If you’re a sports fan, I’m certain you’re familiar with a player or team being classified as overrated or underrated. It’s done all the time when talking sports and I find it’s also creeping more and more into everyday life. As a society, we seem to be preoccupied with ratings. We want to place a specific and objective value on everything we eat, watch, or use. We speak of five star restaurants and films that garnered an eight (out of 10) from a certain reviewer. This even comes into play at Disney’s theme parks.
A number of Disney guidebooks and websites provide ratings of resorts, restaurants and attractions. Some of these ratings represent the average of user reviews while others characterize the opinion of the author (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) If you’re like me, you accept these ratings with the proverbial grain of salt, because in the end, they’re just someone’s opinion—and aside from this column, we all know what those are worth.
I admit I enjoy these ratings. I’ve written before of my love of lists, and while ratings and “Top 10” lists are fun, I still prefer reading a subjective assessment. Someone’s review of a film, restaurant, or theme park attraction will give me a flavor of whether or not I might enjoy it—regardless of whether it was given two stars or three spatulas as a rating. It might also give me some incentive to experiment with something I might not have otherwise tried.
This whole area of ratings at Walt Disney World has me thinking about what attractions or facilities I would consider being over- or underrated. To be fair, I’m not using any specific rating source—just an assessment formed by reviewing several of the more popular guidebooks, tempered by my own perception of how the majority view attractions, restaurants, services, and resorts. Are they thought of highly or poorly… and do I believe that’s an accurate assessment?
To define the terms, I looked at Encarta and found that something overrated is generally regarded as better, more capable, or greater than, is in fact the case. When something is considered underrated, we could say that most people don’t recognize how good that thing really is.
In this first installment, I’ll restrict comments to those items found in or around the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. The next column, published here in two weeks, will deal with Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and a few services that apply across the resort. Got all that? Let’s go.
Peter Pan’s Flight
This is a nice little dark ride based on the animated film but… it seems to have a continuous 30-60 minute wait time posted—longer during the busier periods of the year. If I’m going to stand in a queue that long, I need what’s on the other end to dazzle me—or at least leave me smiling for a while. Regrettably, Peter Pan’s Flight does neither. Oh, it’s cute and I have fond memories of the film, but for Pete’s sake, it’s less than three minutes from beginning to end. “Flying” over London and Neverland is fun but it’s filled with simple, non-animatronics figures and stationary sets. I just don’t get any “wow” factor here, and for that reason, I think Peter Pan’s Flight is overrated.
Viewing Wishes from the California Grill
I intentionally left viewing Wishes from the lounge atop Bay Lake Towers off this item… but only because I haven’t seen the fireworks from that spot yet. I will admit there’s a certain “coolness” factor viewing Wishes from the comfort of your table, possibly while sipping a fine cabernet or having dessert and coffee. I’ve also watched from the exterior observation deck, which also offers a fine view.
However, in my opinion Wishes is best viewed from the front of Cinderella’s castle. You can vary several degrees left or right and still get the intended effect but, when you deviate too much, you’ve destroyed the show. Certainly, you might still “ooh and aah” over the fireworks but you’ve lost the symmetry necessary to enjoy it as the Imagineers intended. Please, don’t let me stop you from trying it, because as I said, there’s a certain “coolness” to it, but strictly as a location to view Wishes, I consider the California Grill to be overrated.
Wishes from Main Street – you decide. Photo by Steve Russo
While on the subject of fireworks…
Fireworks Cruises
I’ve taken two fireworks cruises: one for Wishes and the other for Illuminations. Each included 30-45 minutes of a relaxing cruise followed by anchoring to a specific spot to view the fireworks. The Illuminations cruise included some excellent Disney trivia and commentary about the Crescent Lake area and Illuminations. Unfortunately, our driver on our Wishes cruise didn’t speak much English so we didn’t get much there. Did I enjoy these cruises? I certainly did but you must keep in mind that the cost of each was $120. These same cruises today are $346 and up. With that kind of increase, you might expect I took my cruises back in the 1850’s, but no—they were in 2001 and 2005.
I mentioned above that I believe enjoying Wishes means you should see it from in front of Cinderella’s castle, but how about Illuminations? To me, the perfect spot to enjoy the show is from World Showcase Plaza, but you could argue that any unobstructed view around the lagoon should be fine—and you’d be mostly right. I’ve often watched Illuminations from the railing on what’s called the “French Island”—that’s the patio below the bridge connecting the United Kingdom and France. From there, I’ve witnessed a full armada of Illuminations Cruise pontoon boats anchored under that bridge. Their view is, in a sense, looking directly over my shoulder so there seems to be no inherent advantage in view with the cruise.
To sum up… the views are acceptable but not the best; the boat ride is relaxing, but the price is a smidge below ridiculously overpriced. For those reasons, I believe the fireworks cruises to be overrated.
Le Cellier Steakhouse
The failure to get a reservation here has ruined many a vacation, and for some time, it’s been one of the more difficult reservations to score at Walt Disney World. Why is that? I wish I could tell you. My opinion will likely generate some loud dissents but here goes…
First, I don’t hate Le Cellier; I’m just a bit ambivalent about it. It’s a nice restaurant but it offers a small, dark, cave-like dining room where you’re often seated uncomfortably close to the next table (or tables.) The food, for the most part, is decent but overpriced. “C’mon, Steve! It’s Disney! Everything’s overpriced!” I know but, if I’m going to eat mediocre overpriced food, I’d like it be in a place where the view, service or ambience absolutely wows me. Otherwise, why bother?
I’ve enjoyed several very nice lunches at Le Cellier. I’m one of the many fans of the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and have made it several times at home (but $9?!!! Really?). I’ve had three dinners there that have included a prime rib that was among the worst I’ve had anywhere—thin and overly grisly, a strip steak that was OK and a filet mignon that was fine but too small for the price.
As I said, I don’t dislike Le Cellier but it’s a restaurant that has given me no reason to return; yet even when I try, I can’t get a reservation because it’s so popular. For that reason, I have to say that Le Cellier is overrated.
To be fair and to keep this current, Le Cellier just went through a chef and menu change so I need to try it again… but as you would imagine, the prices have increased somewhat significantly from the old menu.
Journey Into Imagination With Figment / Captain EO
This attraction is almost universally panned so it’s difficult to think it could ever be overrated… but it is. Every few trips I’m besieged by what I can only determine is a significant and total memory loss and I find myself once again climbing into a ride vehicle there. It takes about 90-seconds and I, once again, realize how lame a ride this really is.
In 2010, Disney brought Captain EO out of retirement. It’s only my opinion but they should have left bad enough alone.
It’s too nice a building to have such poor attractions. Photo by Steve Russo
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros!
I want to like this attraction… I really do. To me, it seems the audience is divided as to whether or not this boat ride in World Showcase’s Mexico pavilion is an improvement over its predecessor, El Rio del Tiempo (the River of Time.) I’m not certain if it is, but regardless the ride does nothing for me. The antics of Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito are not all that entertaining and I don’t think the attraction provides any flavor of what life in Mexico is like. It’s such a shame given the immersive atmosphere in this pavilion but I’d have to call this one overrated.
OK, so far I’ve overrated everything. Isn’t anything in these parks a better than expected attraction? Well, there’s the…
Country Bear Jamboree
I remember seeing this during one of my first ever visits to the Magic Kingdom. I also remember not being very impressed with it. A few years ago, at the urging of my son, I ventured back in. I was greeted with a show featuring some “good ol’ country music”… and humor I had either missed or totally forgotten. I might have been in a bad mood on that earlier visit or maybe I was just over-tired or in a hurry to get somewhere else. In any case, I now realize I had severely underrated this little gem. It’s almost worth the price of admission just to see Big Al.
You gotta love Big Al. Photo by Steve Russo
Mickey’s Philharmagic
I love Muppetvision 3D and It’s Tough to be a Bug but I still consider Mickey’s Philharmagic to be the best 3D film on property. Not to slight the other two but this attraction offers humor, some great 3D effects, and snippets of the best music from Disney’s animated features.
So why am I including it here? Even though this attraction has many fans, I still hear the occasional “Let’s skip it; it’s not a ride.” For that reason alone, I’m calling it underrated.
The best 3D film at the World. Photo by Steve Russo
Prince Charming Regal Carrousel
You’ve ridden carousels, or merry-go-rounds, at every fair, carnival, or theme park in the world. Why is this one special?
There may be others like it but I’m certain not many can boast 90 horses of varying sizes, each completely unique in pattern and color scheme. This carousel was built in the early 20th century and has been through several rehabilitations. The detail of the carvings and the pristine condition of the horses continue to make this attraction special, and one I believe is underrated.
The detail on the carousel is amazing. Photo by Steve Russo
Astro Orbiter
Is there anything that separates this ride from Dumbo or the Magic Carpets of Aladdin? Like the other two, the Astro Orbiter is a short ride at 90 seconds—but it is higher and takes longer to load. In my opinion, it’s overrated.
That’s the first installment and I’m certain I have some readers nodding their heads while others are formulating a comment that will question my sanity. It’s all good. Do you agree or disagree with my assessments, and do you have some others I’ve left off the list? Let me know.
In two weeks, I’ll take a look at what I think is overrated or underrated in Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, as well as a few generic services. Until then… thanks for reading.
