Shrek 4D - Hollywood

[Wesker69]

Okay... that was hilarious. I love the new Donkey addition to the pre-show...

Unfortunately, the easiest way to fix the explanation of Donkey would contradict his surprise in the cemetery... You could have him say he is going to go warn Shrek in order to save everyone..... but yea.. as I said, it would contradict his surprise at seeing Farquad's Ghost. Its too bad they didn't think to feature Donkey in the preshow when the attraction was first created.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Exactly! Like, Donkey comes off as having super speed powers (from Dungeon to being with Shrek in 2 minutes) AND short term memory and being bonkers. In the attraction, Shrek looks at the overcompensated statue of Farquad and asks "I wonder if he's behind it all?" And Donkey goes "Oh that's just crazy talk!" And then he's surprised when he sees his ghost and goes "I know I seen ya die in the first movie!", yet all that makes ZERO sense now since Donkey was in the dungeon with us, saw Farquard's ghost AND heard his plan of finding Shrek and capturing Fiona. Yet Donkey now seems like a moron who didn't warn Shrek or Fiona at all....

Like....yeah, Donkey is funny and it's cool to have him be so interactive in the preshow, but it makes ZERO sense and totally screws up the story. I'm not a fan of this change because of this.

 

[Wesker69]

Donkey is a distant relative of Dory from Finding Nemo....

 

[Allen The Actor]

Lol.

But seriously, Donkey as a character is a bit scatter brained but he's not THIS dumb.

And to those who'd say "no big deal, it's just an attraction, who cares."

Well, I care. The best attractions have a well thought out story. obviously there's always gaps in realism, but not THIS much.

 

[Jon Fu]

https://www.youtube.com/embed/R0fWyRiQQsE?feature=oembed

 

[Wesker69]

I forgot to mention the facepalm-worthy moment the last time I did Shrek 4D... I overheard some kid make the comment about the "Farquad banner flags" being for facebook because they're blue... sigh

 

[cruise]

I agree with all of this, and it was my first thought as I watched the actual attraction video.  

That having been said, this still makes this a much better AND more repeatable attraction IMO, but it will bug me forever.  I'd have had Donkey "escape" before the new truncated pre-show; IO think that fixes most of the story-issues.

 

[Chris]

I think the poor edit with Farquad's entrance is noticeable.  You can see the Mirror still quote his old humorous dialogue of "Hmm, rather lackluster bunch!"

I will always prefer the original concept over the "theme park" intrusion of guest interaction.

 

[Allen The Actor]

^ I agree. I still highly prefer the original version. I don't think it was a matter of it being "broke", they just wanted the turn around rate to be a lot quicker. Idk. I'm not a fan of it.

 

[Wesker69]

Despite the flaws with the Donkey addition to the pre-show...

The one thing that has always bothered me about Shrek 4D is the lack of holiday overlays... We don't necessarily need a different attraction film for Halloween since it already is a ghost story, but I wouldn't be opposed to something else.

My main complaint is the lack of Christmas overlay... the existing holiday specials are basically the same running time more or less as Shrek 4D... So it would be cool to see Shrek The Halls or something. Just think, they could even decorate the dungeon (and theatre) for xmas too! Wouldn't even have to be extremely elaborate either. They could have the voice-cast do new recordings (or hire voice actors that can do said voices) for the preshow.

I know this will never happen, but its always bugged me. lol

 

[Allen The Actor]

It's always bugged me that Universal doesn't cash in on the many different opportunities they have to make Holiday overlays, so many options!

 

[Jon Fu]

^ I agree. I still highly prefer the original version. I don't think it was a matter of it being "broke", they just wanted the turn around rate to be a lot quicker. Idk. I'm not a fan of it.

I was actually wrong on the hourly capacity. It looks like it's about the same, if not slightly worse.

 

[Allen The Actor]

....you're kidding me. So...they essentially f-ed up the preshow for no reason then?! -____-

 

[Wesker69]

Honestly, I'm not sure how shortening the pre-show would help with hourly capacity due to the fact that people can't enter the theatre until those people exit... The attraction film s roughly 15mins... so how long is the pre-show, I haven't paid attention to the running time. I figured they would have it timed perfectly like Minion Mayhem does with its pre-show.

 

[Jon Fu]

....you're kidding me. So...they essentially f-ed up the preshow for no reason then?! -____-

Their intent was good, and Universal earnestly thought they could improve the guest experience with the recent changes. Whether that change was successful is still up to debate.


I will say the audience loved the interactive Donkey, so that may be considered a major plus.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Still not a major plus IMO. Hourly capacity didn't improve, and they created a pretty big and odd plot hole in the story with Donkey somehow being in the dungeon and seeing farquad, but then escaping, catching up with Shrek in a minute, and forgetting everything about Farquad's plan he heard 5 minutes ago.

Interactive Donkey is great, but nothing was wrong with having him meet guests in a more casual manner outside.

 

[Jon Fu]

Still not a major plus IMO. Hourly capacity didn't improve, and they created a pretty big and odd plot hole in the story with Donkey somehow being in the dungeon and seeing farquad, but then escaping, catching up with Shrek in a minute, and forgetting everything about Farquad's plan he heard 5 minutes ago.

To be honest, Shrek never had a coherent plot to begin with considering how we're transported from a dungeon to a plush theater.

 

[Allen The Actor]

If it ain't broke...don't fix it.

I just find it odd...out of the many possible ways to genuinely improve Shrek 4D, they spent time on screwing it up without thinking it through.

Farquad says "Prepare the auditorium", so it's part of Farquard's castle. But after that, a little suspension of reality and what makes sense is normal, but what USH did with the president and adding Donkey just makes no coherent sense at all.

 

[Jon Fu]

I just find it odd...out of the many possible ways to genuinely improve Shrek 4D, they spent time on screwing it up without thinking it through.

I suggest you see the revised show in person because they did genuinely improve the main show with new audio and lighting. There's not much you can do with the film considering the severed relationship between Dreamworks and Universal.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Oh no, I think the new audio and lighting updates are brilliant, makes it more immersive. I'm strictly referring to the mutilated preshow haha. I just wish the additional money would've gone to new improved motion seats, etc.