Stitch's Great Escape Review: Using New Formula. Give it a score. . .

Before I enter this into the reviews.wdwmagic.com area, I thought I'd post my rating scale for Walt Disney World shows/attractions. I had the chance to experience Stitch's Great Escape this week, and I'll tell you that my opinion of it changed every minute. I hope this is an accurate scoring after the attraction has settled after a few days.

This is how the scoring goes:

25 POINTS: STORY
- 10: Clear, creative, original storyline
- 10: Do the elements and effects serve the storyline?
- 5: Is the story relevant/do we care?/Does the audience act in an active position?
20 POINTS: Audience Appeal
- 5: Young children
- 5: Adolescents/young adults
- 5: Parents/adults
- 5: Seniors
20 POINTS: Method
- 10: Novel technologies
- 10: Is the attraction quality up to Disney standards?
20 POINTS: Engaging elements
- 10: Endearing or effecive characters/emotional story
- 10: Inspiration or fulfillment/take-home point/message
15 POINTS: Other elements
- 5: Queue/Preshow and/or Postshow
- 5: Music/soundtrack
- 5: Does this attraction truly add to the themed land/park/resort?

And now, my review of Stitch's Great Escape:

20/25 POINTS: STORY
Clear, creative, original storyline: 5/10
The attraction seems to focus on molding a story to a preexisting attraction. The attraction makes sense, and the Imagineers were somewhat successful in converting all of the show aspects. Therefore, it earns 5 points, which is about average. The true creativity from this attraction was from Alien Encounter, and I think most of us agree on that.

- Do the elements and effects serve the storyline? 10/10
They certainly do. Level ones, level twos, and level threes in their chamber tubes works just fine. Brand new special effects definitely add to the storyline (i.e. Stitch's spitting, which was one of my FAVORITE effects). 10 out of 10.

- Is the story relevant/do we care?/Does the audience act in an active position? 5/5
The audience is put in an enganging position.

12/20 POINTS: AUDIENCE APPEAL
- Young children: 3/5
Half of the kids will love seeing Stitch. Half will cry and be scared. It seems as though Disney needed to mix the original (EVIL) Stitch with the humorous converted Stitch in order to appease the children, who went to the attraction to see the adorable creature. Adorable? No. Especially not in the dark. When polled in the Orlando Sentinel, most of the kids said they'd never come back to the attraction. Because Disney obviously targeted to kids (simple messages/storyline) AND still kept it scary for young children, this attraction may end up being "Stitch's Great Mistake"

- Adolescents/young adults: 3/5
I believe that half of this age group would get a kick out of the attraction (but probably wouldn't appreciate it nearly as much as Alien Encounter), but I took off two as the overall feeling of the attraction is targeted to a younger age group, which isn't all that healthy for Tomorrowland.

- Parents/adults: 3/5
See above. The biggest things that will attract these visitors are the special effects. Otherwise, they are probably in the attraction with their families/children, expecting to see cute lil Stitch. (Or Skippy. ) The only remarks I heard at the end of the attraction were from adults: "That was okay. Definitely not worth the wait." I know I wouldn't wait more than twenty minutes for it.

- Seniors: 3/5
See above.

15/20 POINTS: METHOD
- Novel technologies 5/10
5 points for the **AWESOME** new Stitch animatronic, installation of smellitzer, and super-cool cannons. Most of the wonderful special effects were from Alien Encounter; thus, they were not novel.

- Is the attraction quality up to Disney standards? 10/10
Heck yeah. Full quality. Of course, most everything was from 1995, but it still exists.

6/20 POINTS: ENGAGING ELEMENTS
- Endearing or effecive characters/emotional story: 5/10
We don't have the cute little Stitch; instead we get either an annoying or scary character. Robocop, or whatever his 90210 name is, I didn't really grasp; SIR really toyed with our emotions along with the XS Team in a very unique way. One character couldn't do anything but burp. And I wish they included Skippy more. But I'll throw in five points for the Stitch alien team.

- Inspiration or fulfillment/take-home point/message: 1/10
Absolutely not. In the attraction, we are invited as park guests to oversee the capture of criminals. Stitch is a fugitive. He escapes (what message is that?) and we are literally thrown out, with the characters saying, "Nevermind. We didn't need you/you didn't get your work done." That's *not* inspiring or fulfilling in any way. If something creative had ended the show in a more clever or complete way - and if the attraction actually had a message - the attraction could be worth a lot more as it would teach the children who came to see the character. Instead, the wrong message was sent in my opinion.

9/15 POINTS: Other elements
- Queue/Preshow and/or Postshow: 5/5
Very high quality.

- Music/soundtrack: 2/5
A good score - almost a movie score - but what's with the whole Stitch/Soarin'/MS marching/recruiting theme? It's getting kinda old and unoriginal. In otherwords, it's very forgettable.

- Does this attraction truly add to the themed land/park/resort?: 2/5
This attraction does not belong in Tomorrowland. Alien Encounter was a stretch, but it fit in as it was intended to be about the progress and evil of technology. It was filled with messages, entertainment, and a warning that tied into the Tomorrowland theme. Disney found Stitch an alien that could tie into Alien Encounter; they did *not* see Stitch and try to put him into Tomorrowland.

FINAL GRADE: 62/100

What makes Stitch's Great Escape an ultimately weak attraction is its attempt to attract a massive group of young people, but turn right around and scare them. Meanwhile, as the target is this young age group, adults and teenagers are put out of place. Alien Encounter had the advantage of fulfilling an awesome and emotional - not to mention original - story and carry it well to its intended age group. Stitch's Great Escape does not. And, in the meantime, it takes the "tomorrow" and originality out of the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland.

The attraction is entertaining, but very weak. Until I hear about a mass of potential complaints going to Guest Relations will I conclude that Alien Encounter should have definintely stayed. However, each and every day, I'm leaning to that conclusion.

Want a great new Magic Kingdom attraction? Check out a Fantasyland attraction that is actually in Fantasyland: Mickey's Philharmagic.
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ALIEN ENCOUNTER REVIEW: 25/25 POINTS: STORY
- Clear, creative, original storyline: 10/10
The story is completely original. The way the "XS" corporation introduces itself is effective and chilling. The SIR presentation was one of the best Disney preshows of all time.
- Do the elements and effects serve the storyline? 10/10
Yes, especially the teleportation/tube effects.
- Is the story relevant/do we care?/Does the audience act in an active position? 5/5
Yes, and we're scared as heck!

9/20 POINTS: AUDIENCE APPEAL
- Young children: 0/5
- Adolescents/young adults: 5/5
- Parents/adults: 3/5
- Seniors: 1/5

20/20 POINTS: METHOD
- Novel technologies 10/10 - Talk about technology. . .
- Is the attraction quality up to Disney standards? 10/10

19/20 POINTS: ENGAGING ELEMENTS
- Endearing or effecive characters/emotional story: 10/10
The characters from XS and the Convention Center truly chilled us. We were comforted by Dr. Femus, suspicioius of Chairman Clench, and hateful of Spinloc. SIR really chilled us. Skippy made us laugh. The best part is all of these were original characters.
- Inspiration or fulfillment/take-home point/message: 9/10
Nothing truly inspiring, but we did learn a lot about "sales before science," etc.

12/15 POINTS: Other elements
- Queue/Preshow and/or Postshow: 5/5
- Music/soundtrack: 3/5
A theme that actually reoccurs. . .
- Does this attraction truly add to the themed land/park/resort?: 4/5
Although it is not family friendly (-1), the attraction is in the spirit of Tomorrowland (technology/teleportation potentials/etc).

FINAL GRADE: 85/100

YOUR TURN!

I'm not going to go through the whole grading system, but I'd give it a D. The only reason it isn't an F is because they kept skippy, and the animatronics and new special effects are very good. But the audience appeal is bad, it's out of place in tomorrowland, and the story is absolutly HORRENDOUSE.

They could of easily kept alien encounter, but made new rules, like no children under 10 years allowed. That would stopped a TON of the complaints. But they had to waste money, and ruin tomorrowland with this piece of junk.

BRING BACK ALIEN ENCOUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!

imagineer boy said:

I'm not going to go through the whole grading system, but I'd give it a D. The only reason it isn't an F is because they kept skippy, and the animatronics and new special effects are very good. But the audience appeal is bad, it's out of place in tomorrowland, and the story is absolutly HORRENDOUSE.

They could of easily kept alien encounter, but made new rules, like no children under 10 years allowed. That would stopped a TON of the complaints. But they had to waste money, and ruin tomorrowland with this piece of junk.

BRING BACK ALIEN ENCOUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

If they had made a rule of no children under 10 years allowed, Disney would have gotten even more complaints than they did. In my opinion, they were kind of in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. You can't please everyone.
I can see where you are coming from, but keep in mind the general public doesn't think like most of us on these boards. I'm sure most people are more happy to see cute little Stitch than the giant, mean, snarling alien (IMO I'd rather see the snarling alien )

Grizz, I just knew that you were going to bash SGE, which I, for one, enjoy.

With a few exceptions, you bash almost every new attraction that Disney makes nowadays.

I do understand your feelings and that the original attractions can never be topped, but SGE, JIIwF, etc. are not all that bad! So, please, cut them some slack.

Basically, AE had a height restricting instead of having an age restriction. The show was too darn scary, but it was *VERY* successful to the audience it appealed.

I am trying to look through the general public's eye in seeing half of the younger children (the target) being led into an attraction that could end up scaring them. These younger children, with the height restriction and warning signs, would never have entered AE.

disneyphilip said:

Grizz, I just knew that you were going to bash SGE, which I, for one, enjoy.

With a few exceptions, you bash almost every new attraction that Disney makes nowadays.

I do understand your feelings and that the original attractions can never be topped, but SGE, JIIwF, etc. are not all that bad! So, please, cut them some slack.

Click to expand...

That's funny that you thought I'd bash SGE, because I didn't think I would. I'm not speaking out against the attraction totally (if you read my review carefully).

I gave SGE a fair chance - and a fair review weighing all positives and negatives. Your statement about me bashing new Disney attractions is totally untrue.

TEST TRACK: -
DINO-RAMA: -
GOOFY'S DANCIN: -!!!!
MISSION SPACE: -
JIYI: -
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR: +
WINNIE THE POOH: +
ILLUMINATIONS RoE: +!!!
LIVING SEAS OVERLAY: +
ONE MAN'S DREAM: +
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE: +
MICKEY'S PHILHARMAGIC: +!!!
ROCK'N'ROLLER COASTER: +
WISHES: +!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't think of any more recent Disney attractions. . . but that's + to - at 9:5 ratio.

Cut ME some slack.

Interesting review Grizz. I can't review it yet, but hope to in a couple of weeks! :sohappy:

Now, let's see how it holds up to some of the other attractions in MK. What numerical score (don't want you to write a bunch unless you want to) would you give to some of the other attractions? Basically, I want to see how your score relates to them. i.e. Stitch 62, Splash? SpMtn? CoP? etc.

Splash Mountain
STORY: 25/25
- Clear, creative, original storyline: 10/10
Although unoriginal, original new characters added. Very good way of mixing the three Brer stories together in a very creative way.
- Do the elements and effects serve the storyline? 10/10
Many special effects involving the sets and animatronics.
- Is the story relevant/do we care?/Does the audience act in an active position? 5/5
We're taken along with Brer Rabbit; the drops coincide with his potential fate.
15/20 POINTS: AUDIENCE APPEAL
- Young children: 2/5
- Adolescents/young adults: 5/5
- Parents/adults: 5/5
- Seniors: 3/5
16/20 POINTS: METHOD
- Novel technologies 7/10
Hoppin' Brer Rabbit seems to be the best novel use of technology; however, the complexity of the ride is very impressive.
- Is the attraction quality up to Disney standards? 10/10
20/20 POINTS: ENGAGING ELEMENTS
- Endearing or effecive characters/emotional story: 10/10
- Inspiration or fulfillment/take-home point/message: 10/10
We are DEFINITELY inspired in this ride and learn Brer Rabbit's story.
14/15 POINTS: Other elements
- Queue/Preshow and/or Postshow: 5/5
- Music/soundtrack: 5/5
- Does this attraction truly add to the themed land/park/resort?: 4/5
It adds to the Frontierland spirit. But I guess I didn't care about the "character invasion" back in 1992, so I'll take off one to be "fair" in today's Magic Kingdom.
FINAL GRADE: 91/100 A+++++++++++

59/100

which in most colleges is an F

in most high schools, an F minus

and in major league baseball (batting .590), a million dollar a game contract

Thats a very clever formula. Research should take that approach....

I did read your review carefully, Grizz.

Also, AE DID have an age restriction in addition to a height restriction--children under the age of 7 were not allowed to experience AE.

Agreed 100%

disneyphilip said:

Grizz, I just knew that you were going to bash SGE, which I, for one, enjoy.

With a few exceptions, you bash almost every new attraction that Disney makes nowadays.

I do understand your feelings and that the original attractions can never be topped, but SGE, JIIwF, etc. are not all that bad! So, please, cut them some slack.

Click to expand...

Now now, let's start the lesson shall we? If you don't agree with one's opinions or thoughts, that's their problem, not yours. Pouting about it won't solve anything.

I love the review system. I think it perfectly takes into account all points of a Disney Attraction. Great job with the review.

WINNIE THE POOH: +

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Heh. I HATE this ride... and I'm a massive Tigger fan!

imagineer boy said:

I'm not going to go through the whole grading system, but I'd give it a D. The only reason it isn't an F is because they kept skippy, and the animatronics and new special effects are very good. But the audience appeal is bad, it's out of place in tomorrowland, and the story is absolutly HORRENDOUSE.

They could of easily kept alien encounter, but made new rules, like no children under 10 years allowed. That would stopped a TON of the complaints. But they had to waste money, and ruin tomorrowland with this piece of junk.

BRING BACK ALIEN ENCOUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

YOU'VE NEVER EVEN BEEN ON IT! :brick:

How can you comment on something you've never experienced? Videos don't count. I respect everyone's opinions. However, I think it would be best to SEE it before making such strong comments.

You don't judge a movie by a preview. You shouldn't do the same for a ride/attraction.

I saw it. I liked it. It wasn't perfect, so I truly understand the reasons behind the attraction criticism.

The animatronic was beyond cool. The spitting effect and the "messing with your hair" effect was also really cool.

Thanks for the review Grizz, even though I do not totally agree. Guest reaction with me was mixed. I would say the majority came back with a positive reaction. However, the negativity mainly stemmed from the INSANE wait time.

My biggest complaint comes from the wait line. DO SOMETHING to make it interesting. Nothing bugs me more than a lame queue. The fantasyland attractions suffer from this.Couldn't they at least have a recorded stitch voice be heard in hidden speakers? This would provide SOME entertainment.

My final comment is this. People, stop asking AE to come back. IT'S NOT COMING BACK. I loved horizons, but I know that it's NOT COMING BACK!

General Grizz said:

MISSION SPACE: -

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When I first rode, I felt the same way. After repeated ridings, I think it is truly a fantastic attraction. Horizons was more magical, but M:S delivers upon it's goal--it's thrilling, well-themed, and a complete new technology.

General Grizz said:

WISHES: +!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Another place where I disagree with you. Wishes doesn't hold a candle to ROE. The music a complete REHASH of everything that Disney hase ever done. The fireworks are wonderful. However, as such a proponent of original scores, I'm surprised you liked Wishes so much. The soundtrack was conventional and trite. When I heard the "kid" start singing, I began to roll my eyes.

Great review Grizz and I liked the way you set it up. To me the most important part of the review was "When polled in the Orlando Sentinel, most of the kids said they'd never come back to the attraction. Because Disney obviously targeted to kids (simple messages/storyline) AND still kept it scary for young children, this attraction may end up being "Stitch's Great Mistake" ". This is not a good sign and I really hope that this attraction grows on kids. And I like the tag there at the end because if this attraction scares kids in similar ways AE did, then it will be Stitch's Great Mistake.

I also think your review of AE was dead on. Thanks for doing that for comparison.

imagineer99 said:

Another place where I disagree with you. Wishes doesn't hold a candle to ROE. The music a complete REHASH of everything that Disney hase ever done. The fireworks are wonderful. However, as such a proponent of original scores, I'm surprised you liked Wishes so much. The soundtrack was conventional and trite. When I heard the "kid" start singing, I began to roll my eyes.

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Theyre two entirely different shows at two entirely different parks, with two totally different audiences.

Wishes is aimed at the kids and the families. IMO its meant to celebrate disney and the things that dreams are made of.

ROE on the other hand is more aimed at humanity rather than celebrating disney. Its celebrating the world and life as a whole and mankind as a whole.

Theyre two different shows which really arent comparable.... Apples and Oranges. Both are the pinnacle of Disney Pyrotechnics.

imagineer99 said:

When I first rode, I felt the same way. After repeated ridings, I think it is truly a fantastic attraction. Horizons was more magical, but M:S delivers upon it's goal--it's thrilling, well-themed, and a complete new technology.

Click to expand...

Finally something we agree on :sohappy: The first time I rode M:S I was disapointed out of my mind because I was expecting a more thrilling attraction, but now I realize that it is a pretty darn good addition and I'm glad it's there (Nowhere near as good as Horizons though)

So I could say that M:S has definately grown on me. I wish I could say the same for ROE, but that's a different story for a different topic :lol: