March 17 is the date!! The Disney Parks Blog officially announced that the popular mine ride that has been closed since last January will be reopening on March 17!!
I rode it today as part of the annual passholder preview and there's some really cool new effects, it made the ride seem a lot more up to date than it was before
^I haven't heard much on this and I do not think it is true. What they are on ably experiencing is that the attraction is now a lot smoother as they have replaced the track so it may give them the feeling of being slower. I highly doubt it actually is going considerably faster or slower.