line to get INTO Norway. I keep tryin to cut; not working @thetimtracker @InsideTheMagic @ThemePark @ThemeParkReview pic.twitter.com/fMDJn9qO0H
— Jordan C. Allison (@ThatsSoJordy) June 21, 2016
Disney World's My Disney Experience app reported the mid-morning wait time at 240 minutes, though some in the park said that's only because the time counter maxes out at four hours... and that the actual wait would be even longer.
Disney tried to alleviate the discomfort of the long wait in the Central Florida sun with free water for guests. And fans who endured the epic queue around the World Showcase lagoon into the Norway pavilion found a clever reskinning of the old Maelstrom ride. Frozen Ever After doesn't introduce any new narratives into the Frozen canon, as Disney's Imagineers opted instead to deliver familiar musical quotes from the Academy Award-winning animated hit instead.
Disney's used the animatronic technology it employed on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to create finely animated animatronic characters throughout the ride, including Olaf, Anna, and in the big climax, Elsa singing "Let it Go." (If you remember Maelstrom, that comes at the moment when your boat reverses direction and falls backward into the first drop on the ride.)
Here's a POV video:
Disney cancelled its planned press preview for Frozen Ever After, as local parks cut back on press events following the Pulse nightclub shooting last week, so today was the first opportunity for anyone outside the company to see the new ride.
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But 300 minutes (5 hours)- not for me... This is not WWOHP, it is just one ride....
This goes to show you how popular Disney is and the need for new rides\attractions.
Instead of retelling the movie, the time frame is after the movie, (actually after the short film which was after the movie) and they're reprising the songs, which is fine with me. It doesn't go into any of the dramatic moments with Hans, etc, but that's ok. It would have to be a much longer ride to do that, and maybe not necessary.
The face projections look a little funny, though, although again it may look better in person. A human non-cartoony character has less range of expression, so I'm not sure if the projection is better than a regular animatronic. I can see the projection being better on a cartoony character like the dwarfs.
Marshmallow just lies there, but if he did anything else, it would probably scare the kiddies.
It does look pretty good though, Epcot just needs more attractions in World Showcase, maybe the Ratatouille ride in France and a Swiss Pavilion with Matterhorn. Then re-haul almost every ride in Future World, start with Energy and Imagination.
People remember Epcot in it's glory days of the 80s and 90s, it's time for a second golden age.
Is it worth a 4 hour wait? Of course not. But then neither was Harry Potter.
However, that looked really well done. Amazing what Disney is doing with Anamatronics now. Unbelievable, really. It's hard to judge by a video, but those looked like animated characters brought to life. Well done.
And, I hated EPCOT when it opened; 13 and the "edutainment" was already behind my knowledge - huge bummer. So more of this Disney-fication of both sections of the park, please!
Thanks for saving me 60(0) minutes - and heat - to ride today!! ;-)
Plus what are we supposed to learn from this? Nothing!
On another note, this ride proves that Disney people will buy anything lackluster Disney "creates". I love Frozen and never cared much for Maelstrom, but after watching the video, it's obvious that Disney's just created another slow-moving-trailer-ride. All they need is for a deep voice to intone "In a world that..." at the beginning of each ride. It's funny that Disney movies are in a renaissance, yet the theme parks couldn't tell a story if it became international law.
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Very good ride. Much better than Maelstrom. Nitpick, Too much Olaf (dump his second scene where he is ice skating after the lift) and the Snow Creature didn't do anything (wasted space). Overall, makes good use of the short track length. Excellent animatronics. Not enough Anna and other characters.