Frozen may be the latest juggernaut movie from the company, but I'd argue that Tangled is richer, more clever, and with equally beloved main characters. It deserves its own attraction on an epic scale.
Apparently the executives at Oriental Land Company agree. In its beautiful new Fantasy Springs at Tokyo Disney Sea, it's Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival that provides the biggest tug on the heartstrings. The lattern scene highlighting the music of I See the Light gets me a little choked up. And I don't even speak Japanese.
What would I change to make this an even better attraction?
1- Add in the villain back in. Removing the dark characters from attractions is a very bad move in the Disney worlds. That evil exists in the world is a fact, and we are not doing anybody good by pretending it does not. For all its amazing strengths, there's too little of Gaston in Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast, and the attraction loses something in translation because of it. The payoff is just not as strong. In Tangled, Mother Gothel is the most complex and evil of all Disney villains, using her motherly charms to deceptively manipulate her kidnapped "daughter". When our heroine Rapunzel eventually awakes from her Stockholm Syndrome, it's a powerful moment.
2- Toss in the Stabbington brothers. Go into the Snuggly Duckling pub. Round out the adventure a bit. There's some swashbuckling bravado in the film. Make the most of it.
3- Bring back Corona and the people of the village, including the king and queen. Queue up the music, create a celebration, Let this scene be the set up before the quiet, intimate beauty of the lantern festival finale.
With these changes added, Imagineering would create a real must see attraction in the park. This could be the Pirates of the Caribbean of sorts in Epcot, a ride that could appeal to boys and play counterpoint to the sister focused storyline a few countries away... and for once an American park would get the better version of something from Japan!
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