within the afternoon from a subjective perspective, when the solar is decrease within the sky. The outside line is far more nice then, and is downright refreshing when these followers hit you with a blast of cool air.
Unfortunately, the wait time between 1 pm and 6 pm doesn’t budge a lot. On common, it varies by 3 minutes throughout that complete stretch. In an precise day, the posted wait time vary will likely be larger–that’s the precise common smoothed out over all the 12 months.
Trying to pounce on a drop within the posted wait time is counter-productive, too. Walt Disney World wait occasions are reactive, and with headliner sights, a drop within the posted time induces extra friends to leap into line. Those friends will then wait longer than those that lined up on the tail finish of the upper posted wait time. It’s just like the accordion impact performed out repeatedly over the course of the day.
There’s additionally the truth that the majority wait occasions are inflated at Walt Disney World, and never at all times by constant quantities. The finish result’s {that a} posted wait time of 60 minutes may need an extended precise wait than a posted wait time of 95 minutes, relying upon when within the ‘cycle’ of every somebody enters the road.
In normal, later within the day is healthier than the primary half for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, with precise wait occasions sometimes dropping within the 2 hours earlier than park closing. There are a few belongings you want to concentrate on right here, nevertheless.
First, posted wait occasions sometimes don’t drop a lot within the night. That doesn’t imply precise wait occasions aren’t nonetheless declining, although. Walt Disney World typically inflates posted occasions later within the day to discourage folks from queueing up. Usually, an attraction’s precise wait time will likely be shortest within the final half-hour of the evening, no matter posted waits.
Which brings us to among the best occasions to do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom: proper because the fireworks finish.
While we don’t advocate it to your first or solely viewing, Fantasyland is definitely an ideal and highly-immersive spot. In truth, that is our favourite “secret” or “low-stress” location for fireworks viewing in Magic Kingdom. It’s such as you’re within the midst of the fireworks, with bursts each in entrance of and behind you. You’ll additionally take pleasure in pyro over Beast’s Castle above Be Our Guest Restaurant, which is cool.
Towards the top of the fireworks, we advocate transferring from the world close to the New Fantasyland partitions to the close by Seven Dwarfs Mine Train entrance. Disregard the posted wait time; once more, it’s reactive and only a few persons are getting in line for the fireworks through the fireworks.
The evening after I took the above photograph, the posted wait time was 50 minutes, however our wait time was between 3 and 4 minutes. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was a walk-on with some empty rows! We acquired very fortunate and that’s not a typical wait, nevertheless it ought to nonetheless illustrate the large disparity between posted and precise wait occasions.
Our ultimate advice is the tried and true method for any headliner attraction: 1 minute earlier than park closing. This is just like the reverse rope drop, or ‘rope rise’ choice. (We like to think about it because the “buzzer beater” method.)
Walt Disney World doesn’t cease strains for sights till park closing, which implies you may queue up proper till the clock strikes midnight (or often in Magic Kingdom’s case, 10 pm or 11 pm). This successfully extends your day and is when the precise wait time is lowest for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Again, you’ll want to ignore the posted wait time. Not solely is it reactionary, but in addition as a result of Disney intentionally inflates wait occasions on the finish of the evening to discourage friends from getting in a single final trip.
Think about it–you probably have an 8 12 months previous that’s on the precipice of crashing, are you going to wish to endure one other hour-long wait at 10 pm? Now, what if that was truly solely a ten minute wait?! Probably a unique reply.
We have completed the ‘buzzer-beater’ method to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train dozens and dozens of occasions within the final 5 years. There have been a handful of occasions that we’ve waited 20 minutes or extra (particularly throughout peak season when the climate is heat), however the overwhelming majority of the time, our precise wait time has been between 10 and quarter-hour. (It’s been as little as 7 minutes.)
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a lot simpler, constant, and extra nice at evening. It’s additionally neat to expertise the trip within the night, and see the park all lit up. It’s a particularly satisfying solution to finish the right day at Magic Kingdom!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve completed Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, what’s your optimum method and time of day to trip? What would you advocate to Walt Disney World first-timers? Do you keep on with standby or purchase an Individual Lightning Lane for SDMT? Do you agree or disagree with any of our technique? Any questions we will help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even while you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!