Has Frozen lost some appeal with certain age groups?

[ajwolfe]

Always? Dark rides are very 1960's-1970's. Disney hasn't built a good one since the mid-70's. They are certainly not the future. Kids are far too sophisticated and tech savvy today to be won over by moving mannequins..

I have to say my family feels quite differently about the dark rides. That's part of the appeal of Disney is that the rides are different than our local Six Flags. My kids (ages 9 and 12) love both dark rides and the more thrill enhanced rides but you ask them what the classics/faves are to them and they are going to steer you back towards Peter Pan, Pooh, HM, etc. Personally I think for some kids they get so used to being tech savvy and seeing screens everywhere that it is a totally awesome experience for them to go back and do these "classic" style rides If Disney steers away from that it wouldn't be the same experience to us and we wouldn't feel the need to keep on visiting.

 

[Shanti]

I am really curious if this is something across the board or if it is just around here. My daughter is now 9 and of course a couple years back she was very much into frozen. Now it seems since she entered 3rd grade it is the opposite. All the Frozen clothes she has she wont wear just says "Frozen is for little kids".

Now I will also say that she is still angry that they replaced one of her favorite rides, as she called it "the troll ride" with Frozen so that may be part of it for her at least.

I am just curious if this is something common at this age (no previous experience with 9 yr old girls lol) or if it is unique to this part of the country or just to my daughter and her classmates.

I figured I would ask it in this forum section as I would think it might effect the new ride if it is widespread.

Frozen came out years ago, so it's not mega-fashionable as it once was. Many girls still love it, though. It's never really been a boy thing.

I teach 10 & 11 year-olds, so they're my source of information.

 

[AngiTN]

DGD is 8, going in to 3rd grade. She is still very much in to Frozen, as are her friends.

She's met A&E many times but has said that she wants very much to see them in their new house. She gave me very dirty looks when she learned DH and I went to see it on our trip (without her) last month.

 

[Stigsmom]

This may sound crazy but- my DD just turned 3 and told me last month that Anna and Elsa are "embarrassing." It probably has to do with having older brothers who abhor princess stuff, but we saw a couple actresses portraying A & E at a mall event and even though they approached her really nicely, she genuinely wanted nothing to do with them. She still likes the other basic princesses, but nothing Frozen. I am sure we won't be doing the meet and greet in the future and probably not the ride.

 

[Vijoge]

DGD, 5.5, still sings "Let It Go" daily, in the car, at the top of her lungs. She's also probably Olaf's biggest fan. Her sister, 8, couldn't care less at this point.

 

[NotUrsula]

Kids get tired of things when they are bombarded with them constantly, just as adults do. My DD9 is a figure skater, and a Frozen medley was her program 2 years ago -- to say that she's over it now would be an understatement, LOL.

The movie is a good one, though, just as Lion King was, and so succeeding cohorts of girls will love it all over again in their time.

With regard to dark rides, Disney does them better than any other park company, and there is a reason why they continue to do them; people love dark rides, especially in a location like Orlando, where they provide a nice cool place to relax and an experience that makes you admire the art and takes you out of yourself without stress.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I'll try a more meta answer...
Kids get burned out quicker on many pop culture properties these days because these days they are force fed then 24/7. Kids watch the Frozen movie, play FRozen video games, eat Frozen snack cakes, play with Frozen dolls, sleep on Frozen sheets, and listen to Frozen CDs until their weary little brains can't take it anymore. Kids are eager to discover what's next, not set up camp and dwell forever on today or yesterday's hot property. I think the timeline of interest and engagement is shortened by overexposure. JMHO

My kids are now 19 and 16. Both still love WDW and would go every month if we could afford it and had the time, even though they have been going to WDW annually since they were toddlers. If going to WDW was only about riding this or that again, I doubt they'd care about it. It's the family time and adventure they like. Same goes for me and DW.

The Frozenride will continue to do well as new waves of kids are constantly introduced to it, but they too will burn out quickly.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I will speak only to the ride. I think Disney is miscalculating the public's demand for 1970's style ride through attractions, no matter how good the animatronics are. I think that they missed huge opportunities with Little Mermaid and Frozen and have built attractions that will not wear well with age and will turn off a lot of people. Especially kids as they age. Some of Disney's classic rides have stood the test of time because they were cutting edge when they were introduced, and became "classics" before they could be shunned. Small World is an example. It is unquestionably a classic ride and remains a "must do" for many, many people. But if that ride did not exist, and was introduced today in its current form, the reaction would be: "Huh? You must be joking." But because it was once a state of the art ride, it grew on people and remains a classic today. But when a 10 year old kid today goes from Forbidden Journey to Escape from Gringotts to Spider Man to Transformers to Star Tours to Everest, to Soarin' and even to 7DMT, a ride on Little Mermaid and FEA is going to fall flat. Of all of these rides, Little Mermaid and FEA are the two that kids are going to age out of the most. Just as they do with Pooh. Compared to the other state of the art rides that kids get to do, I can't see that there is anything about these two new rides that will keep kids coming back as they age. So yes, I definitely think that they built a ride that will result in kids aging out of it. But they will be back when they have kids of their own!

Being not a kid, I am exactly the opposite of this post. Personally, I do not enjoy Gringotts, Spider Man, Transfomers, Star Tours, Everest. If I liked those rides, i would go to Universal. It's certainly the better choice.

However, I like to have a calm, relaxing ride watching animitronics. That's why I like Disney. I would be happy if Epcot was returned to rides like Horizons and the original imagination and spaceship earth.

Disney is doing the right thing. They shouldn't try to compete with Universal - Universal is doing just fine in that market. Disney should stay focused on it's core - entertainment and not try to be a thrill park. If they really want to be in that market, make a 5th gate for it.

 

[Disneymom1126]

My daughter (now 8) decided last year that she was "over" Frozen, but was obsessed with it when it first came out. Last fall she didn't want to do the sing-a-long at HS. For this trip she does want to do the ride, but I think that's cause it's a ride. In the same time-frame she also isn't really into meeting the face-characters anymore. Still wants to meet Mickey and the gang and her all-time favorite Stitch, but other than that...not so much. I'm interested to see what she says about some of the rides this trip. We went to an amusement park with bigger/faster roller coasters this summer and she loved them -- I'm wondering if she won't be as in to some of the slower rides this trip. Having said that - I think it's good that they have so many of those slower rides because they are great for the younger kids...and I still think there are plenty of things for the older kids to have fun riding.