#48 - Muppet Vision 3D

Category: Shows
Category Rank: 4

Park: Hollywood Studios
Park Rank: 5

Revisiting our criteria, we mentioned that we were excluding anything from this list considered a thrill.  That is to say, roller coasters would have a similar amount of appeal in the local amusement park as they would in WDW, as well as shows like Fantasmic or the Finding Nemo Musical.  Slow rides, on the other hand, don't offer much in terms of thrills... it is hard to think that you would pay money to ride on a boat and see animatronic puppets move in "synchronization" with music being pumped in.  But in WDW, you are willing to stand in line 45 minutes to go see animatronics of Peter Pan without batting an eye.

Shows are a bit harder to delineate than the slow ride/thrill ride dichotomy.  Basically, any show with a set showing time (including Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, for example) tends to have qualities that are more "thrilling".  Shows that repeat themselves around the clock like Muppet Vision 3D tend to be thrilling the first or second time you see them, but if you continue seeing them every visit to the park, they enter that nostalgic category.

So, that's why you will see the "4D" category of attractions here.  I know, I know... Muppet Vision is not listed as a 4D show, with the 4th dimension being other physical effects that synch with the 3D film.  But, in all intents and purposes, it certainly is.  Effects like having Fozzie Bear spray the audience with water from his flower corsage puts it firmly there.

Muppet Vision 3D is a brief story of one muppet (Bean) whose crazy antics make him not appreciated by the fellow cast members (for good reason, in my opinion), and who decides to runaway.  Bean befriends the "spirit" of 3D who causes even more mayhem.  As the muppet cast tracks down Bean, they unleash the spirit, and in the chaos that ensues, they destroy the theater.  Much like Donald does in Philharmagic, actually.  What is it with 4D shows having a character that destroys the theater at the end?

The brief movie is quintessentially the muppets; everything from their gags and situational humor to their characterizations.  If you love the muppets, or can even just stand them, then you will like the show the first time you see it.  However, if you love WDW, then you will gladly love seeing the show over and over, every time you visit.

The one thing I have trouble with, which might not be an issue for younger people, is that I don't innately consider the muppets "Disney".  It will be the same with Star Wars or other purchased properties in the future.  I am a big fan of the muppets (I spent my four college summers as a camp counselor with a Kermit the Frog hand-puppet always connected to me for impromptu impressions).  And while the movie definitely has a special place in my heart and is more exciting than some other shows within Disney World, it doesn't scream WDW quite as much as they do (like the Tiki Room, for example).  That, more than anything else, pushes it down to #48 on our list.

We are up to #47, which takes us to another interactive/memorabilia item.  Unlike the park maps and the Magic Bands, this one is a much more interactive hands-on scavenger hunt we recently discovered in Magic Kingdom.