http://www.orlandosentinel.com/trav...os-disney-frozen-backlash-20141114-story.html
By Dewayne Bevil,Orlando Sentinel
One year after the world premiere of "Frozen," the film's fans can delight in its expanding presence at Walt Disney World. But some theme-park devotees are turning a cold shoulder to the blockbuster and the attention it's receiving.
Kyle Crane, a Disney annual passholder, said he finds this emphasis — through attractions and merchandising — to be suffocating.
"Over the summer, they were pushing it so hard in the parks, and people were taking to it like a bunch of flies to rotten fruit. It didn't really speak to me a lot," said Crane, who is 35 and has no children.
Crane lives in Baton Rouge, La., and makes a handful of trips to Disney annually, including one for his wedding last year. But he's decided to allow his pass to lapse this year in hopes of the phenomenon fading with time.
"I don't fault them at all for trying to strike while the iron is hot right now," Crane said. "But if it's an iron you don't want to be around … maybe this is the year I draw back."
The characters in the film, which debuted Nov. 19, 2013, had a small start at Disney World late last year. Anna and Elsa, the royal sisters of "Frozen," met with Epcot guests in the Norway pavilion. Those sessions soon drew hordes of little princesses and their parents, creating wait times of up to seven hours.
That twosome has since moved to a larger hall at Magic Kingdom, where they were also added to the new "Festival of Fantasy" parade. Next, "Frozen" was given a summerlong celebration — complete with processional, mass sing-along, specialty store and indoor ice rink — at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
In September, Disney officials announced that the Maelstrom ride at Epcot would be converted into a "Frozen" attraction set to open in early 2016.
Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf, the wacky snowman, have taken over the ceremony that lights Cinderella Castle nights during the holidays. A gingerbread display in Disney's Contemporary Resort features the characters alongside a slew of "Frozen"-inspired treats.
"Frozen" folk are also front and center for the "Once Upon a Christmastime Parade" at Magic Kingdom, and the separate, nationally televised parade that airs Dec. 25 has been rechristened "Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration."
That renaming is especially vexing, said Ashleigh Mertle of Longwood.
"I watched the movie. It's a cute movie and everything, but it's going overboard. It's too much," she said.
Disney has lots of other characters to use, Mertle said.
"I feel like they could be doing other stuff. When 'Brave' came out, that's very popular. Why didn't they do stuff with Merida?" she said. "There's how many other princesses? Eight? I don't understand the hype of it."
An international craze and its backlash are not new, said Robert Thompson, who teaches pop-culture courses at Syracuse University in New York. But social media make it feel more intense today, he said.
"I think it all boils down to there's more places for people to complain, and there's more places for us to pay attention to them complaining," Thompson said.
Disney has been coping with extreme popularity since at least the 1950s, when every kid wanted a Davy Crockett -skin cap, he said.
"Whenever you get these kind of culturally penetrating moments, sooner or later, the penetration becomes so overwhelming that people get sick of it," Thompson said. "In the end, I don't think any of that matters because it's going to be completely trumped by the fact that so many more people are still completely in love with it."
The film made $1.3 billion worldwide at the box office. It has earned $275 million in DVD and Blu-ray sales.
And there's more money to be made.
A Hollywood Studios store called Wandering Oaken's Trading Post is devoted to "Frozen" merchandise. Visitors can purchase items ranging from snow globes ($8.95) to Olaf beach towels (two for $34.95) to Elsa gowns ($69.95).
Jamie Short of State College, Pa., bought her 5-year-old daughter Stella a gown and a doll plus an Elsa-inspired makeover at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique at Downtown Disney.
"We took the full package, so it was $200. It was a splurge," Short said. "She loved it."
The Shorts attended the sing-along and plotted to get an early spot in line to meet Elsa and Anna at Magic Kingdom.
Bill Pollack of Boston had already checked that off his list. He waited six hours last year, he said.
"They don't have enough, I don't think, considering how popular it is," he said.
His daughter Riley, 7, is an old hand at Disney World, having been 10 times. She said she enjoyed meeting the princesses. But not all the news was good to her, her dad said.
"She's happy there's a 'Frozen ride,' but she's not happy they're getting rid of the Norway ride," Pollack said. "She wanted to boycott Walt Disney World."
How embarrassing is this -- they complain so much and make such a huge spectacle to where the news is focused on them instead of Frozen now. LOL.
By Dewayne Bevil,Orlando Sentinel
One year after the world premiere of "Frozen," the film's fans can delight in its expanding presence at Walt Disney World. But some theme-park devotees are turning a cold shoulder to the blockbuster and the attention it's receiving.
Kyle Crane, a Disney annual passholder, said he finds this emphasis — through attractions and merchandising — to be suffocating.
"Over the summer, they were pushing it so hard in the parks, and people were taking to it like a bunch of flies to rotten fruit. It didn't really speak to me a lot," said Crane, who is 35 and has no children.
Crane lives in Baton Rouge, La., and makes a handful of trips to Disney annually, including one for his wedding last year. But he's decided to allow his pass to lapse this year in hopes of the phenomenon fading with time.
"I don't fault them at all for trying to strike while the iron is hot right now," Crane said. "But if it's an iron you don't want to be around … maybe this is the year I draw back."
The characters in the film, which debuted Nov. 19, 2013, had a small start at Disney World late last year. Anna and Elsa, the royal sisters of "Frozen," met with Epcot guests in the Norway pavilion. Those sessions soon drew hordes of little princesses and their parents, creating wait times of up to seven hours.
That twosome has since moved to a larger hall at Magic Kingdom, where they were also added to the new "Festival of Fantasy" parade. Next, "Frozen" was given a summerlong celebration — complete with processional, mass sing-along, specialty store and indoor ice rink — at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
In September, Disney officials announced that the Maelstrom ride at Epcot would be converted into a "Frozen" attraction set to open in early 2016.
Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf, the wacky snowman, have taken over the ceremony that lights Cinderella Castle nights during the holidays. A gingerbread display in Disney's Contemporary Resort features the characters alongside a slew of "Frozen"-inspired treats.
"Frozen" folk are also front and center for the "Once Upon a Christmastime Parade" at Magic Kingdom, and the separate, nationally televised parade that airs Dec. 25 has been rechristened "Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration."
That renaming is especially vexing, said Ashleigh Mertle of Longwood.
"I watched the movie. It's a cute movie and everything, but it's going overboard. It's too much," she said.
Disney has lots of other characters to use, Mertle said.
"I feel like they could be doing other stuff. When 'Brave' came out, that's very popular. Why didn't they do stuff with Merida?" she said. "There's how many other princesses? Eight? I don't understand the hype of it."
An international craze and its backlash are not new, said Robert Thompson, who teaches pop-culture courses at Syracuse University in New York. But social media make it feel more intense today, he said.
"I think it all boils down to there's more places for people to complain, and there's more places for us to pay attention to them complaining," Thompson said.
Disney has been coping with extreme popularity since at least the 1950s, when every kid wanted a Davy Crockett -skin cap, he said.
"Whenever you get these kind of culturally penetrating moments, sooner or later, the penetration becomes so overwhelming that people get sick of it," Thompson said. "In the end, I don't think any of that matters because it's going to be completely trumped by the fact that so many more people are still completely in love with it."
The film made $1.3 billion worldwide at the box office. It has earned $275 million in DVD and Blu-ray sales.
And there's more money to be made.
A Hollywood Studios store called Wandering Oaken's Trading Post is devoted to "Frozen" merchandise. Visitors can purchase items ranging from snow globes ($8.95) to Olaf beach towels (two for $34.95) to Elsa gowns ($69.95).
Jamie Short of State College, Pa., bought her 5-year-old daughter Stella a gown and a doll plus an Elsa-inspired makeover at the Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boutique at Downtown Disney.
"We took the full package, so it was $200. It was a splurge," Short said. "She loved it."
The Shorts attended the sing-along and plotted to get an early spot in line to meet Elsa and Anna at Magic Kingdom.
Bill Pollack of Boston had already checked that off his list. He waited six hours last year, he said.
"They don't have enough, I don't think, considering how popular it is," he said.
His daughter Riley, 7, is an old hand at Disney World, having been 10 times. She said she enjoyed meeting the princesses. But not all the news was good to her, her dad said.
"She's happy there's a 'Frozen ride,' but she's not happy they're getting rid of the Norway ride," Pollack said. "She wanted to boycott Walt Disney World."
How embarrassing is this -- they complain so much and make such a huge spectacle to where the news is focused on them instead of Frozen now. LOL.
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