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Frozen Ever After opening day
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Donaldfan1934
Well-Known Member
Wow, you must be kicking yourself for not knowing. That's why it's worth going on premier day.
Next Big Thing
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily.
I'd FP Frozen, Single Rider on TT, and Stand-by on Soarin once the wait gets to around 45 mins or less (which it always has since it's been open with 3 theaters).
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
That expression on that CM Says..."I'm so Done with my life!"
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
Whenever you have those kinds of thoughts... just look at photos like these... and think of the alternatives
Disney has long used the queue as the opening chapter of an attraction. Frequently used to introduce concepts (like how its done in Everest).. or set tones and transitions (like Nemo)... or simply entertain and impress while waiting.
The alternative blows.
Probably the best example of this contrast is Forbidden Journey where half the line is in the 'greenhouses', which aren't much more themed than the picture above, and everyone lounges on barriers, stares at their phones, and is bored waiting. Then once you get inside the castle, there are three or four rooms of things to look at, the story gets explained, the kids cast a snowing spell on you, paintings move.... suddenly you move from the line being too long to the line moving too fast to take it all in.
I think Disney could have easily not bothered making the Frozen queue any more detailed than Maelstrom's, so whatever the faults of the ride, and the concept, that they've gone all Harambe on the queue line has to be applauded.
BrerJon
Well-Known Member
Donaldfan1934
Well-Known Member
Understood. I'm a little biased too since I hated Maelstrom. I don't mind low tech rides, but I felt the ride made no cohesive sense and felt far below the Disney standard. However, I agree with you that a World Showcase ride shouldn't attend to the general Disney corporate machine. Basically what I'm saying is that I felt they needed to replace Maelstrom, but with something that fit the unique tone of World Showcase and actually ties into the country of Norway in some significant way. But instead, we ended up getting a Fantasyland ride in a place where it doesn't belong. While I'm personally a big fan of Frozen, I'll admit they've gone overboard with it (the Sing along is a complete waste of space and needs to go asap) and was unsure of how the ride's poor placement would affect its quality positively or negatively. Judging from the videos, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the ride ending up being better than even my most optimistic predictions. In the end, we both have past experiences that help inform how we ended up feeling about the attraction. Its as simple as that.
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Donaldfan1934
Well-Known Member
The fact that Tony believed so deeply in him and went way out of his way to get him in WDI should speak volumes about his talent.Indeed.
Tony strongly felt that Michel was just the type of 'new blood' needed for WDI.
A lot of effort and quite a bit of trouble went into getting him hired and over here Stateside from what I have heard.
He believed in him, and believed Michel had a lot to offer and could bring a valuable dose a quality design to the table.
His work speaks for himself, as all good work does, and the work he did for Disneyland's 'Fantasy Faire' was quite nice.
I definitely see Michel's artistic influence in the queue areas.
Looks great!
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Filby61
Well-Known Member
Well said. It's about using the source material as inspiration to create a layered "world of the ride" and an adventure within it that involves the guest as a vicarious participant, rather than extracting vignettes from a film and spieling them to the guest as a passive viewer.
Even with the primitive technology of the time, the Gen-1 Imagineers accomplished it in Disneyland's Toad, Pan and Snow White, and of course later with Pirates, HM and Indy. SDL's Pirates is the latest example of that approach.
Clearly from the video, the core concept of the Frozen ride is a promo-piece for the movie. Same approach as Mermaid. The creative limitations of these rides go to the limitations of their core concept, even more than to budget or space.
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This really isn't the case that often. Hell, there have been times where their ride that comes much later is worse, like Tower of Terror
aladdin2007
Well-Known Member
The exit halls/space leading into the shop however seem unfinished and barren and just plane white walls. They could have at least had a few pictures of Norway in this area as you get near the shop but they did absolutely nothing.
aladdin2007
Well-Known Member
I think its been shuttered for good, it never reopened, makes me mad.
DisneyDreamer08
Well-Known Member
Kind of a broad question, but for those of you who experienced the ride yesterday, how would you compare it to Under the Sea? I never watched any videos of the Ariel ride because I wanted to experience it spoiler free and I remember being so excited, impressed and in love with the ride the first time I rode it. I watched a video of the Frozen ride yesterday (mainly because I'm not as excited for this) and I was really underwhelmed. I found the screen projections on the faces of the AAs to be really distracting and awkward looking and my overall impression of the ride itself was, that's it? That's what we've been waiting for? I realize seeing it on a small screen can't compare to seeing it in person so I'm hoping I'm proved wrong while we're there in September.
Princess Leia
Well-Known Member
A few things, actually.
First, they were planning on bringing 'Meet the World' from Tokyo Disney. It was an animatronic show with a movie screen in the background, explaining Japan's history with everyone who came to its shores. They built the rotating stage and everything (like Carousel of Progress), then cut it since the show didn't talk about Japan's involvement in WWII, and they didn't want to offend veterans. If that was built today, I'm not sure that conversation would have even come up, since IDK how they could gracefully talk about WWII with an AA crane. The area for the attraction was supposed to be in the back of the pavilion.
Concept art shows a bullet train. It would have been a unique Circlevision film, shown on 'windows' of a train (floor would rumble to simulate movement), about Japan's landscapes and countryside.
Thirdly, the Mt. Fuji version of Matterhorn Bobsleds, featuring Godzilla, or another giant lizard. Fujifilm was to be a sponsor in the 1990s, but Kodak, who sponsored the Imagination Pavilion, got Disney to say no. Parts of this idea live on with Expedition Everest, but I still think it would be cool to have it in Epcot. Just with a working AA, so we wouldn't have Disco Godzilla.
ElvisMickey
Well-Known Member
The one thing I do have to say is that while I did enjoy the attraction yesterday and what they did with the pavilion (aside from my personal feelings about it taking over Maelstrom), they're going to have to come up with a long term solution for the line. The line was all the way back to China when I got in it yesterday afternoon and I only had to wait 90 minutes. Aside from the whole area being somewhat of a congested mess, they had at least 15 cast members out there to keep the line under control and where traffic could still flow throughout the pavilion. It obviously makes you think again that if they only started from scratch and didn't shoehorn this attraction into an existing space, they would have had a normal queue line that could have handled the capacity and didn't have guests lined up outside World Showcase in the sun.
DisneyPrincess5
Well-Known Member
Oh boy. I'm having difficulty seeing it for what it is on its own and cannot stop seeing Maelstrom. The ride path is identical so I find myself comparing. It's too bad they couldn't change it more to be more original. I'm sure I'll get plenty used to it.
I personally prefer more book report like attractions for movies and slow rides like this and I feel like it's a bit scattered with random scenes. Just feels disorganized to me.
The Olaf AAs are really awesome however and the colors and other technological elements are beautiful.
Help me understand-is the old disembarking area the new load area? Or am I confused at what I'm looking at. Also, there does appear to be some sort of indoor queue which was reported a long time ago to not be happening. ?
ElvisMickey
Well-Known Member
I'm having difficulty seeing it for what it is on its own and cannot stop seeing Maelstrom. The ride path is identical so I find myself comparing. It's too bad they couldn't change it more to be more original. I'm sure I'll get plenty used to it.
I personally prefer more book report like attractions for movies and slow rides like this and I feel like it's a bit scattered with random scenes. Just feels disorganized to me.
The Olaf AAs are really awesome however and the colors and other technological elements are beautiful.
Help me understand-is the old disembarking area the new load area? Or am I confused at what I'm looking at. Also, there does appear to be some sort of indoor queue which was reported a long time ago to not be happening. ?
Yes, the old unload area is now the load area. The space that used to hold the theater with the film is now part of the indoor queue.
aladdin2007
Well-Known Member
I'm having difficulty seeing it for what it is on its own and cannot stop seeing Maelstrom. The ride path is identical so I find myself comparing. It's too bad they couldn't change it more to be more original. I'm sure I'll get plenty used to it.
I personally prefer more book report like attractions for movies and slow rides like this and I feel like it's a bit scattered with random scenes. Just feels disorganized to me.
The Olaf AAs are really awesome however and the colors and other technological elements are beautiful.
Help me understand-is the old disembarking area the new load area? Or am I confused at what I'm looking at. Also, there does appear to be some sort of indoor queue which was reported a long time ago to not be happening. ?
Yes the old disembarking is the new load/unload......the indoor queue includes new halls and the old theater space which was ripped out and is now one big area.
DisneyPrincess5
Well-Known Member
Ok I can see that clearer now. Thanks!
