News Beauty and the Beast sing-along coming to Epcot's France Pavilion

[marni1971]

makes sense, however I do still worry it will become so popular that they will decide to make it permanent, but then I guess not if they are spending money on IDF updates....speaking of updates, I know it was commented briefly above, but regarding circle of life,,do they really have a concrete replacement in the pipeline? I had not kept up with that one. If you cant comment no worries.

Last I heard, yes.

 

[aladdin2007]

Last I heard, yes.

thank you

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Well I finally made it to Mont Saint Michel after all these years of watching IDF today.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Well I finally made it to Mont Saint Michel after all these years of watching IDF today.View attachment 327455

Was their Disney cartoon sing-a-long inspirational? And more importantly, what flavor were their Mickey cupcakes? If they weren't Birthday Cake with confetti sprinkles, I'm boycotting!

 

[MisterPenguin]

Was their Disney cartoon sing-a-long inspirational? And more importantly, what flavor were their Mickey cupcakes? If they weren't Birthday Cake with confetti sprinkles, I'm boycotting!

You should see their projection show, it runs only during the day. The projector is outside, and the projections show up on the floor and walls.

 

[mikejs78]

will always stand by the fact that I am aware that the average theme park guest does not like the same things we Epcot buffs may appreciate. Today's guests do not understand. Today's guests want more Disney. More IP. That is what will make Disney more money. IDF will not. IDF does not have guests rope-drop guests flocking to it. IDF does not have hyped up people on buses saying they're looking forward to it (except the few original Epcot fanatics). It is a sad reality that I am aware of. I shouldn't have to justify myself saying "an IP will be much more popular." Which is literally the essence of everything I was saying. That's just a fact.

Here's the thing. Good product management (and WDW is a product) doesn't necessarily give people what they want. Yes, it takes customer desires into account but distills the difference between what the customers think they want and what they really want. If Disney were doing this right, they'd ask what the best attractions were to fit the theme of the park. Some of those may include IP and some may not. Whenever IP is used, it should be in service to the attraction and story being told, not an end to itself.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Was their Disney cartoon sing-a-long inspirational? And more importantly, what flavor were their Mickey cupcakes? If they weren't Birthday Cake with confetti sprinkles, I'm boycotting!

No but there was a hidden Mickey!!

 

[mikejs78]

No but there was a hidden Mickey!!View attachment 327512

I knew it! Mickey is just a symbol of the Illuminati!

 

[RSoxNo1]

Because you don’t know what I wanted to do - and did do - on August 25th. There’s no way you could know. So to make a blanket statement like that is a silly thing to do.

And I’m not lying.

Like many things just because you may not know about or understand why others have an appreciation for something, it doesn’t mean said appreciation can’t exist.

Being intimidating isn’t my style.

Having said all this. Every attraction is someone's favorite attraction, but I wonder/fear if the entirely educational shows around World Showcase have a place anymore. I'm encouraged that Disney is revitalizing all of them, but would a new WS pavilion get an equivalent?

 

[Kevin_W]

Well I finally made it to Mont Saint Michel after all these years of watching IDF today.

Mont St. Michel was probably my favorite part of our visit to France a couple years ago. And it was a side-trip largely inspired by the IdF movie.

Mont St. Michel at Night by Kevin, on Flickr

 

[larryz]

IDF needs an update. Yes. They could bring Duck á l'Orange. Instead they bring tater tots.

Another nail in the coffin of depth and intellectualism.

'merica!

There are those who would claim that adding Duck to the menu in World Showcase would be another case of IP encroachment.

 

[sgtmgd]

I don't get the horror of it.
BatB is set in France. She has done MnGs there for at least 15 yrs.

Let's not forget that there was a day when there was no Disney IP in EPCOT, and people were not fans.
That's how we got the fab5 in rainbow bedecked jacketed potato outfits.

Big picture, we have Coco stuff in Mexico, Mulan in China, Remy & Belle in France, Mary Poppins in UK, Aladdin & Jasmin in Morocco.
Not to mention Mexico Donald, Future World meet n greets, and Star Lord and friends.

Stop making sense

 

[LittleBuford]

Don't get me wrong, I hate all movie characters in EPCOT, but my point was that if they insist EPCOT have IP, at least spread it out.

I see what you’re saying, but it’s interesting to me that Aladdin’s presence in Morocco doesn’t get people as worked up as some of the other instances of Epcot IP, despite his being from a non-existent country. At least Arendelle makes visual references to Norway; Agrabah, by contrast, is a complete hodgepodge, with most of its sources being much further east than Morocco.

 

[mikejs78]

I see what you’re saying, but it’s interesting to me that Aladdin’s presence in Morocco doesn’t get people as worked up as some of the other instances of Epcot IP, despite his being from a non-existent country. At least Arendelle makes visual references to Norway; Agrabah, by contrast, is a complete hodgepodge, with most of its sources being much further east than Morocco.

I suspect that if they had just inserted in a Frozen M&G into Norway, there would have been little complaining. Even if they had added FEA as a new build, you probably would have heard some complaints but it would have been more muted. It's the fact that they took an IP from a non-existent country to replace an existing atteaction about Norway's culture, which is what I think contributed to the outrage.

I also think if they had made the ride more about Norway (for example, Anna and Elsa visit neighboring Norway to learn about their culture and heritage) instead of being a Fantasyland-style dark ride, that would have muted the criticism somewhat. It still would have been there, but lessened, I think. This is why people don't object to Aladdin in Morocco. He's not replacing anything of note.

 

[LittleBuford]

I suspect that if they had just inserted in a Frozen M&G into Norway, there would have been little complaining. Even if they had added FEA as a new build, you probably would have heard some complaints but it would have been more muted. It's the fact that they took an IP from a non-existent country to replace an existing atteaction about Norway's culture, which is what I think contributed to the outrage.

I also think if they had made the ride more about Norway (for example, Anna and Elsa visit neighboring Norway to learn about their culture and heritage) instead of being a Fantasyland-style dark ride, that would have muted the criticism somewhat. It still would have been there, but lessened, I think. This is why people don't object to Aladdin in Morocco. He's not replacing anything of note.

This is a fair point.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Mont St. Michel was probably my favorite part of our visit to France a couple years ago. And it was a side-trip largely inspired by the IdF movie.

Mont St. Michel at Night by Kevin, on Flickr

Looks like hogwarts or beauxbaxons to me

 

[TsWade2]

Is Disney trying to replace the animated version of BATB to the live action version of BATB?

 

[Demarke]

I don't get the horror of it.
BatB is set in France. She has done MnGs there for at least 15 yrs.

Let's not forget that there was a day when there was no Disney IP in EPCOT, and people were not fans.
That's how we got the fab5 in rainbow bedecked jacketed potato outfits.

Big picture, we have Coco stuff in Mexico, Mulan in China, Remy & Belle in France, Mary Poppins in UK, Aladdin & Jasmin in Morocco.
Not to mention Mexico Donald, Future World meet n greets, and Star Lord and friends.

I'm with you! On a side note, while I think Coco has a place somehow in Mexico, I may be the only person that would really like the boat ride to stay the way it is.

The whole point of the ride, even before the overlay, has been to introduce its audience to a few pieces of Mexican culture. The Three Caballeros' movies (I'm counting Saludos Amigos as well, even though I think only two Caballeros were in that one) were exactly that. In a time before the internet or widespread access to television, they were an example of the only avenue many people would have to see a slice of Mexico, Central and South America, and their respective cultures. Of all the characters to put in World Showcase, the Three Caballeros are the only ones whose entire purpose was to actually showcase other countries and culture (in their case, Latin America). Plus, I like having a spot in the parks where people may be exposed to characters from a lesser-known Disney classic and the current version is how I first discovered these characters and ended up tracking down the two films to watch. It's almost like an Easter Egg in the parks, since most people probably have no idea they were ever in a couple of Disney Classics, but the ones that do a little digging can discover a rich backstory.

Aside from the above, the Three Caballeros have at least two important historical distinctions: 1) The Three Caballeros was the first feature film ever to combine animated and live action characters, and 2) the two movies were also used as part of the US Goodwill Tour and Good Neighbor efforts in WWII to help try to counter some of the ties or sympathies that were developing between some Latin American countries (like Argentina) and the Nazi regime in that era.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Impressions de France had about 40 people at 1:00 pm this past Saturday. 18 of them was an asian tour group. (Yes I counted) Lots of people walking up to the entrance to ask the cast member "is this a ride?" followed by a "no this is a film" and then a sad "oh" and leaving. Keeping in mind this section was EXTREMELY busy outside with a line for Belle going on forever.

So yea... It's the same as it always was under my experience. You just have to open your ears and eyes to what the general public is actually saying. You don't need charts or sources. Literally just go for yourself and look at the responding crowd. The people who do enjoy it are the old Epcot fanboys who are over the age of 50. Which is fine. But it is certainly not the majority.

On the bright side, I saw Santa Claus!

 

[marni1971]

Impressions de France had about 40 people at 1:00 pm this past Saturday. 18 of them was an asian tour group. (Yes I counted) Lots of people walking up to the entrance to ask the cast member "is this a ride?" followed by a "no this is a film" and then a sad "oh" and leaving. Keeping in mind this section was EXTREMELY busy outside with a line for Belle going on forever.

So yea... It's the same as it always was under my experience. You just have to open your ears and eyes to what the general public is actually saying. You don't need charts or sources. Literally just go for yourself and look at the responding crowd. The people who do enjoy it are the old Epcot fanboys who are over the age of 50. Which is fine. But it is certainly not the majority.

On the bright side, I saw Santa Claus!

Odd that. On an afternoon in September I was in a around 1/2 full theatre. No mitigating circumstances.

Just goes to show individual observations can be worthless.