My thoughts on Frozen

[MacMama0930]

We watched Frozen today at the 11:35 show. It was really well done, but in my opinion, it's not well organized and not really worth the time and "hassle" it took. We spent our entire magic morning hour standing in line for FP (because we had to get the 11:35 showing due to our departure schedule). We were the first ones in line, and got orchestra seating. I'm still not sure how it all happened but it seems like a ton of people poured into the theater before us (even though it didn't look like that many people ahead of us) and we got stuck with the very back row and our group couldn't even sit together. And while the show was good, I would've preferred riding rides. I felt like kind of jipped considering we were first to pull fast passes. I personally think hotel guests should be given fast passes. If you're spending nearly $500 per night to stay on site, you shouldn't have to spend your early magic morning standing in line just to get crummy seating options. I am not a complainer, and I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our trip, even with the high crowds this week. But our frozen experience was a disappointment.

 

[grnflash]

I think that MM itself is the perk of on property stays. How you choose to use that hour is up to you. We stay on property a couple times a year and I still hope Disney never moves to give hotel guests further priority for attractions. MM is enough. Once it's general admin time, everyone's equal.

 

[5forMickey]

I was disappointed with Frozen also but I'm not sure if it was the show itself or the fact that I LOVED Aladdin (which you used to get a priority seat for when booking through WTD and sometimess the concierge would give us coupons for ) or the big build up that the show didn't hold up to. I probably wouldn't see Frozen again whereas I would see Aladdin every trip, at least once. Don't get me wrong, the play was okay, just not what they build it up to be.

 

[MacMama0930]

I think that MM itself is the perk of on property stays. How you choose to use that hour is up to you. We stay on property a couple times a year and I still hope Disney never moves to give hotel guests further priority for attractions. MM is enough. Once it's general admin time, everyone's equal.

I agree that it was a super nice perk. I guess my bigger complaint was how so many people were in the orchestra seating before we got in. I guess I just expected more since we did pull the FP first. But now that I know it's much more of a free for all, and that it really makes no difference whether you're first or 100 people in when pulling the pass, I would never waste my MM doing that. So that was more my purpose of sharing. Unless someone is DYING to see this show, I would recommend NOT using that precious morning time pulling a FP.

 

[Rabb it]

Yeah it seems like the disconnect is that you got the fast passes but then showed up right before the show started, thus they gave you your section but you got the worst seating in that section. Sorry for the bad experience but as with Aladdin you still need to show up early to get the better seats. You stated that you don't think you should have to stand in line for an hour during your MM, but you don't HAVE to, you chose to do that. Count yourself lucky, normal ticket holders only get one MM during their stay not everyday like Disney hotel guests, and annual passholders get zero magic mornings..

 

[MacMama0930]

Yeah it seems like the disconnect is that you got the fast passes but then showed up right before the show started, thus they gave you your section but you got the worst seating in that section. Sorry for the bad experience but as with Aladdin you still need to show up early to get the better seats. You stated that you don't think you should have to stand in line for an hour during your MM, but you don't HAVE to, you chose to do that. Count yourself lucky, normal ticket holders only get one MM during their stay not everyday like Disney hotel guests, and annual passholders get zero magic mornings..

Exactly. We didn't realize how early we had to show up for the show. I guess people were there an hour before the show started. I had never seen a show there before so I didn't realize how it worked. Our MM this mornin was kind of a bust anyways cause Cars was down too. But my other days were really nice and we got to do a lot in that hour.

 

[Geemo]

We went to see Frozen during our visit the first of October.

Got in line for an Orchestra seating FP to the first show on a Monday.
With FP's in hand and "To be Right At the Front" of the main line, we hopped in line for the show 1hr before the doors open.
It's a long wait standing in ONE spot so long!

People with wheelchairs and scooters were in the section ahead of us.
We were lead into the theater behind WC's and scooters. We found four seats in the middle of the Orchestra section.

Our group liked the show. However, all of us agreed it was no Aladdin. Normally during a trip we'd see Aladdin two or three times.
We felt seeing Frozen the one time was enough. I did go back another day to see it by myself. Thinking it might be better a second time.
I lasted half way through the show and got up and left.

On the December trip I'm not sure if we'll bother with it. While it was cute, Frozen just doesn't have the draw for us that Aladdin did.
If I need to see Frozen while at DLR, I'd rather watch the DVD back in the room.

My group included me (D-Geemo) and my 3 grown grandkids, DGD-19, DGS-22 and DGD-23.
December will be me and the younger two grandkids DGD-12 and DGS-14.

Geemo

 

[GenGen22]

Ok as an Aladdin lover who would make it a point to see the show every time I would go to DL I'm sad that I'll feel the same was as Geemo & 5forMickey. I loved the show so much that it put tears I'm my eyes the last time I saw it knowing I would never see it again. I'm headed there this week and still will go to see Frozen as I have to still check it out but this fast pass thing sucks in my book. I liked being able to just go to a show randomly when I wanted to get out of the heat or sit down for awhile. I guess I just don't like scheduling my time when I'm on vacation.

 

[Kindermouse]

We didnt bother to see it when we were there. I don think Frozen has the appeal across multiple age groups and genders that Aladdin had. The boys had zero interest in seeing "a princess show" and my niece actually is mostly Frozen'ed out. She was Anna For halloween 2 years ago, she has a frozen dollhouse (That I had to move hell and highwater to get her the spring following the movie coming out) a Frozen bed set and a million other frozen things and we saw Frozen on ice back in February (actually she saw it twice since her other aunt took her as well-that's what happens when your the only girl in the family) . She was fine with skipping one more Frozen experience.

Aladdin however-everyone wanted to see it and it always lived up to the wait and you never felt like it one time too many from a disney property that you are overly surrounded by.

 

[Geemo]

One good thing I see about Frozen......
Is that for each Frozen performance, there are that many people not in a line somewhere else in the park.

Geemo

 

[3princes+1princess]

Thank you for this post....my 3 boys, and my girl said they had no interest in seeing it. I felt like maybe we should though....but now I think we will just spend our times riding rides and not waiting for someone I don't think they would enjoy. (Missing Aladdin).

 

[cinder-ellah]

Our family group of 10 (age 7 to 66) saw Frozen in August. We all agreed, once was enough.
Add me to the list of missing Aladdin.

 

[casagray]

I haven't seen Frozen yet, and really have no plans to. However, I would go to Aladdin, and my last trip went three times, seeing two different genies, and three different shows because of how the genies would sometimes ad lib (one thing about seeing the same genie twice is you know what that genie put in each time, and what he ad libs), as well as how the audience reacted to each funny line/ad lib changed the show. Totally worth it, loved it ... not happy at all about Frozen. I would see a stripped down version if they had it (yes, the parade was fun, the flying carpet fun), but I think you could get away with downsizing those and using less people and still have a great show - which makes it more portable to another theater.

 

[julesann]

Well, I am at DCA today and had a Frozen lunch reservation for priority seating, but all the shows but the 11:30 were cancelled (they called last night). After riding RSR, and TSMM, we walked by the Frozen fp area and as there was no line so we got fp around 9:30 for the mezzanine section. We showed up at 11:00 and did have to wait a little longer as the show didn't start until 11:45 or so. We sat mid section about 5 rows up. I loved the show. I thought it was incredibly well staged--actually far more beautiful than Aladdin and the special effects were well done. I did think the Genie was brilliant in Aladdin and made the show, and the rest of it was good. I thought the acting was superb. So...to each her own, but don't give up going based on some negative reviews.

 

[MacMama0930]

Well, I am at DCA today and had a Frozen lunch reservation for priority seating, but all the shows but the 11:30 were cancelled (they called last night). After riding RSR, and TSMM, we walked by the Frozen fp area and as there was no line so we got fp around 9:30 for the mezzanine section. We showed up at 11:00 and did have to wait a little longer as the show didn't start until 11:45 or so. We sat mid section about 5 rows up. I loved the show. I thought it was incredibly well staged--actually far more beautiful than Aladdin and the special effects were well done. I did think the Genie was brilliant in Aladdin and made the show, and the rest of it was good. I thought the acting was superb. So...to each her own, but don't give up going based on some negative reviews.

Maybe I was there on an exceptionally busy day but there was absolutely no way anyone was pulling a FP at 9:30 for an 11:35 show. There were a total of 4 shows on our day and the FP kiosk closed before 10. Every single FP had been issued. So I guess it depends heavily on the crowds.

 

[Nonsuch]

First, I'm a big fan on Frozen the Movie and Frozen at the Hyperion.
I've seen more than my fair share of touring Broadway Musicals and quite a few on Broadway.

The Aladdin show was great, but after seeing it dozens of times over many years it was overdue for replacement. Frozen at the Hyperion is a very innovative show, and I enjoy it very much.

I don't know the original source, but a post on another board says Fastpass for Frozen will be discontinued.
I hope some of the Preferred Viewing options (hotel concierge, tour packages...) will become available, as they were with Aladdin.

 

[minnieralyks]

We watched Frozen today at the 11:35 show. It was really well done, but in my opinion, it's not well organized and not really worth the time and "hassle" it took. We spent our entire magic morning hour standing in line for FP (because we had to get the 11:35 showing due to our departure schedule). We were the first ones in line, and got orchestra seating. I'm still not sure how it all happened but it seems like a ton of people poured into the theater before us (even though it didn't look like that many people ahead of us) and we got stuck with the very back row and our group couldn't even sit together. And while the show was good, I would've preferred riding rides. I felt like kind of jipped considering we were first to pull fast passes. I personally think hotel guests should be given fast passes. If you're spending nearly $500 per night to stay on site, you shouldn't have to spend your early magic morning standing in line just to get crummy seating options. I am not a complainer, and I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our trip, even with the high crowds this week. But our frozen experience was a disappointment.

Were you first in line for the FastPass distribution or first in line for the Orchestra section before the show? If you were first in line for Orchestra, that's really crazy and surprising that that many people went in before you (considering it's just supposed to be people needing special assistance go in before the other sections). The FastPass states to come back about an hour before showtime to lineup, but I've seen people show up even earlier lining up. If you were first in line for just the FastPass distribution, I don't think it matters whether someone is first in line; all the FastPasses are on a first come, first serve basis to line up for their specific section.

Sorry to hear that it felt like time was wasted. I know a lot of people use MM and can get quite a bit done in that window of time before the park opens for general admission, which is a really nice perk. They have it set up so that MM are at an advantage of getting a FastPass for the show if they choose to go to the show, but don't automatically get priority admission (that would be a whole lotta' people getting priority admission between the 3 Disney owned hotels). I think the main perk for hotel guests is Magic Morning almost everyday itself and then they choose how to spend that hour to maximize park time.

Glad you enjoyed your trip otherwise though!

 

[MacMama0930]

First, I'm a big fan on Frozen the Movie and Frozen at the Hyperion.
I've seen more than my fair share of touring Broadway Musicals and quite a few on Broadway.

The Aladdin show was great, but after seeing it dozens of times over many years it was overdue for replacement. Frozen at the Hyperion is a very innovative show, and I enjoy it very much.

I don't know the original source, but a post on another board says Fastpass for Frozen will be discontinued.
I hope some of the Preferred Viewing options (hotel concierge, tour packages...) will become available, as they were with Aladdin.

I am a big fan of the movie, too. But maybe I don't have the necessary appreciation for broadway like shows. Again, I liked the show - and had I simply pulled a FP at 9:30 am and received decent seating like the previous poster, I would've probably appreciated it more. But spending an hour waiting for the FP and then spending 45 minutes waiting to see the show and then having to sit apart from my group and get not ideal seating, that's what made me feel kind of jaded about the whole thing.

And to answer the other previous poster, yes I meant I was first in line to pull FP, but it's not like we showed up 5 minutes before the show. There were definitely people in front of us but not nearly as many people as were sitting in our section before we got there. I was really puzzled because it seemed like there were maybe 40 people ahead of us in line in the orchestra section but when we got in there there were only sparse two seat options in the very back. I was confused and disappointed.

 

[cinder-ellah]

Our family group of 10 (age 7 to 66) saw Frozen in August. We all agreed, once was enough.
Add me to the list of missing Aladdin.

We did enjoy the special effects and we were glad we saw it. Just those in our group didn't feel the need to see it again.
And the great thing about Disney is a variety of things for people to experience again & again or just once.

I would encourage family and friends to see it.

 

[tlovesdis]

We saw it in September and once was more than enough for us! We felt it was way too long and not really that great.