Gran Fiesta Tour animatronics

[the-reason14]

Nothing hard about it. It just costs money. And it is just money to improve show quality, so they don't like to spend money to improve the show. If it was for the ride, it would be different. As long as people are still riding the ride, all that matters is hourly rider counts.

But it seems that the ridership hasn't increased at all since the change way back in 2007. They changed it to get more people to come, but it's just as much of a walk on as it's been since it was el rio.

 

[MagicMike]

Whenever I visit World Showcase, I personally account for 75% of the Gran Fiesta Tour rider count for that day. Ride, Enjoy, Repeat. I'm not sure exactly why, but I do love that ride (With Or Without AA's).

 

[MarkTwain]

But it seems that the ridership hasn't increased at all since the change way back in 2007. They changed it to get more people to come, but it's just as much of a walk on as it's been since it was el rio.

Well for one, it's a Pirates-style flume, which has a very high capacity. Secondly, it's well-hidden. Even if someone chose to enter a building generally unmarked with mention of an attraction, you could conceivably stand in the dead-center of the Plaza de los Amigos and not know there was an entrance to a ride in that room.

 

[MarkTwain]

No no... Don't start a rumour!

It was fan boi wishing.

Wait... what!? I've been hearing this rumor for years! I wish I'd known it was false.

One more time, since the comment just kind of slipped in there:

It was fan boi wishing.

So no hope for them, huh?

 

[The Duck]

Love, love, LOVE the AAs. I think they would really Plus that ride. I know there are some GFT haters on here, but I think it is wonderful

I prefer the new version over the old as well. "El Rio" was OK but I found the theme song irritating. With the Caballero theme song (AKA "Ay, Jalisco, no te Rajes), I believe that the old attraction was given new life. The AA's would have been nice, though.

 

[Captain Neo]

When they arrived from Tokyo, they totally stripped down the 3 AA figures and had all the actuators and valves rebuilt and replaced all new hydraulic and air lines, then they decided it was too expensive to install at the finale.

Now I remember why I stopped going to Walt Disney World

 

[Brer Mickey]

Now I remember why I stopped going to Walt Disney World

And yet still find it necessary to comment on WDW forums?

 

[Kuhio]

To me, having AAs for the Three Caballeros in the finale scene would be a bit jarring, after seeing them in animated form throughout the rest of the ride.

I know there's precedent for mixing 3D and 2D representations of the same figure throughout an attraction -- but even in a ride like Winnie the Pooh, where the effect is supposed to be suggestive of characters literally coming off the pages of a storybook, I find that tends to disrupt any suspension of disbelief. (The last scene, with a Piglet figure sitting in front of flats and painted representations of the other Hundred Acre Wood folk, has never worked for me.)

I think the disjunction would be even greater when the same characters are shown over and over, moving fluidly in "2D" animation, and then suddenly appear as AAs that, however sophisticated they are, can't squash or stretch or do any of the things that "they" have been doing throughout the ride.

I certainly wouldn't complain if someone decided to remove all the video screens and populate the entire Gran Fiesta Tour with high-end AAs of Donald, Jose, and Panchito. However, even if that were to happen, I don't know if the ride would be significantly more popular than it is now.

 

[Hoop Raeb]

I know it's all about money but can we at least get Donald some pants?