Exhaustive look at Gran Fiesta w/merf

TinkerBell9988

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the review! I'll make sure to check out the attraction tonight when I head over to EPCOT for dinner.

I wish there were some 3 Cabs AAs, though. I am a big fan of AAs, and I hope that Disney isn't trying to phase them out of new attractions.

And that song... I sure do miss it. But the 3 Cabs theme is nice and upbeat, and it blends in very well with the whole attraction.
 

joshwill

Well-Known Member
i cant wait for the next sub-A ride or refurb of such so we cant blow the whole thing way out of proportion again!! :)
 

basas

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the review! I'll make sure to check out the attraction tonight when I head over to EPCOT for dinner.

I wish there were some 3 Cabs AAs, though. I am a big fan of AAs, and I hope that Disney isn't trying to phase them out of new attractions.

And that song... I sure do miss it. But the 3 Cabs theme is nice and upbeat, and it blends in very well with the whole attraction.

I know what you mean...they're big into screens now...just think of the last several attractions:

- Mickey's Philharmagic (a 3D show- uses a screen)
- Mission: Space (uses a screen)
- Turtle Talk with Crush (uses a screen)
- Soarin' (uses a screen)
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends (many screens)
- Monsters Inc Laugh Floor (uses a screen)
- Expedition Everest (uses a projection)
- Gran Fiesta Tour (uses screens)
- Toy Story Mania (will use screens)

Some of them are natural screen attractions obviously, but it would be nice to see a few more aa's in rides like Monsters Inc, Nemo, Gran Fiesta Tour, and even Expedition Everest.

Overall though, the update looks pretty good.
 

CarlHS

New Member
Just got back from Epcot.

Gran Fiesta was a good freshening of El Rio, but I thought the big screen at the end was a bit of a disappointment. AA's would have been better. It's like the deleted AA's for another screen.

On my trip thru, Panchito asks the chef "... have you seen a duck?" and the chef turns with a roast duck to serve. They (the toons) get scared and run off. Funniest part I saw.
 

DWGIRL

New Member
I rode this yesterday as well. My kids seemed to enjoy the characters in the ride but I did not. It was too distracting to me. I really miss the old song as well. The ride was much more audible and much cleaner looking but I thing I miss the old ride.
 

fizzle75

New Member
Thanks for the review Merf, it sounds awesome! Lord willing I will get to ride it in ONE WEEK!!! It feels like forever though...:(
 

NASAMan

Member
Panchito seems to do nearly all of the talking whenever you see those two.

This seems appropriate. The Three Caballeros represent the three Americas, Donald for the North (US), Jose for South (Brazil), and Panchito for Central, which includes, of course, Mexico. I believe it is Disney's only Mexican charater. Can anyone think of others?
 

mousermerf

Account Suspended
Original Poster
Just wanted to note that the reason I didn't post this thread in the "review" thread is because it's meant to moreso be a catalogue of everything that's been changed rather then my opinion/review.

Sorry if it ended up being one too many threads :(

Anywho..

The Araucan Bird is in the first screen with Donald where he's wearing the sombreros and taking pictures. At one point Donald almost loses all the hats, and as the tower of sombreros tilts precariously, the Araucan Bird can be seen swinging around the brim of one of the sombreros before returning to his hiding spot behind the tower.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but the two screens that are the "same" from El Rio are the cliff divers (though it's new footage) and the speed boat with parasail. Donald is added to each of those in a comedic manner, but the general content of the screen is the same as before.

The "small world" kids are playing the 3 Cabs song, as noted from the way the instrument players are in synch with the music. So, the entire scene was probably reprogrammed.

Out in the ruins near the restaurant, you can see fire with mist/smoke next to the temple coming from a camp/hut. I never noticed that on El Rio, it may have existed but certainly didn't work. As noted before, music gently plays as you coast through that area too. I can't tell which song it is, but that i can hear the music (and various animal sound FX too, oh, and distant thunder crackling of fire) is a big improvement over El Rio which was just the noise of the restaurant.
 

EpcotServo

Well-Known Member
The Araucan Bird is in the first screen with Donald where he's wearing the sombreros and taking pictures. At one point Donald almost loses all the hats, and as the tower of sombreros tilts precariously, the Araucan Bird can be seen swinging around the brim of one of the sombreros before returning to his hiding spot behind the tower.
Oh, neat. thanks. I liked how it had a few diffrent things happening in the loops.
 

bgraham34

Well-Known Member
Thanks so much for posting this. I feel like I got a real good idea of the ride. I will definately check it out, now I just have to get the wife to agree. She hated the other one.
 

sknydave

Active Member
Sorry to bring back this thread, but I just rode Gran Fiesta for the first time since the refurb.

Does anyone know why the projections are so grainy? The picture quality seemed great but for some reason it had speckles all over the place like when you watch old movies. Weird.

The actual concert scene wasn't working so I didn't get a chance to check that out. All in all I liked the changes and I think they were able to breathe new life into an attraction few people liked.
 

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