'Frozen' Summer Fun - Live at Disney's Hollywood Studios - the reasons why?

[Next Big Thing]

Whatever the reason is, I think its sad that they are basically using such a successful IP but not utilizing it correctly. IMO this sounds so thrown together and they figured "Hey, its Frozen so it will draw crowds anyways, no matter how low the budget".

What I think a lot of you guys don't seem to realize is that Disney used to do things like this ALL THE TIME in the 90's. And it was great. This is a nice addition that is included with admission - FOR A LIMITED EVENT.

My hope is that this ends and they put in a proper Frozen stage adaptation. I'm not getting my hopes up about that, but it would be nice.

There's nothing wrong with this type of addition. It's what happens after it ends. If they let it hang around and pretend it's an attraction in the park once the vent is supposed to be over, then that's when we can start saying TDO is being cheap.

 

[ParentsOf4]

What I think a lot of you guys don't seem to realize is that Disney used to do things like this ALL THE TIME in the 90's. And it was great. This is a nice addition that is included with admission - FOR A LIMITED EVENT.

My hope is that this ends and they put in a proper Frozen stage adaptation. I'm not getting my hopes up about that, but it would be nice.

There's nothing wrong with this type of addition. It's what happens after it ends. If they let it hang around and pretend it's an attraction in the park once the vent is supposed to be over, then that's when we can start saying TDO is being cheap.

As you write, WDW used to do this sort of thing all the time. Disney also would invest heavily in new attractions and even entire theme parks simultaneously.

What made WDW so exciting prior to 9/11 was a constant stream of change. Each vacation at WDW was sure to present something new.

Much of the Frozen @ DHS strategy is to satisfy an immediate demand for a new and popular IP, while avoiding the mess that has resulted from the Frozen meet & greets (M&G). A M&G has an incredibly low capacity. The nearly-impossible-to-obtain FP+ for the Frozen M&G has resulted in many unhappy WDW customers. Both operationally and from a guest satisfaction perspective, it's much better to present the Frozen characters in venues where thousands can see them at once.

Clearly, Frozen is being rushed into DHS because DHS is hurting and needs more entertainment. However, since DHS was intended to showcase Disney's recent film and tv successes, Frozen is not a bad fit at DHS.

Frozen @ DHS also shows that corporate Disney can move quickly when the budget is right.

Regardless of motive or budget, providing more Frozen entertainment at DHS is a good thing for most fans of WDW.

 

[Matt_Black]

Surprise that they are using the Premiere Stage in the back of the park, with so many empty sound stages in the front.

Not really. By placing it at the back, people have to go past souvenir shops and snack booths and such.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Regardless of motive or budget, providing more Frozen entertainment at DHS is a good thing for most fans of WDW.

It is! How often have 'we' not lamented the decline of the special parades for new animated features? From Aladdin to Mulan.

I do have issues with many of the offerings, which to me show everything that is wrong with current WDW. If I watch a theater show, I want to hear the actors and singers. I do not need to hear a tarted-up bratty seven year old behind me scream at the top of her lungs at the stage. Unfortunately though, this is the audience and behaviour that Disney attracts and seems to want to attract. And what of bronies singing along every word with Anna and Elsa? One would want to take a shower after visiting the sing-along! And to the madness is only added cringe-worthyness at the dance party.

Meanwhile so many other offerings are about merchandise and food and beverage and picture opportunities. Boring, commercialised, trivial. And plain lame.

The opening sleigh ride and fireworks sound great though.

 

[George]

I wonder how it will compare to the SWW fireworks. I was at SWW on 6/7 and that night time fireworks show was simply one of the best fireworks shows I have ever seen. Fantastic. Would anyone notice if they used the John Williams soundtrack for Frozen? :lookaroun

 

[Next Big Thing]

Not really. By placing it at the back, people have to go past souvenir shops and snack booths and such.

It also helps spread out crowds better.

 

[Adam5897]

What I think a lot of you guys don't seem to realize is that Disney used to do things like this ALL THE TIME in the 90's. And it was great. This is a nice addition that is included with admission - FOR A LIMITED EVENT.

My hope is that this ends and they put in a proper Frozen stage adaptation. I'm not getting my hopes up about that, but it would be nice.

There's nothing wrong with this type of addition. It's what happens after it ends. If they let it hang around and pretend it's an attraction in the park once the vent is supposed to be over, then that's when we can start saying TDO is being cheap.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the actual limited event at all. I was pointing out the fact thet Disney knows the Studios has almost nothing and crowd control is terrible and they KNOW frozen will change that no matter what they do with it, that's all.

 

[GrumpyFan]

Frozen is huge and wildly popular right now, so it just makes sense that they would do something like this to try and meet the demand and capitalize on it.
I wonder if the idea was considered at all to call it The Frozen Big Summer Blowout at Disney's Hollywood Studios, I mean it would just seem to make sense.

 

[Shadowgate]

Hoping they extend this or at least keep the fireworks! Really miss the fireworks over the theater set to movie theme music!

 

[lebeau]

I think it's a smart rapid response to a high demand property. It's not like they can bust out a new ride in this time, so it's a placeholder to coincide with demand. I think it will give something to the Frozen fans looking for more for now, and the people that don't care still have plenty of other things to do!

Rapid response? The movie came out last fall!

 

[Next Big Thing]

Rapid response? The movie came out last fall!

What else did you want? A&E have been meeting in the parks since before the movie came out and it's been a mess figuring out how to manage those lines. They're also in Festival of Fantasy.

People act like they should've had an entire ride built by now.

This is at least something to fill a void and it seems like there's a decent amount of Frozen themed things at this event. I think the timing is perfect as it keeps the hype train going through the summer.

 

[lebeau]

What else did you want? A&E have been meeting in the parks since before the movie came out and it's been a mess figuring out how to manage those lines. They're also in Festival of Fantasy.

People act like they should've had an entire ride built by now.

This is at least something to fill a void and it seems like there's a decent amount of Frozen themed things at this event. I think the timing is perfect as it keeps the hype train going through the summer.

So you're impressed that they waited 8 months and then threw together a singalong in a couple of weeks?

I'm not criticizing them for not having a ride built. But they waited 8 months despite the obvious popularity of the franchise to pull the trigger on their quickie solution. How is that a "rapid response"?

Edit: Plus jt liked your post so you automatically lose.

 

[Next Big Thing]

So you're impressed that they waited 8 months and then threw together a singalong in a couple of weeks?

I'm not criticizing them for not having a ride built. But they waited 8 months despite the obvious popularity of the franchise to pull the trigger on their quickie solution. How is that a "rapid response"?

Edit: Plus jt liked your post so you automatically lose.

I'm not impressed. But i'm not going to rip them for it either. I'm not someone who is all up Disney's , but i'm not going to bash them for this. It's something they didn't even have to do and is a seasonal event. Let's at least see what this thing is before jumping down their throat about it (I love how you didn't answer my question: What did you expect them to do?)

I love what Universal is doing and I wish Disney would take much more action and see that adding attractions is a viable way of making money. But i'm not going to bash TDO for this. Yet.

 

[lebeau]

I'm not impressed. But i'm not going to rip them for it either. I'm not someone who is all up Disney's , but i'm not going to bash them for this. It's something they didn't even have to do and is a seasonal event. Let's at least see what this thing is before jumping down their throat about it (I love how you didn't answer my question: What did you expect them to do?)

I love what Universal is doing and I wish Disney would take much more action and see that adding attractions is a viable way of making money. But i'm not going to bash TDO for this. Yet.

Well, all I did was question how rapid this response was. So I don't think we're having the argument you think we are.

Show me where I bashed Disney or jumped down their throats over this. I didn't. I suggested they could have responded to demand faster than they could have. And I can't see how any reasonable person could disagree. The fact that they threw it together just before HP 2.0 is a curious coincidence though, isn't it?

 

[Next Big Thing]

Well, all I did was question how rapid this response was. So I don't think we're having the argument you think we are.

Show me where I bashed Disney or jumped down their throats over this. I didn't. I suggested they could have responded to demand faster than they could have. And I can't see how any reasonable person could disagree. The fact that they threw it together just before HP 2.0 is a curious coincidence though, isn't it?

My point was that they did have A&E already in multiple places, but I do agree that given the demand, they should have come up with this idea long before a few weeks ago.

 

[steamboatjosh]

I think it's definitely just that it's more money, gives them a nighttime fireworks show besides Fantasmic, the meet-n-greet is obviously way too popular so this will please the Frozen fans & might take some guest attention away from that, and also this event kind of takes care of the fact that they have no daily parade for guests to enjoy.

 

[morningstar]

Sounds very cool

What with all the "money grab" comments every time Disney does something new? They are a business, of course they want more of our money. Potter 2.0 is a "money grab", NFL at WDW is a "money grab", the larger fries for my combo meal at Jack In The Box is a "money grab", the pack of gum I pick up at the checkouts at the store is a "money grab".....it's simple business. I bet Zog the caveman tried to sell Gug the caveman a extra set of sharpened rocks when Gug was buying a new club from him.

Nothing new at Disney about this, they were "money grabbing" when they were selling tickets to rides when they first opened the gates all those decades ago.

I say give me more choices at WDW and let me decide if I want to pay to play or not

Yeah. Will providing more customer satisfaction without increasing prices result in them earning more money by increasing volume? Maybe so. Is that a bad thing? No.

 

[morningstar]

A M&G has an incredibly low capacity.

I imagine somebody at least brought up in a meeting the idea of revising the policy of having a character only appear one place in the parks. If there were two Annas and two Elsas in each of the four parks, the M&G could meet demand a lot better.

 

[morningstar]

So you're impressed that they waited 8 months and then threw together a singalong in a couple of weeks?

Are you sure it takes a couple of weeks to put together this thing? They need planning, sets, choreography, costumes ... You think you can just buy a used sleigh on Craigslist?

Anyway it just makes sense that if you're going to have a Frozen special event that you do it in summer. The movie was set in freak winter weather during summer. There is novelty value to being able to build a snowman in July.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

As I've mentioned before, it has been my sincere hope that Frozen wouldn't be beaten to death like Nemo, Stitch, and Pirates have been over the last decade, and I think this might be a good way to avoid that. Sure, tap into the craze now while it still has some momentum. Sell some merch, boost attendance, make the tykes happy, and hold off on any major additions. I'd like to see a permanent Frozen addition, but not while everyone is still all whipped up into a frenzy. I would rather see a quality attraction that took a couple years of careful development appear somewhere down the line than whatever cheap crap TDO decides to throw on top of Maelstrom or worse.