Post your Gran Fiesta reviews here

[Enigma]

I went on it yesterday. It sucked. First of all the audio is too noisy to the point yuo can't understand what any of the cahrecters are saying. The scenes are not in sync with the boats so guests cant even understand whats going on. The focus is no longer a tribute to mexican culture. They replaced a catchy tune with generic spanish music and they replaced a fun finale with...a big tv screen.

They took out 3-D dimensional props and figures and replaced that with..a freakin tv screen. I thought that any retooling of El Rio De Tiempo would be an improvement...but this is just awful. My family was totally speechless at how bad it was.

The people who greenlit this project should be removed from power..oh wait...I think they just were.

And for those of you saying "well there are lines to ride this attraction and the old ride never had a line" just give it a year. Since its new there is some hype with disney nerds and Annual Passholders but I guarentee within a year the lines will go right back to El Rio del tiempo levels. The new version is a big disappointment and I think people are kidding themselves to say its an improvement.

 

[DisneyBride94]

Haven't ridden yet...

But I am not looking forward to the changes... I think they should have updated some of the film clips to reflect more modern styles...but I always loved El Rio Del Tiempo...and I have to admit I have NEVER EVER been a fan of Donald Duck...

My kids will be sorely disappointed at the changes--this was one of their all time favorite rides.

April
myspace.com/found_Calypso

 

[joshwill]

But I am not looking forward to the changes... I think they should have updated some of the film clips to reflect more modern styles...but I always loved El Rio Del Tiempo...and I have to admit I have NEVER EVER been a fan of Donald Duck...

My kids will be sorely disappointed at the changes--this was one of their all time favorite rides.

April
myspace.com/found_Calypso

i found its a small mexico, er...el rio del tiempo the be the singular most boring, inane ride ive ever had the misfortune of riding. gran fiesta was barely tolerable to me only because im a donald fan.

it is still a complete wast of time and space. WDI could do so much more will mexican culture than the over sized travel brochure that they have made. the should be ashamed of themselves for this travesty.

 

[ldsprincess]

wow, am i ever behind! haha. i had no idea! we're leaving for Disney on saturday! i guess we'll have something to look forward too. this could be a good or bad thing. i'm way excited about this but that ride has been my mom's favorite for years! haha! can't wait tho!
~Renee

 

[willythelab]

rode it on may 3rd

I truly have never seen anything wrecked worse that El Rio Del Tiempo! Well, maybe Alien Encounter! It truly is awful I'm sad to say. I don't think little ones would like it either. It doesn't even make sense. Enough said, too painful to relive!


:fork: :fork: :fork: :fork: :fork:

 

[epcotfan]

I just returned from WDW last week. I had high hopes for this ride and avoided watching any videos of it before I actually got to ride it myself. Wow, what a disappointment. El Rio Del Tiempo was a masterpiece by comparison. The video screens of Gran Fiesta are too fast paced. You can't possibly catch all the video scenes at once. The first time I rode, the sound was completely turned off for half of the ride. The second time I rode it, I thought it was equally as bad with the sound. Call me crazy, but I liked the cheesy aspect of the former ride including: the vendors, the Mayan dancers, the finale scene and the ride SONG. Although the former ride wasn't extremely elaborate, it gave a small taste of mexican culture and atmosphere. I have no problem with the characters of the Three Caballeros. I would have been happier if they'd added a few stationary figures of the Caballeros in the ride and only one or two video images of them and left the rest of the ride ALONE. The entire finale scenes are so bland.

This so called rehab reminds me of the Journey Into Your Imagination fiasco.
Imagineers what were you thinking?

 

[EPCOT.nut]

This rehab/refurb is a shock to me! El Rio was one of my faves. We always rode it after several margaritas in San Angel. I remember one time getting trashed and going to ride the ride and getting the handi-capped boat. Anyone ever ridden that one? It has a ramp in the back that runs up the end. Hard for me to explain but I remember lying down on the ramp once through the whole ride. :ROFLOL::ROFLOL::ROFLOL:

Last time we were at Epcot I did a video tape of El Rio. I am so glad I did, at least it is something to look back on. I got some really good shots of the Mayan vidoes in the beginning. If anyone wants a copy, PM me.
Then again there are some really good videos out there perhaps better than mine. Sadly you can hear me giggle in my vidoes! :lol:

 

[Imaginationeer]

Great story! What did you mean by trashed? I hope Epcot doent have to stop serving alcohol because of this!:ROFLOL:

 

[MrsPortiaB]

I know this is going to seem like a realllllllly stupid question but... :lookaroun ... are there any medium to major sized "drops" along the ride? I have drop-phobia. :brick:

 

[MacDuffieMuppet]

ok, so i thought it was terrible. being brought up on rio del tiemp, this gran fiesta was terrible. i thought it was stupid, the scences didnt seem to flow and there is no point. rio del tiempo showed the culture. this just showed donald beinig stupid.

btw, there are no drops. its almost like iasw, but shorter.

 

[MrsPortiaB]

btw, there are no drops. its almost like iasw, but shorter.

Thanks very much! :wave:

 

[KevinPage]

Being a Donald Duck fan I like that Donald now has 2 attractions dedicated to him. Mickey's Philharmagic is about Mickey in NAME ONLY. We all know Donald is the star in that one.

 

[cb3k]

I can only hope for more "Donald" rides, and BETTER refurbs...Please bring back that creativity that made the parks what they are....Im tired of being embarassed in front of my friends who argue tooth and nail that Universal is so much more exciting and better.....and taking them on the newly refurbed Gran Fiesta does not help my case..haha

 

[Kingdom WDW]

It was OK, but it's a little hard to take it all in because you have Donald chasing after someone in one scene then you see Jose and Panchito in another screen two feet away. I do not believe it reflects the culture of Mexico, but the pavillion itself does a better job.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

It'd be nice to hear Enderikari's review of this attraction right about now.

 

[Ringo8n24]

I thought it seemed to go faster than the original. The old ride seemed a slower pace. I really miss the song, too. The original ride was one of my faves, but this is ok. To me, the focus seems too much on the characters rather than Mexico which the old ride focused on.

 

[Boomerbilia]

I never really cared for El Rio del Tiempo. Seeing a carousel with human figures with pierced hands always reminded me of a sicko version of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

I, for one, am very, very glad to see Disney Characters showing what is fun about Mexico instead of dead people with their hands and feet pierced like Jesus Christ.

This ride now shows that Mexico has history to be appreciated. The last one did not.

 

[darkstarx13]

yeah

its not a bad ride...they still left some things from the old version of the ride...but i still liked the old one more.

does anyone notice that disney is making all the rides/attractions towards kid movies...like the seas WITH NEMO and then THE THREE CALLEBROS, or is it just me? :shrug:

 

[KevinPage]

its not a bad ride...they still left some things from the old version of the ride...but i still liked the old one more.

does anyone notice that disney is making all the rides/attractions towards kid movies...like the seas WITH NEMO and then THE THREE CALLEBROS, or is it just me? :shrug:

One can argue that no kid, let alone most adults have a clue what Three Calleberos is/was.

The overall "push" is to use the existing characters the company created, not necessarily a bad thing, but with any idea, there is always the fear of going overboard.

Nemo in The Living Seas is nothing but completely positive. It injected life, excitement and CROWDS into an otherwise dwindling pavillion. Heck, anytime you can ADD a dark ride, especially in attraction starved Epcot, is a good thing.

 

[DisneyNut2007]

Nemo in The Living Seas is nothing but completely positive. It injected life, excitement and CROWDS into an otherwise dwindling pavillion. Heck, anytime you can ADD a dark ride, especially in attraction starved Epcot, is a good thing.

True.

The exact same thing goes for the addition of The Three Caballeros to Mexico's boat ride.