Frozen Burnout

[DisneyKingpin]

I think Disney has to give people what they want, and the kids clearly are not done with Frozen yet.

I can understand (and share) Pete's concerns that Disney may be indulging in a little too much Frozen. But let's not forget we all were critical of Disney last Spring and Summer when lines to meet Ana and Elsa were 5 hours long. I remember Pete and many of the other podcasters saying Disney should just create additional opportunities so everyone could experience this Frozen attraction.

There was an avalanche of feedback to give us more Frozen. And now that we are getting more Frozen, we are experiencing the burnout. ... I remember last Christmas season there wasn't as much available Frozen merchandise available. We were disappointed as we staked out the Disney Store and the parks looking for more. This season, there is a lot available and we are burnt out. We say there is too much.

It's a mixed message we send to Disney sometimes. We said we wanted more merchandise and attractions and we got it. Now we are saying we don't want it anymore?

The bottom line is Disney won't stop delivering until the financial profits of Frozen start to dip.

Oh, and just wait till Frozen 2 comes out. As the old saying goes - You ain't seen nothin' yet!

 

[lovethattink]

I give it at least another year for the Frozen fever. Disney totally missed the train for Tangled. And came out a year or two later than they should have with Phinneas and Ferb. We searched long and hard for P & F themed toys and shirts the first series or two. Now it's easy to find. Imho, Disney is using smart business sense to market Frozen for all its worth now. My family is on the bandwagon.

 

[crownprincesslexi]

I'm a CM (so take my opinion for what it's worth), but even us backstage are TIRED of the, essentially, pimping out of Frozen. One of the things all of us love about Disney is that there is such a wide range of characters to love and it seems that those characters are being pushed WAYYYYY to the back for Anna, Elsa, and Olaf.

I love the movie, my friends and I saw it three times in theaters, but it seems that Disney isn't doing anything to make a centralized plan about what to do for Frozen. It seems like they just want to put Frozen in whatever they can, instead of developing an organized push. A lot of things for Frozen Summer Fun, which was a total success, were planning two weeks in advance when execs were like "Hey we really need something Frozen in the Hollywood Studios! Now!" And what Craig said about them just throwing up the fireworks is absolutely true! Pretty much, they just picked out blue fireworks and hearts and said "let's make it work."

Also, I understand that Frozen is the classic for this generation, but when Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid came out for my generation, Pinocchio and Snow White weren't taking the brunt of the popularity. So, I think that Frozen shouldn't be doing the same to "our" classics.

 

[Pixie Princess]

Just giving the people what they want..

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/frozen-overtakes-barbie-holiday-season-050001029.html;_ylt=AwrBTzzV5XVUPiIAVXhXNyoA

 

[kuleiros]

TOTALLY agree with everything CrownPrincessLexi said - and VERY well stated too!!

 

[disneysteve]

Like many, I have mixed feelings. I really like Frozen and I think some of the stuff they've done in the parks has been great, but I also feel like it has oversaturated the market. Do they need to be pushing Frozen in 3 of 4 parks?

Things I've liked: Oaken's Trading Post and the ice rink. I thought those were great.
The castle lighting show.
Adding Frozen characters to the parades.
The DHS fireworks.
The sign-along.

Things I haven't liked:
Putting Frozen into the Norway pavillion. Not because I don't like Frozen but because it totally and completely changes what World Showcase has always been about. It was about real life, real places, real history, not fantasy worlds. How can they still call it the Norway pavillion when the ride will have nothing to do with Norway? Is this a sign of things to come for the rest of World Showcase? I hope not.

Taking over Sir Mickey's in MK, even if only temporarily. I'm fine with having a significant presence in the gift shops. I expect that. But they shouldn't essentially convert an entire store like that.

Renaming the Christmas parade. That is pure exploitation to suck in viewers and boost ratings. I expect better of Disney.

So am I burnt out with Frozen? Not quite but that's probably because we only visit the parks once a year. If we were more frequent guests, I'd probably be over it by now.

 

[SaraMc]

I have a 5 year old girl and a a 8 year old boy. Last year in Nov when we saw the movie it was all about frozen. Trying to remember the words to let it go.
I had popped into the disney store and bought a couple of things as they were loaded with merchandise for my DD.
Then the kids asked to see it again. So we did. We got the soundtrack and the frozen fever started. MY DD pretended all the time that she was Elsa or Anna. MY DS was Olaf, every snowman was an attempt to look like Olaf.
I went back to the Disney Store to get some things for Christmas presents to find they had nothing left and they didn't know when they were getting more.
No problem I thought, were going to Disney world right after Christmas at the end of January. You can meet Anna and Elsa there. Of course they are going to have merchandise.

Jump ahead to the end of January. Nothing frozen in our resorts. We go to Downtown Disney to the world of Disney, they have a book and a wig.

A BOOK and a WIG.

Thats it. HUDGE movie, making millions and all they have is a book and a wig.
I ask the CM, they tell me go to Norway, everything is being taken there.

We choose not to spend 6-8 hours in line to meet Anna and Elsa, its freezing thanks to the polar vortex . I love my kids but Im not about to or make my DH wait in that kind of weather.
So yes. My frozen obsessed kids have not met Anna or Elsa.

We went to Norway, and I can tell you the CM's seemed tired of the questions, "Where is the frozen stuff?" She pointed to the spot.
Guess what there was.
A BOOK AND A WIG!

Later through the week we saw girls in downtown disney all BBB'd up in Anna's coronation dress. Its 7:00 pm and I enquire at BBB. Yes they have the dress, they will only sell it if you do the BBB. We very last minute decided that yes we will do it. Probably one of the best CM interactions we have had as my DD got all done up. She was fantastic. DD was the last girl of the day to be done and she loved it.
SHE wore the dress the rest of the vacation. She wore it home.

And then she asked. "Can I have a Elsa dress?".

There was nothing. I called weekly to the disney store, searched ebay, and joined groups on FB devoted to finding frozen things.

DD asked for her birthday to be frozen themed. No problem. We made things that were snow themed. Because nothing was really available. I found something at Target.
This was now 6 months of her loving frozen and me trying to find her things and now watching that video every week.

Yet the parks still didn't really have anything. Even in July when I went to DL there was a bit of stuff but it went so quickly.

Friends of mine who were mum's all banded together in the search for anything frozen. I was at the disney store one saturday morning and got two Olaf's for my boss who couldn't find them for her kids. While DH bought two for our own kids.

I got up at 3:00am, because that's when the Disneystore.com updates and found DD the Elsa dress and shoes for her birthday. Im in Canada I paid about $75 extra to have it shipped to us. Why? So she could have the one thing she asked for for her birthday. Oh and she still wears that dress all the time now.

The frozen fever is still alive and kicking on the school yard.

So for us, the parks really dropped the ball on this last year, going back this year we have FP for the sing a long and to meet Anna and Elsa.

Is frozen burnt out, maybe for some. But to me it feels like Disney is playing a large game of catch up to make sure that we are able to have more than just a Wig and a book.

 

[kbelle8995]

I was fine with most of the Frozen at the park.

However, for me where it went to far was when they decided to put this in Norway.

Arendelle is not a real place and it does not fit in WS in my opinion.

 

[SeanWM48]

was at the parks about two weeks ago and agree that frozen really is everywhere but at the same time i knew that going down there. we all do. when you expect it, you just kinda go along with it. it's not like i was taken by surprise by all the frozen-related additions.

the one gripe i agree with is the norway pavilion. as stated above that should be about the country and its history/origins, not fiction

 

[WMorganS]

Arendelle is not a real place and it does not fit in WS in my opinion.

Oh come on! If it's not a real place, then where where are they from?

 

[DisneyKingpin]

Arendelle is not a real place and it does not fit in WS in my opinion.

Everyone is giving too much credit to the World Showcase for being "real."

They don't serve Florida craft beer in the real Mexico. Steaks in the real Canada are not as expensive as at Le Cellier. Winnie the Pooh does not hang out in the real England nor is Winnie the Pooh actually real. And the real United States borders Canada not Japan.

Nothing there is "real." Disney is a place of fantasy.

 

[emldrl]

Ok, I have a question. We didn't go to WS last trip; we only had 4 day tickets, and we missed A LOT! We skipped it because we didn't think it would be entertaining for our then 2 year old. So my question is, what's the big deal about the Frozen ride being in Norway? Don't they have characters in several countries already? Fictional characters? I get the reality part of it, but for families with kids to entertain, I would think more attractions geared toward kids would be a good thing. This has had me curious ever since I joined here. Thanks in advance!

 

[disneysteve]

So my question is, what's the big deal about the Frozen ride being in Norway? Don't they have characters in several countries already? Fictional characters? I get the reality part of it, but for families with kids to entertain, I would think more attractions geared toward kids would be a good thing. This has had me curious ever since I joined here. Thanks in advance!

There is a big difference between having a character, like Winnie The Pooh, in the UK pavilion since the story comes from the UK, and replacing the main attraction of the pavilion with a Winnie the Pooh ride.

It is called World Showcase, not Fantasyland.

And I think there is plenty for kids to see and do in World Showcase. We never had trouble entertaining our kid there.

 

[emldrl]

There is a big difference between having a character, like Winnie The Pooh, in the UK pavilion since the story comes from the UK, and replacing the main attraction of the pavilion with a Winnie the Pooh ride.

It is called World Showcase, not Fantasyland.

And I think there is plenty for kids to see and do in World Showcase. We never had trouble entertaining our kid there.

I was just asking out of honest curiosity, because I really don't know what there is to do there.

 

[DisneyKingpin]

There is a big difference between having a character, like Winnie The Pooh, in the UK pavilion since the story comes from the UK.

The Frozen story is set in Norway. Both Winnie the Pooh and Elsa are fictional characters. So, no, there is very definitely not a big difference. Same thing, actually.

 

[rteetz]

Disneyland just announced more frozen fun very similar to WDW

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/12/new-frozen-fun-opens-at-disneyland-resort-january-7/

 

[crownprincesslexi]

The Frozen story is set in Norway. Both Winnie the Pooh and Elsa are fictional characters. So, no, there is very definitely not a big difference. Same thing, actually.

Frozen is inspired by Norway, but is set in Arrendelle. Even still, A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh was from the UK and wrote the books to take place in that setting. As far as Frozen, Arrendelle is a fictional place and the story it is based off of "The Snow Queen" was written by Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author. So.... there's that.

 

[kbelle8995]

There is a big difference between having a character, like Winnie The Pooh, in the UK pavilion since the story comes from the UK, and replacing the main attraction of the pavilion with a Winnie the Pooh ride.

It is called World Showcase, not Fantasyland.

And I think there is plenty for kids to see and do in World Showcase. We never had trouble entertaining our kid there.

 

[DisneyKingpin]

Frozen is inspired by Norway, but is set in Arrendelle. Even still, A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh was from the UK and wrote the books to take place in that setting. As far as Frozen, Arrendelle is a fictional place and the story it is based off of "The Snow Queen" was written by Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author. So.... there's that.

Ok, explain Fiesta Donald Duck in Mexico then. Was Walt Disney born in Tijuana? Did Donald and Daisy honeymoon in Acapulco? So.... there's that.

 

[disneysteve]

Ok, explain Fiesta Donald Duck in Mexico then. Was Walt Disney born in Tijuana? Did Donald and Daisy honeymoon in Acapulco? So.... there's that.

Using the characters from Three Caballeros to showcase real Mexican sights is perfectly fine IMO. The ride still shows real places in Mexico.

I'd be fine with them doing something similar in Norway - incorporate the Frozen characters to guide guests on a tour of Norway. But that's not the direction they seem to be going.