EPCOT Remy's Ratatouille Adventure coming to Epcot

[No Name]

It's all relative, of course. For some people (like me) the heavy reliance on screens will make it underwhelming almost by default because they simply fail to make me feel like I'm actually there.

I mean sometimes staticky animatronics don’t make you feel like you’re there either. In the Ratatouille ride the screens are blended with everything pretty poorly, and there’s no motion base on the vehicle to correlate with the movement on screen, which I think is what really hurts the experience.

 

[UNCgolf]

Hard disagree here. I can't even put my finger on why, but NRJ just really does absolutely nothing for me. Might be that I don't care much for the Avatar world in general; all the live entertainment in the area typically has me rolling my eyes too.

I've never even seen Avatar, so it's not any connection to the IP -- it just makes me feel like I'm actually on a river on another planet. The set design is excellent, even if there are other flaws in the ride.

Did you have to wait a long time to ride NRJ? I'm convinced that's a big part of the issue for many people. It's definitely going to be underwhelming if you waited 90 minutes to ride it; it's not that kind of ride.

 

[UNCgolf]

I mean sometimes staticky animatronics don’t make you feel like you’re there either. In the Ratatouille ride the screens are blended with everything pretty poorly, and there’s no motion base on the vehicle to correlate with the movement on screen, which I think is what really hurts the experience.

Sure -- the overall set design may be the most important foundational aspect of a ride for me. It's why I think Frozen Ever After is pretty bad; the animatronics are excellent but for most of the ride they're surrounded by almost nothing. It's almost like they're in a black void at times.

 

[ChrisFL]

Hard disagree here. I can't even put my finger on why, but NRJ just really does absolutely nothing for me. Might be that I don't care much for the Avatar world in general; all the live entertainment in the area typically has me rolling my eyes too.

I think for me it's because I look at it and all I see is "Oh they used this technology to do this effect, I wonder how they did that one, probably ______ ". Younger people or those not as into the behind the scenes stuff probably enjoy it more.

My problem is that it's very short and there's absolutely nothing that happens beyond ambience and a song at the end.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Sure -- the overall set design may be the most important foundational aspect of a ride for me. It's why I think Frozen Ever After is pretty bad; the animatronics are excellent but for most of the ride they're surrounded by almost nothing. It's almost like they're in a black void at times.

I begrudgingly find Frozen Ever After more enjoyable than Maelstrom, but when I rode with my older sister she found it laughably bad and phoned in. The critiques are absolutely valid.

Rat might be a better experience on balance, but I wish it had an AA stacking up to Elsa or Olaf (let alone the Shaman on NRJ).

Hard disagree here. I can't even put my finger on why, but NRJ just really does absolutely nothing for me. Might be that I don't care much for the Avatar world in general; all the live entertainment in the area typically has me rolling my eyes too.

I don’t care much for the Avatar world either, but I do like Pandora—albeit not as much as Africa or Asia.

That said, I don’t find either of the attractions to be the star of the land; it would have to be the impressive landscape. In second place: steak and chicken combo bowl at Satu’li Canteen.

 

[James Alucobond]

Did you have to wait a long time to ride NRJ? I'm convinced that's a big part of the issue for many people. It's definitely going to be underwhelming if you waited 90 minutes to ride it; it's not that kind of ride.

I had it as a FastPass. I can appreciate good set design, but I guess I just want at least some sort of narrative or something. The detail is lovely, but it's like nothing is done with it. I agree that there are troubling voids in experiences like Frozen Ever After and Under the Sea, but I'd still rather get on either because I feel like I watched something happen.

 

[UNCgolf]

I had it as a FastPass. I can appreciate good set design, but I guess I just want at least some sort of narrative or something. The detail is lovely, but it's like nothing is done with it. I agree that there are troubling voids in experiences like Frozen Ever After and Under the Sea, but I'd still rather get on either because I feel like I watched something happen.

I'd like a narrative as well -- it's one of the reasons I don't think NRJ is a masterpiece or anything close to it. I definitely prefer it to FEA and Little Mermaid, though.

 

[Poseidon Quest]

I can appreciate good set design, but I guess I just want at least some sort of narrative or something. The detail is lovely, but it's like nothing is done with it.

I don't think that the attraction would benefit from a narrative. Pirates doesn't have a narrative other than the shoe-horned Jack Sparrow story-line, but I think what makes it interesting is how well detailed and distinctly different all of the scenes are. River Journey's sets look great, but the scenes themselves are extremely sparse on content. Nothing distinguishes one scene from another other than just animals looking at you. I think that the attraction would also benefit extremely well from having physical figures populate those scenes. That's the issue with the Shaman. It looks great, but they blew all of their budget on it. An abundance of figures with lower levels of animation would be highly preferable to the startled animals on screens.

 

[UNCgolf]

I don't think that the attraction would benefit from a narrative. Pirates doesn't have a narrative other than the shoe-horned Jack Sparrow story-line, but I think what makes it interesting is how well detailed and distinctly different all of the scenes are. River Journey's sets look great, but the scenes themselves are extremely sparse on content. Nothing distinguishes one scene from another other than just animals looking at you. I think that the attraction would also benefit extremely well from having physical figures populate those scenes. That's the issue with the Shaman. It looks great, but they blew all of their budget on it. An abundance of figures with lower levels of animation would be highly preferable to the startled animals on screens.

I agree with this -- if there was just one creature AA in each area, the ride would really be elevated. If it was a choice of one or the other, I'd dump the Shaman and add multiple lesser AAs scattered throughout the ride instead.

 

[No Name]

The Shaman is really bad at singing. She’s like definitely a top 5 worst singer ever.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I mean sometimes staticky animatronics don’t make you feel like you’re there either. In the Ratatouille ride the screens are blended with everything pretty poorly, and there’s no motion base on the vehicle to correlate with the movement on screen, which I think is what really hurts the experience.

Integrated scenes and a motion base are so 1999.

 

[marni1971]

Pirates doesn't have a narrative other than the shoe-horned Jack Sparrow story-line

On the contrary. Although Orlando does a poor attempt at telling it.

 

[IMDREW]

Was it a different experience than Soarin'? I can see how it could be, since Soarin' is much less intense.

What about Forbidden Journey? I think that would give you a similar feeling of actually flying.

Those did give me goosebumps, but I think those are more sitting back than the forward position on FOP? Idk (its true these rides are among my favorites though).

 

[ChrisKinney357]

You knew this was coming the moment they put frozen in world showcase....it was just a matter of time.
Going on a Disney vacation in 2021 will be awesome....tons of new rides

Too bad all the new rides will likely be a lottery like Rise of the Resistance, or cost extra with the new Lightning Lanes system!

 

[Poseidon Quest]

On the contrary. Although Orlando does a poor attempt at telling it.

I don't agree with the Disneyland version either. It appears to me that you start in New Orleans and travel down a tunnel into caves full of relics of the past. Upon exiting the caves, the memories of the pirates come alive and you re-experience their sacking of a town. If there's an overall story, I certainly don't see it because the attraction only seems to be based on a premise and not an actual narrative. If I'm ignorant in this matter, then I'm certainly interested in learning what the attraction has to offer, but I don't see any plot playing out.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Ride actually looks good. Easily the best ride in World Showcase…which I realize is like saying “he’s the best chalupa-maker at Taco Bell!” Not much competition.

Still, I find the ride to be charming. I love the people screaming at the barking dogs. LOL

And the score as you approach load into the first scene. Très magnifique!

And they kept much of the French dialogue!

I legitimately approve of this effort.

 

[dreday3]

Watched a video and I think it looks like a lot of fun! Love the queue and the music playing, very whimsical.

Looking forward to this one.

 

[marni1971]

I don't agree with the Disneyland version either. It appears to me that you start in New Orleans and travel down a tunnel into caves full of relics of the past. Upon exiting the caves, the memories of the pirates come alive and you re-experience their sacking of a town. If there's an overall story, I certainly don't see it because the attraction only seems to be based on a premise and not an actual narrative. If I'm ignorant in this matter, then I'm certainly interested in learning what the attraction has to offer, but I don't see any plot playing out.

The Paris version possibly tells it the best (and had the scene order rearranged to better do so) and the location in the park and exterior also helps.

But we digress.

 

[UpAllNight]

I love little subtle design improvements.

On first glance, they’ve replicated the Paris fountain. But look at any picture of the Paris fountain and it’s surrounded by spillover water. They’ve made the basin of this fountain bigger to avoid that problem.

 

[Dizmentia]

It's kind of interesting that all three of Walt Disney World's trackless dark rides are within walking distance of each other---and two are rodent themed.