Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros Review
Donald Duck joins his two underrated friends for a trip through Mexico
I love José Carioca… or Zé Carioca for the people of Latin America. I used to devour his comics in the early 90s and really enjoyed his adventures next to his best friends Nestor and Pedrão. Yeah, Zé Carioca isn’t the most well known Disney character, but trust me when I say he is pretty funny and encapsulates rather well the daily life of someone born in Rio de Janeiro.
I was pretty happy the first time I went to Epcot ages ago and found out about a ride featuring Donald Duck, Zé Carioca and Panchito. I honestly don’t know much about Panchito, other than he was created a few years later than José Carioca in 1944. Both characters were created during World War II in an attempt to reinforce the good-neighborly and cultural relations with countries from Latin America. See, you bet you’re going to learn a thing or two when visiting Famvia.
What about the ride, you may ask? It’s a pretty fun, standard dark boat ride which celebrates Latin America and Mexico in particular. This ride is located inside the Mexico pavilion in Epcot, after all. You can also spot the ride boats passing by if you decide to sit down and eat a burrito at the San Angel Inn Restaurante, which is a pretty good option for those that love Mexican food.
The Good
I know it’s common to say this when it comes to Disney World, but Gran Fiesta is just charming. This ride is a good mix of Magic Kingdom’s It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean. You are going to see a mix of animatronics and digital screens, which actually display live action images of locations in Mexico like Acapulco and the Aztec Pyramids, featuring live action performers interacting with the cartoon characters.
One aspect I do like about this ride is that it has several musical setpieces, featuring songs you’d hear in Mexico. You know when you are riding Frozen Ever After or Magic Kingdom’s Under the Sea and you can listen to Disney music all day? It’s the same thing here, but instead of Let it Go or Part of Your World, you get to listen to a Mexican Mariachi band.
Another thing I really appreciate about Gran Fiesta is the short queue times. Since many visitors overlook this attraction in favor of popular options like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Frozen Ever After, wait times rarely exceed ten minutes. This means that you can come here and then celebrate Mexico in the best way possible, which is by sitting down in the local restaurant and enjoying good Mexican food.
There’s nothing that is actually bad about this attraction. Gran Fiesta is one of those dark rides that you know exactly what you are going to get once you get into the queue. It’s festive, pretty and features some Disney characters that a lot of people don’t know about. It also celebrates a unique aspect of our world, depicting various elements of Mexican culture, architecture, and people.
Will Kids enjoy it?
Most kids will like this one, especially those that just want to look at something colorful and unique. Donald, Panchito and José Carioca are all superbly animated and have very good facial expressions, and it’s interesting to see them interacting with live action backgrounds, which is something pretty uncommon in Disney World rides.
Some children, especially older ones, might not enjoy the ride as much. This could be because they're unfamiliar with characters like José Carioca and Panchito, or because the ride lacks original Disney songs. This could actually be a good opportunity to introduce them to lesser-known Disney characters and showcase the diversity of Disney's roster (of birds) beyond just Donald Duck.
