The Frozen 'Initiative' ...

[PhotoDave219]

Frozen belongs in Fanland.

Give DHS and Epcot the specialist help they need.

Weather belongs there or not, if you spread the crowd out, it breaks the Magic Kingdom much more pleasurable to walk around. There is a reason I have not gone there this summer. It's too hot and too crowded. Now add in a property that is hotter than anything Disney is done in 20 years… It's drawing crowds left and right. The place would be insanely unbearable.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I thought so. And you know, I thought they looked more like the actual girls from the movie than the ones in the parks too.

Dont you worry... now that there bad boys are available, we will see lots of cos-play costumes around walt disney world. Many will probably look better than the official A&E.

 

[marni1971]

Weather belongs there or not, if you spread the crowd out, it breaks the Magic Kingdom much more pleasurable to walk around. There is a reason I have not gone there this summer. It's too hot and too crowded. Now add in a property that is hotter than anything Disney is done in 20 years… It's drawing crowds left and right. The place would be insanely unbearable.

Fair enough. But fear of crowds isn't a reason to destroy story and show. Make the MK facility for the IP big enough to handle the crowds. Heck, make the park big enough too. Do it properly. The fad won't last forever.

Then fix DHS and Epcot using themes and materials suitable to those particular parks. Not a knee jerk reaction that is wrong on every level.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The news on Shanghai isn't good, but it is accurate. When discussing my frustration with not being able to make plans for the opening next year with a trusted source, I was told to ''head somewhere other than Shanghai unless you want to see an unopened resort under construction in constant chaos'' ... I don't feel comfortable saying much more other than there is no way this doesn't open before Iger and His Ego leave Disney in 22 months. Yet, 2015 is off the table and my source's best guess is a rushed March or April opening with many things not finished. I am not sure this affects anyone here beyond @Lee and @WDWFigment as I don't think anyone else will go for the opening. Hell, I'd bet that 99.4% of all here will never go ...

.

It may affect me! I appreciate the updates . . .

 

[dadddio]

In fact we went to the Erie county fair outside of Buffalo, NY this year and they in fact did have an Anna & Elsa M&G. And let me tell you...they looked 1000x better (more like the characters) than any of the pictures I have seen of the "real" ones at MK.

Cool.

I miss the Erie county fair. It makes our local county fairs look like parking lot carnivals. Come to think of it, my memories of the Corn Festival in Eden probably are better than our local county fairs.

The last time we went to the Erie County fair, my wife and I got to pet a baby tiger. We basically stood behind it while it sucked down a bottle of milk that she held. When he was done, you were done.

 

[flyerjab]

I would much rather see a new Land built based on pure imagination and have no IP tied to it. Will we ever see that again?

Sure...Disney Springs.........

 

[SirLink]

What would you suggest they add to DHS (besides the obvious Pixar and Star Wars additions) that would be more appropriate?

Muppets, Indy .... try to leverage as much as possible of the Touchstone pictures stuff(...but I'll be honest I don't know how much they own... or if they were just a partner in production) ... oh and new IP made solely for the park.

 

[Bolna]

Why should Disney reflect on their own culture when it clearly continues to work so well? Disney's fans do not want creativity. They want ornamented and overly referential to what they already know, not creative, not new, not different. The problem is ultimately that those who should be first to defend the legitimacy of themed entertainment are in fact the first to dismiss it as an inferior medium. And this is not a problem limited to Walt Disney World fans or even just Disney fans. Disneyland Resort fans are probably the worst when it comes to the love of ornament over substance.

Just wanted to say: great post! I am sometimes shocked at how little many fans understand what "themed entertainment" really is.

 

[lazyboy97o]

What would you suggest they add to DHS (besides the obvious Pixar and Star Wars additions) that would be more appropriate?

If only there was a creative group at Disney tasked with thinking up brand new things for the theme parks!

 

[SirLink]

If only there was a creative group at Disney tasked with thinking up brand new things for the theme parks!

There is but no new IP for stateside only existing IP. Remember.

 

[Mike S]

Ok, I didn't mean to start an imagineering tangent. I deleted my original post.

 

[disney4life2008]

FP+ can work AMAZINGLY well - if you know how to use it. But like FP 1.0, it puts the regular guest at a disadvantage. People like us who keep up know how exactly how to game the system and make it work incredibly well. Joe Schmo from Joisey who's at WDW for the first time and didn't do his homework? Not so much.

Yikes! The day guests were absolutely clueless last week. I felt so sorry when people entered the magic kingdom expecting to get a fp+ for mine train only to find out it was booked for the day and that it was a 80+ minute wait. In essence, I would argue that fp+ works best for people like us that know Disney inside and out. Even the resort guests were clueless (at least at sports) and had not taken advantage of making fp+ reservations 60 days in advance.

 

[John]

Yikes! The day guests were absolutely clueless last week. I felt so sorry when people entered the magic kingdom expecting to get a fp+ for mine train only to find out it was booked for the day and that it was a 80+ minute wait. In essence, I would argue that fp+ works best for people like us that know Disney inside and out. Even the resort guests were clueless (at least at sports) and had not taken advantage of making fp+ reservations 60 days in advance.

I can believe that, the question is....is it the guest fault or is it out of the question that a guest that is on their first visit has an expectation that they paid for the tickets and they just want to enjoy the parks. Don't think of it as what we all here know...but just the regular Joe from Joisey as another poster mentioned. I think Disney does a half decent job trying to educate its guest but I think there might be a large population that is visiting Florida and thinks.....maybe I will run over and do WDW today. Spontaneity!...shudder. These people pay to visit the parks just like anyone else, but yet are treated like second class Disney citizens. I would bet two...three years from now there will still be guest who still will not know about FP+.

 

[stevehousse]

I can believe that, the question is....is it the guest fault or is it out of the question that a guest that is on their first visit has an expectation that they paid for the tickets and they just want to enjoy the parks. Don't think of it as what we all here know...but just the regular Joe from Joisey as another poster mentioned. I think Disney does a half decent job trying to educate its guest but I think there might be a large population that is visiting Florida and thinks.....maybe I will run over and do WDW today. Spontaneity!...shudder. These people pay to visit the parks just like anyone else, but yet are treated like second class Disney citizens. I would bet two...three years from now there will still be guest who still will not know about FP+.

It'll be the same as Legacy FP. You had some people take advantage of the system and use it to their benefit and u will also have some people that are completely clueless and never will...

 

[Jose]

@WDW1974 how will be the DL paint the night parade version? Also, do you know if the scenes of maelstrom will be totally removed? I mean, an all-new frozen ride in epcot, not just a cheap overlay.

 

[morningstar]

I can believe that, the question is....is it the guest fault or is it out of the question that a guest that is on their first visit has an expectation that they paid for the tickets and they just want to enjoy the parks. Don't think of it as what we all here know...but just the regular Joe from Joisey as another poster mentioned. I think Disney does a half decent job trying to educate its guest but I think there might be a large population that is visiting Florida and thinks.....maybe I will run over and do WDW today. Spontaneity!...shudder. These people pay to visit the parks just like anyone else, but yet are treated like second class Disney citizens. I would bet two...three years from now there will still be guest who still will not know about FP+.

So pre-Fastpass (of any kind), wouldn't you have expected 80 minute waits for a new ride? If you are clueless you might not have any chance to get a 7DMT Fastpass, but I don't see them as actually worse off than people who were clueless 10 years ago.

 

[John]

So pre-Fastpass (of any kind), wouldn't you have expected 80 minute waits for a new ride? If you are clueless you might not have any chance to get a 7DMT Fastpass, but I don't see them as actually worse off than people who were clueless 10 years ago.

I guess my point is that it doesn't matter if you are clueless ( lets face it some people are clueless no matter what) or a park veteran. If you decide to visit on a whim....you are S.O.L. At least with legacy you were on the same footing with everyone else. But I digress I absolutely don't want to rehash this argument. Please I beg of everyone......my bad!

 

[Captain Neo]

Remember when you kept saying Avatar was inevitably going into Disneyland's Tomorrowland? Yeah.

MiceChat and Spirit have insider resources. You honestly think it's abnormal that both are stating the same thing(s)?

Avatar will eventually be in Disneyland's tomorrow land yes. Disney did not pay for the park license just so DAK can have more stuff to do. I remember when some people mistakenly thought Harry Potter was IOA exclusive.

 

[Captain Neo]

As much as we all love all of the information and inside scoops that @WDW1974 provides for us here, to be fair the latest MiceAge Update fleshed out a lot more details and included new information than the Spirit offered here the night before.

For example, WDW1974 said this on Monday the 18th at 7:06 P.M. Eastern time:

"Both DCA and HKDL (and looks like DLP can be added now thanks to a kind source) will be getting temporary attractions that will very likely be there for years. And I use the word 'attraction' very liberally here. Think meet-and-greet-and-gropes and singalongs and things of that nature. They will not be replacing anything right now, just utilizing existing and or new real estate." - WDW1974

That was a scoop, and we loved it! But that's all the information he was able to share in this thread, in order to protect his sources and/or honor his friendships within Disney. And for that we respect him and thank him.

About eleven hours later, at 3:00 A.M. Pacific time on Tuesday the 19th, a MiceAge Update was posted to their website. Here's the more fleshed out and specific information MiceAge offered eleven hours after Spirit shared what he did:

"Taking a cue from the successful Frozen Summer Fun promotion they pulled together very quickly out at Walt Disney World, a new Frozen offering will be shoehorned into DCA for this Christmas season. Setting up in, you guessed it, the backlot area of DCA’s Hollywoodland, the characters from Frozen will be moving in for the holidays. An indoor ice rink and character meet n’ greet will be installed in Stage 17, while next door the Muppets will go on hiatus (again) and the MuppetVision theater will be repurposed for a small stage show and Frozen sing-along. Frozen décor and set pieces will be plopped down around these two venues and take over some of the existing Mad T Party facilities, and the existing Studio Store nearby will be turned into a Frozen merchandise headquarters. This will create a Frozen miniland of sorts in DCA, and should help take the pressure off the Frozen frenzy currently found in Fantasyland." - MiceAge Update

So there's a whole bunch more information there than what WDW1974 was able to offer. From MiceAge we got the exact location, the planned offerings, the venues to be used, a timeline aimed at the Christmas season, and the scope of the overall project.

The rest of Tuesday's MiceAge Update was so Disneyland-centric on stuff coming in the next eight months, focusing on the new night parade, new fireworks, dark ride upgrades, breaking the news that Toontown would become a "show building" for a Star Wars E Ticket accessed from the Big Thunder Ranch area, plus fleshing out the rumor of the new Marvel Land coming to California Adventure behind Tower of Terror that MiceAge already leaked a couple months ago, that I'm not sure much else could be compared to anything @WDW1974 has posted here.

I love me some juicy global gossip from @WDW1974 threads on wdwmagic.com, but the MiceAge Updates have been fleshing out the Anaheim details for over a decade. This latest update from MiceAge is no different.

I'm saying that those "details" that Miceage provided are made up. Pure speculation based on WDW1974's news. If you notice the details are still vague nothing concrete like we used to get with Al Lutz.

 

[Alektronic]

@WDW1974 do you know if the scenes of maelstrom will be totally removed? I mean, an all-new frozen ride in epcot, not just a cheap overlay.

Yes, they will be totally removed, it will be all new show scenes.