News New Park Entrance coming to Epcot

[UNCgolf]

Does anyone know what Guest Satisfaction Ratings are like at Frozen Ever After?

It's anecdotal, but I feel like I know far too many people who have said they either regret waiting as long as they did or they lucked into a short wait and would have been mad if they'd waited longer. If people consider the "new" ride for one of your biggest animated franchises a "waste of a Fastpass" it would seem like something's wrong.

Though clearly there are people who are into it, which is why I wonder about its ratings.

I think there are plenty of people who love it, but I also think that's entirely a factor of seeing Frozen characters and hearing Frozen songs, which is just an example of how IP can prop up a mediocre ride. Who knows how it will look 10 years from now when the Frozen craze has potentially been replaced with something else.

 

[skimbob]

Does anyone know what Guest Satisfaction Ratings are like at Frozen Ever After?

It's anecdotal, but I feel like I know far too many people who have said they either regret waiting as long as they did or they lucked into a short wait and would have been mad if they'd waited longer. If people consider the "new" ride for one of your biggest animated franchises a "waste of a Fastpass" it would seem like something's wrong.

Though clearly there are people who are into it, which is why I wonder about its ratings.

Maelstrom it is not.

 

[peter11435]

Maelstrom it is not.

Well it’s guest satisfaction ratings are substantially higher than Maelstrom

 

[DVCakaCarlF]

Can anyone confirm the monorail is running between the TTC and Epcot? I just asked a CM on chat, and they confirmed it was.

 

[UNCgolf]

Well it’s guest satisfaction ratings are substantially higher than Maelstrom

I don't think anyone should be surprised by that. It's a Frozen ride and a lot of people love Frozen.

And it's not like Maelstrom was some sort of masterpiece. It was a more interesting ride than Frozen Ever After, but it was still one of the weakest rides at EPCOT. IP will almost always enhance a mediocre ride (which FEA is) because of the emotional connection to the IP.

 

[Admiral01]

Well it’s guest satisfaction ratings are substantially higher than Maelstrom

Apples to apples? What were the Maelstrom guest satisfaction ratings in 1992, when the ride was 4 years old? Only then is it a true comparison to FEA as it passes the 4 year old mark.

Do we think a 26 year old FEA will have satisfaction ratings as high as Maelstrom did at 26 years old? Honest question. How popular will Frozen be in 2042?

 

[UNCgolf]

Do we think a 26 year old FEA will have satisfaction ratings as high as Maelstrom did at 26 years old? Honest question. How popular will Frozen be in 2042?

I'm curious about this as well. The ride isn't good enough to stand on its own; it requires knowledge of/interest in Frozen to work at all.

That's not true of the best Disney IP rides (Splash Mountain, Flight of Passage, and Rise of the Resistance being some of the biggest examples) because they're impressive, fun rides regardless of the IP.

 

[Admiral01]

I'm curious about this as well. The ride isn't good enough to stand on its own; it requires knowledge of/interest in Frozen to work at all.

That's not true of the best Disney IP rides (Splash Mountain, Flight of Passage, and Rise of the Resistance being some of the biggest examples) because they're impressive, fun rides regardless of the IP.

Absolutely. FEA is quite boring. Half the ride is screens showing reflections of snowflakes... First time I rode I was like “this ride is missing half the stuff it needed.”

The other IP rides you mentioned stand on their own. FEA is a shell of what it could have been, should have been, and really an uninteresting and inferior successor to Maelstrom.

 

[No Name]

Apples to apples? What were the Maelstrom guest satisfaction ratings in 1992, when the ride was 4 years old? Only then is it a true comparison to FEA as it passes the 4 year old mark.

Do we think a 26 year old FEA will have satisfaction ratings as high as Maelstrom did at 26 years old? Honest question. How popular will Frozen be in 2042?

The real question you should ask is whether a 52 year old Maelstrom would have ratings as high as a 26 year old Frozen Ever After. Because Maelstrom wasn’t going to stop aging in 2014! FEA is certainly more popular than Maelstrom would’ve been now and into the foreseeable future, and that’s where the real comparison lies, or at least the comparison the business folks care about.

 

[jmuboy]

What an exhilarating thread! First we discussed changes coming to the Epcot® main entrance, then we discussed Pandora- The World of Avatar®, and now some weird people are saying Mail Storm or whatever it was called was better than the timeless, relevant, family, Disney® Frozen Ever After®.

SOOOOOooooooo - updates to EPCOT main entrance area????

 

[SoFloMagic]

SOOOOOooooooo - updates to EPCOT main entrance area????

Trees instead of rocks. Looks nice.

 

[pdude81]

I'm curious about this as well. The ride isn't good enough to stand on its own; it requires knowledge of/interest in Frozen to work at all.

That's not true of the best Disney IP rides (Splash Mountain, Flight of Passage, and Rise of the Resistance being some of the biggest examples) because they're impressive, fun rides regardless of the IP.

You're comparing a WS ride conversion to the best WDW has to offer. Would you also compare a rebuilt Honda Civic to a new Bugatti?

 

[UNCgolf]

You're comparing a WS ride conversion to the best WDW has to offer. Would you also compare a rebuilt Honda Civic to a new Bugatti?

That's exactly the point? It was a continuation of earlier comments in this thread.

Frozen Ever After isn't a very good ride, at least partially because it was shoehorned into an existing space. It's not good enough to stand on its own.

 

[mikejs78]

That's exactly the point? It was a continuation of earlier comments in this thread.

Frozen Ever After isn't a very good ride, at least partially because it was shoehorned into an existing space. It's not good enough to stand on its own.

I don't agree. I think it fits into the classic Disney dark ride template (Alice, Snow White, Peter Pan) very well, and is a step above those due to the animatronics and the scale/scope. It's certainly not an E, but it's a very good C+/D. I think the opposite - if it were in Fantasyland, it would have far fewer complaints.

 

[marni1971]

I think the opposite - if it were in Fantasyland, it would have far fewer complaints.

Yep.

 

[Magic Feather]

I know everyone is “rooting” for their least favorite parts to be cut from the Epcot overhaul, but I would strongly caution against that.

Agree or disagree with it’s contents, but the Epcot overhaul for FW that would have gone through without the pandemic was seriously masterplanned, and (while I know it wasn’t everyone’s favorite) marked the return of architecturally ambitious structures (not just showbuildings to Epcot). I’d go as far as to say that structure would have been more “EPCOT” than Mission: Space, Space 220, Rat, and Frozen combined.

While still undecided, the less ambitious plans replacing it aren’t guaranteed to be nearly as interesting or unique. (And no, rebuilding the SW quadrant isn’t on the table from what I’ve seen) In fact, some of the plans I’ve seen look like they’d belong in the West Side of Disney Springs more than Epcot.

I know some people have quibbles over the insertion of new IP into Epcot (admittedly where it rarely belongs), but remember that this project was built to have many elements for place making purposes that, if cut, could leave some very awkward gaps. I know it’s weird coming from someone that never got to know Epcot during it’s prime years, but the Epcot many of us hold onto is gone, and has been gone for quite some time. This originally planned new age of Epcot looked promising, but now I can only hope that, once it goes through its cuts, it emerges in a unique and beautiful way, even if it doesn’t look like a replica of 1980’s Epcot.

 

[Haymarket2008]

I know everyone is “rooting” for their least favorite parts to be cut from the Epcot overhaul, but I would strongly caution against that.

Agree or disagree with it’s contents, but the Epcot overhaul for FW that would have gone through without the pandemic was seriously masterplanned, and (while I know it wasn’t everyone’s favorite) marked the return of architecturally ambitious structures (not just showbuildings to Epcot). I’d go as far as to say that structure would have been more “EPCOT” than Mission: Space, Space 220, Rat, and Frozen combined.

While still undecided, the less ambitious plans replacing it aren’t guaranteed to be nearly as interesting or unique. (And no, rebuilding the SW quadrant isn’t on the table from what I’ve seen) In fact, some of the plans I’ve seen look like they’d belong in the West Side of Disney Springs more than Epcot.

I know some people have quibbles over the insertion of new IP into Epcot (admittedly where it rarely belongs), but remember that this project was built to have many elements for place making purposes that, if cut, could leave some very awkward gaps. I know it’s weird coming from someone that never got to know Epcot during it’s prime years, but the Epcot many of us hold onto is gone, and has been gone for quite some time. This originally planned new age of Epcot looked promising, but now I can only hope that, once it goes through its cuts, it emerges in a unique and beautiful way, even if it doesn’t look like a replica of 1980’s Epcot.

Thank you for this info. It's concerning but I am remaining optimistic. Is there a possibility that they simply pave this area over as a temporary fix before any real work happens on it, say, years down the line? Or will they pick up the shovels with a new plan in the near term?

 

[UNCgolf]

I don't agree. I think it fits into the classic Disney dark ride template (Alice, Snow White, Peter Pan) very well, and is a step above those due to the animatronics and the scale/scope. It's certainly not an E, but it's a very good C+/D. I think the opposite - if it were in Fantasyland, it would have far fewer complaints.

The scale/scope is the problem to me. It doesn't have any; you're constantly surrounded by unthemed, empty space. There's no real plot or progression of any kind. It would be a much better ride if they'd spent a little less money on the AAs and more on everything else.

I think it's the worst "classic" dark ride I've been on outside of the Little Mermaid -- it feels like they ran out of money after they built the AAs.

In fact, in thinking about it more, I think the AAs are a big part of the problem overall. It sounds counterintuitive, but I think the ride would work better if the AAs weren't as good as they are, because it makes you wonder why the rest of the ride is so lackluster in comparison.

 

[aladdin2007]

I know everyone is “rooting” for their least favorite parts to be cut from the Epcot overhaul, but I would strongly caution against that.

Agree or disagree with it’s contents, but the Epcot overhaul for FW that would have gone through without the pandemic was seriously masterplanned, and (while I know it wasn’t everyone’s favorite) marked the return of architecturally ambitious structures (not just showbuildings to Epcot). I’d go as far as to say that structure would have been more “EPCOT” than Mission: Space, Space 220, Rat, and Frozen combined.

While still undecided, the less ambitious plans replacing it aren’t guaranteed to be nearly as interesting or unique. (And no, rebuilding the SW quadrant isn’t on the table from what I’ve seen) In fact, some of the plans I’ve seen look like they’d belong in the West Side of Disney Springs more than Epcot.

I know some people have quibbles over the insertion of new IP into Epcot (admittedly where it rarely belongs), but remember that this project was built to have many elements for place making purposes that, if cut, could leave some very awkward gaps. I know it’s weird coming from someone that never got to know Epcot during it’s prime years, but the Epcot many of us hold onto is gone, and has been gone for quite some time. This originally planned new age of Epcot looked promising, but now I can only hope that, once it goes through its cuts, it emerges in a unique and beautiful way, even if it doesn’t look like a replica of 1980’s Epcot.

This is what I have been worried about all along, it figures its the easier generic route they may prefer to go now, I sure hope something changes for the better. Otherwise the park is just turning into disney springs which is what I think they have wanted all along. Epic fail in my opinion, but of course others would eat it up and Disney gets all their precious revenue they want from food and drink. . Seems like its been bad news with this project since it began and now its sounding even worse,,maybe we all should not have complained about the bar on stilts so much after all.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Yes, the concept art is quite an extensive change.....but apart from the Festival Pavilion, the replacements for Mouse Gear and Electric Umbrella and the odd new mini building or two, it looks to be about 75% landscaping. So I think there is a scenario that, should they go cheaper, it won’t be too much of a downgrade?? Am I wrong here?