Lukewarm on FEA...

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I'm not crazy about the new Soarin either, I've ridden it twice and I might be done with it unless it has no more than a 10 min. wait. As others have pointed out, unless you sit dead center everything is crooked and not everyone can sit dead center. I don't mind the CGI but it just doesn't seem as exciting as the old one did.

I'm so glad I'm not alone in preferring the old Soarin! I loved the old one and was so hopeful for this one because I've been saying for a while that Soarin' over California doesn't make much sense in Epcot and Soarin' over the world made a lot more sense. You're so right about everything being crooked. It was really obvious on the Eiffel Tower, I thought. I also really could have done without how many things were thrown at the screen. On the original, you had the golf ball and the plane that buzzed us, but that was it. The new version has the whale splashing us, the plane flying right at us (not the same thing as buzzing and more annoying, in my opinion), elephants flinging dirt, the kite coming at us at The Great Wall, the dirt blowing up in Egypt, and that bird in the hot air balloon scene. It's just too much. My husband said it made him think of a little kid with a new toy. They figured out how to fling things at the camera and decided to do it over and over and over again.

 

[stinkpickle]

I also kept my expectations low for FEA, and after finally getting to ride it (first two attempts it broke down), I was pleasantly surprised. I don't like the movie, but the ride was nice. It doesn't bother me that I might not get the references or know the songs. It's worth a FP or a short wait, but I wouldn't wait for in standby for more than 15 or 20 minutes.

As for Soarin', I like the feel of the new movie (sitting in the center, of course), but it has WAY TOO MUCH CGI. The Taj Mahal looks completely fake. They might as well have CGI'ed the entire movie. I still enjoyed it, though.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

So glad to know I am not alone. I thought it was going to tell a story as well, maybe something about their homeland that was somewhat relevant to Norway. So perhaps my own expectations are the reason I didn't enjoy it, but I thought it was confusing and I wasn't sure what the point of it was.

I agree. I actually preferred the old version of Soarin'

We all felt the same after riding it as well.

We are the same. I hate the new Soarin. I'm trying not to get into that too much in this thread.

I also kept my expectations low for FEA, and after finally getting to ride it (first two attempts it broke down), I was pleasantly surprised. I don't like the movie, but the ride was nice. It doesn't bother me that I might not get the references or know the songs. It's worth a FP or a short wait, but I wouldn't wait for in standby for more than 15 or 20 minutes.

As for Soarin', I like the feel of the new movie (sitting in the center, of course), but it has WAY TOO MUCH CGI. The Taj Mahal looks completely fake. They might as well have CGI'ed the entire movie. I still enjoyed it, though.

The Taj Mahal is completely fake. You're not allowed to film it so it is CGI. I'll never know why they included that, the world has many other wonders that are allowed to be filmed.

 

[eastendlights]

I just made our FP's this week and was struggling with wasting one on it. Soarin' is my personal favorite in both WDW and DLR so it is hard to give up another chance to experience it for something we will more than likely find mediocre. My 20 year old daughter convinced me we should see it once. We have three Epcot days so at least we will ride Soarin' twice, otherwise I don't think I would have bothered with FEA.

 

[krysenchips]

I went to Epcot for the first time in more than a decade this past October and tried to be very open minded about everything, but like some PP I felt that FEA was just a mish-mash of scenes. There wasn't a real story line to it. I personally preferred the story line of Donald's ride in Mexico.

 

[fla4fun]

I prefer the old Soarin' also. I usually get a Frozen FP, and if for some reason it breaks down, I can use the FP on Soarin'. I have had a out a 75% or higher ride rate on FEA, so that plan works for me.

 

[HopperFan]

DD and I are not big fans of Soarin but we have never been on it with the new movie. We both like the Frozen movie. I was planning to use my FP+ on Soarin then try to ride FEA at the end of a EMH pm in late August. I have read reports about the Soarin movie distortion. Should I just skip Soarin and use my FP+ on FEA just to experience it once? DD doesn't care much about Soarin. We rode the old version once and that's it. We have been skipping it whenever we visit Epcot. It does give me motion sickness. On the other hand, I am curious about the new movie. Any advice is appreciated! TIA!!

I would def use FP+ on FEA with its slow capacity. With the new theater, EMH at Soarin' should be easy. Not a Soarin' mechanics fan (height thing) but the old movie was fun, I don't like the new movie - some good ideas but the warp and the fake look was distracting.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

I truly can say I enjoyed the ride itself, but I do not think its worth standing in line for so long.

 

[tlmadden73]

I am going in March and hope to Fast Pass FEA with my son (4) and do Rider Swap (with the 5 month old) so we can use my wife's Tier 1 Fast Pass on Test Track or Soaring. The tiering at Epcot is awful .. the only three attractions worth Fast Passing and you can only get one.

My expectations are low .. I figure it will be like the Little Mermaid ride at MK. A short dark ride with some cool animatronics.
But I am sure it will be worth going on once.

My son really enjoyed the Frozen show at DHS his last two trips, so I am sure he will enjoy this .. especially because it is in a boat!

 

[beaprn]

I finally got a FP for this about a month ago and rode it. At the end I was like- "that's it! Are you kidding me?" very underwhelmed, I wouldn't waste another FP on this or wait any length of time for this. If I had waited in line for 1.5 hrs like some of the folks for this, I would have been royally pissed!
To be honest I liked Frozen but I am not crazy over like apparently some are. That being said, enough Frozen already- Disney gets a hit movie a few years ago and now Frozen is in all the parks except AK and I am surprised they haven't figured out a way to put it there! They are advertising it like it is still in the movie theaters. Enough already, Frozen overload!!!!

 

[beesly]

I am going in March and hope to Fast Pass FEA with my son (4) and do Rider Swap (with the 5 month old) so we can use my wife's Tier 1 Fast Pass on Test Track or Soaring. The tiering at Epcot is awful .. the only three attractions worth Fast Passing and you can only get one.

My expectations are low .. I figure it will be like the Little Mermaid ride at MK. A short dark ride with some cool animatronics.
But I am sure it will be worth going on once.

My son really enjoyed the Frozen show at DHS his last two trips, so I am sure he will enjoy this .. especially because it is in a boat!

I enjoyed Under the Sea more than FEA - and I like both movies. Like PPs mentioned, I felt like Under the Sea was more immersive, and FEA was a bit disjointed with quite a lot of unused space.

That said - I think you've got a good plan to use Rider Swap so that you can both experience FEA and decide whether you like it.

 

[tlmadden73]

I enjoyed Under the Sea more than FEA - and I like both movies. Like PPs mentioned, I felt like Under the Sea was more immersive, and FEA was a bit disjointed with quite a lot of unused space.

That said - I think you've got a good plan to use Rider Swap so that you can both experience FEA and decide whether you like it.

I guess that makes sense since they used an existing ride and just through Frozen on top of it. Even though it took a while .. definitely feels like this ride was a "rush job" and just tossed together.

The question is .. is it better than the Maelstrom?

 

[MJ6987]

I was also underwhelmed, just seemed like an overlay of the old ride - they should have completely redone it.

 

[Disney_traveler]

There is a thread on it breaking down and this is what I,posted there:

I was one of those people that woke up super early to wait for my fast pass time to ensure I got FP for this. When our day came, It was closed from 9:00 am until 3:30 pm on 12/20. We came back at 630 to use anytime fast pass, waited in line for 3o minutes and got to last turn before loading. Broke down again, we waited an hour and a half because we were so close. It came back up and they sent one boat and as soon as it left it broke again. We took the fast passes given and used them on Soarin the next day. I was amped to finally see it but now don't care if I ever see it.

Hearing all the other people that say it was broke down x amount of times before they rode it, I will never try it again unless it is no wait/no line.

 

[richmo]

We liked it, and I'm sure the Frozen diehard fans will love it. Now that I've experienced it, I'll probably save the majority of my Epcot Tier 1's for Soarin' and/or Test Track. I'd be willing to do Frozen standby, but not at the wait times we're currently seeing.