The venerable "El Rio del Tiempo" boat ride in the Mexican pavilion closed its doors on Jan 1st of this year in preparation of a rehab for a change in the storyline to reflect the Disney classic 1944 short film starring Donald Duck, "The Three Caballeros", which was released on February 3rd, 1945. In this film, which was a wartime film designed to cement friendship and relations with South America, has Donald Duck transported into an Alice-in-Wonderland scenario where he experiences a Book on Brazil in a surreal setting. Here his friends Jose Carioca, a cigar-smoking Parrot from Brazil and Panchito Pistoles, a Mexican Charro Rooster try to keep Donald from losing his head over the beautiful South American woman.
In the new ride, entitled the "Gran Fiesta" boat ride, Donald is again re-united with his South American Friends and takes a trip to Mexico. However, Donald like in the original "Three Caballeros" gets lost in the beauty and sites of Mexico and takes off to see all he can see. His friends, Panchito and Jose go all over Mexico trying to find him because they have to give a "Gran Fiesta" musical show.
Even thought the attraction was closed for three months, do not look for any "Major" changes in the ride. It is the same gentle, slow boat ride through Mexico's history. The big changes are the addition of large and small movie "Screens" showing cartoon animation of Panchito and Jose going all over Mexico looking for their pal Donald. As the boat progresses through you will see Donald enjoying the sites and sounds of Mexico, getting into all sorts of scrapes. I had to ride the attraction four times before being able to see all the animation the screens had to offer.
In the queue area, there are posters of the "Three Caballeros" and strung around the ceiling are doilies with the images of the Caballeros. All in all, it is a nice change of pace for the attraction which in all the times I have ridden it, never had more than a 5 minute wait. I arrived at Mexico at 10:00am and waited for the 11:00am opening. There was no one waiting until about 10mins before the opening, and then the crowds began to form. The attraction was supposed to open on the 2nd of the Month, but there were a few "Gremlins" that had to be worked out, thus the delay. Even thought it's Easter Weekend here and the crowds are, to say the lest, huge, there was not that many people for a grand opening, most likely because no one knew it was opening today.
I believe that this rehab will definitely bring in the crowds, once everyone knows the ride is up and running. I enjoyed it very much and the crowd response seemed positive. There is something about seeing characters from a 62 year old short film come out again in a brand new adventure that gives a nice feeling! That's the nostalgia in me talking; I have and always will be a fan of the old Disney classics. So for a little trip down memory lane, take in the "Gran Fiesta" boat ride. It's worth the trip.
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