In viewing several of the online postings showing ride-thru's on the newly reopened DLRR, it looks FANTASTIC! They did a phenomenal job re-routing the tracks and enhancing the experience. I just wonder if they "missed" an opportunity to add a few more "goodies" to the attraction - especially when the train travels in the old "Big Thunder Ranch" area. They could have added a few Geysers and perhaps some "Paint Pots" that would have paid even more of an homage to the old Mine Train Ride - that would have even greater enhanced the journey along the DLRR. Please know - that I am NOT COMPLAINING. It just occurred to me as soon as I first saw the video(s) that there is even more that can be done to enhance the journey around the park.
I had hoped in the tunnel before FaL that they could have created at least a sort of "shadow box," perhaps behind glass/mirrors (which can create simple but effective illusions) of a Rainbow Caverns-type place. I heard there were some beavers now on the north end of the river, moving like they used to on the old Mine Train ride (??) - i.e. different from what was there before. That was always simple but cool on the Mine Train; didn't see it on the DLRR ride-thru I saw. Maybe only visible from the boats but not the train? Or do they indeed exist?
There's a rumor floating around that there's still some work to be done in that tunnel, which would explain the rather odd plank walls with attraction posters on them. Obviously there's not a ton of space for a show scene like the two dioramas, but theoretically there's additional space behind the walls, which can (will?) be removed once they wrap everything up As for the beavers, they're out there, but can only be seen from the boats. They're chewing on the trestle under the train. It's a fun little gag, but I think it might be a little heavy handed with 2 posts chewed through and oddly fresh-looking wood inside the old timbers
Cool - thanks for the pic. Do the beavers move? I was hoping there might be a nod to the old MTTNW, with swimming beavers. Because they were half-submerged, just the simple swimming movement looked pretty realistic. It was one of my favorite sights on that old ride, in fact.
I did feel a little underwhelmed when I went through the connecting tunnel between Frontierland and Toontown, really weirded out at being SO close to Thunder Mountain and the river. The rest of the loop is as it should be. I'm really happy they didn't do anything else to the dioramas except add digital effects. Those were cool. Where's the kalamazoo?
