Yesterday's foray to a VERY QUIET Epcot gave my team an opportunity to jump on the new 'Frozen Ever After' attraction in World Showcase. The ride had just re-opened after a technical glitch so our wait time was only 20-30 minutes.
While I enjoyed the film I was certainly not its target demographic. Nonetheless, as a hard core theme park "foamer", I wanted to see what team WDI put together.
I was not disappointed.
The animated figures (especially Olaf) are incredible. The character face projections are pretty much spot on. The Anna character was not working (which I suspect was the reason for the shut down) but the variance in Elsa's movement was extraordinary.
Walking away from the attraction the exceptional animated figures made me think how the attraction represented a harbinger for the boat ride planned for Disney's Animal Kingdom's 'Pandora: The World of Avatar.' After all 'Frozen Ever After' has won a fair share of praise. Not bad for an overlay using an existing ride system. But if the animated figures on this attraction are any indication, it would seem that another attraction, using a brand new ride system and the blessing of a much larger budget could make for a groundbreaking experience on Pandora.
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At this point, the question is not whether WDI can create something spectacular. It's whether Disney can keep the uptime near the 100% that guests demand. I agree that a larger budget and original construction should help with that, but reports of downtime and looooong waits undercut the positive word-of-mouth promotion that Disney gets from people who have seen FEA in full working order.
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I would think Shanghai Disneyland Pirates would be a closer inspiration for Pandora. The alien characters don't need face projections. A traditional animatronic might be more suitable. The ride would be enhanced with many screen projections. Shanghai Pirates also have the newer boat ride system. Frozen Ever After is using old tech and seems awfully unreliable with all the breakdowns.