Let’s go in order:
The queue space is very small and lackluster. They took out the memorabilia and refreshed the walls/carpet (which look great, not for nothing) and have the Mickey short posters scrolling in digital frames on the wall. It looks like a fancier philharmagic. Then, where the old theatre room used to be, you are directed into one of two identical preshow rooms, which are pretty small. Seemed a bit smaller than Dinosaur’s to me.
I think the preshow is great. You start watching the Perfect Picnic short, something goes horribly wrong, and Goofy crashes the train into the barn. Even though I knew the gag was coming, I was still really impressed by the effect. A+ execution of the screen ripping/bursting. You get to hear the original song in the short and the whole thing is brief enough that it won’t be real annoying on re-rides (looking at you FoP).
Then you enter the train barn where they have 3-ish switchbacks and then you load the train. The train cars were more spacious than I was expecting, but didn’t have as much motion either.
I feel like doing a scene breakdown is redundant since we have the ride layout graphic already, so I’ll skip that. Also I don’t remember everything tbh lol. But things that stuck out to me:
The tornado room was cool, but I thought we were going to spin around it and we didn’t. We just snuck past it.
Going down the waterfall, we absolutely were missing motion. Someone told me afterward than there was supposed to be a tilt track under us, but it must not have been working when we rode it, because we were absolutely still. So I’ll hold on my opinion for that part until I ride it again.
Turning out of your waterfall pod and seeing the room had changed behind you was very cute and unexpected.
Daisy’s dance class was a let down. Seeing the dancing choreo that happens on Pooh’s Hunny Hunt or, yes, even the first 20 seconds of Antarctica, I know trackless rides are capable of more than they were used for in that scene. I would’ve loved for them to partner up and dance and spin around each other.
The climax of the factory turning into the park was cool, but not as grand and impressive as I think Disney was hyping it up to be. I think the practical scenery didn’t move enough in the ride as a whole. Almost all movement was in the projection video. Which isn’t a bad thing, it just doesn’t feel as revolutionary as I think they were hoping for. That being said, I’m looking forward to riding it again and seeing if I feel differently. I did go in with VERY high expectations, so that could be influencing that.
Oh I loved seeing Goofy in the engine car. Yes, it’s projections, but he’s projected on a scrim or something and it looked like there was real depth in the engine when the doors opened up. It was really a wow moment for me, personally.
After unload, you walk back through a replica of the preshow room, but the screen reads “The End” and it’s perfect. And I smelled popcorn walking out!
After one ride (so don’t hold me to this lol) I’d give the ride 8/10? Its clean and gorgeous execution makes up for a lot of its (pretty minor) faults.