Disney confirms 'Frozen' makeover coming to Epcot's Norway Pavilion

[Mike S]

so no ascent but a descent for the ride..

Back, back, over the falls.........

 

[pumpkin7]

What on earth would take them 18 months then if they aren't altering the ride track itself?
Maybe they will add the Ice Monster! And then, after a year or so, his super powered lunge will break his foundations and Disco Yeti will have a Disco brother!

 

[Captain Chaos]

The best we could hope is that it becomes a guest relations nightmare and then management sits around saying "what were we thinking"?!?!?!

Then they get handed the spreadsheet by the MBA's and they all say.. OHHH YEA.. CHA-CHING!!!!!

 

[Captain Chaos]

What on earth would take them 18 months then if they aren't altering the ride track itself?
Maybe they will add the Ice Monster! And then, after a year or so, his super powered lunge will break his foundations and Disco Yeti will have a Disco brother!

Hell, they won't even build him to work. They will just spec it to where the AA is already broken. Saves time and money. A broken AA from the beginning is the new A mode. B mode is if it actually works. And a day or two in TDO's control, working B mode AA will be broken and in A mode in one day.

 

[pumpkin7]

Hell, they won't even build him to work. They will just spec it to where the AA is already broken. Saves time and money. A broken AA from the beginning is the new A mode. B mode is if is actually works. And a day or two in TDO's control, working B mode AA will be broken and in A mode in one day.

Or they won't bother with the animation part. It'll just be a cardboard cut out. With flashing lights and fans to make it look like its moving.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Or they won't bother with the animation part. It'll just be a cardboard cut out. With flashing lights and fans to make it look like its moving.

Like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin cut outs?

 

[pumpkin7]

Like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin cut outs?

Yeah! and actually, what they can do, is make it so 'you' are Elsa, and you can go around shooting stuff with your ice beam and freezing stuff, until you learn to love, and then they reverse the process towards the end of the ride. Fabulous. I could be an imagineer!

 

[Phil12]

I really appreciate all the information you give on this subject but I just can't share your optimism. To me they just don't belong, even as tour guides. I'll take Vikings and Trolls in Norway any day.

I agree. I think the Swedish Chef should be a part of the new show:

 

[donaldtoo]

Not mine, but, I found this online, and thought it was kind of interesting...

 

[pumpkin7]

Not mine, but, I found this online, and thought it was kind of interesting...

But why add an extra attraction to look after when they can't look after what they've already got?
Plus those are some seriously important CM luncheon rooms you'd be tearing down for that.

 

[Phil12]

Yeah! and actually, what they can do, is make it so 'you' are Elsa, and you can go around shooting stuff with your ice beam and freezing stuff, until you learn to love, and then they reverse the process towards the end of the ride. Fabulous. I could be an imagineer!

Elsa could find true love with Frozone. He could teach her how to use her ice beam to fight crime!

 

[FrankLapidus]

Elsa could find true love with Frozone:

Ahh synergy. Bob Iger's dream come true.

 

[pumpkin7]

This all sounds epic. When is it being built?

 

[Monkee Girl]

Just curious, how many on here who really dislike this move are planning on riding the new ride when it opens? I mean is it something you are interested to experience at all or just bypass that part of WS going forward?

I like the move, I of course will ride it but I will wait for a good FP chance or for the hype to die down some and the lines to level out. It should be utter chaos at first when it opens, I don't want to experience anything that much

Gonna go and sound childish again but here it goes.

No, I will not be riding this ride. The Frozen thing has to stop. Studios, Norway, MK all within months/weeks of each other. I can't stand it. At least with the studios and MK it is temporary stuff and can be changed or go away as needed. Even Grande Fiesta wasn't so badly messed with that if they ever chose to take Donald out it wouldn't be THAT much of a chore. With how this ride sounds, it is too permanent and I am not happy with the decision. I am not some huge World Showcase fanatic but I enjoy the more mature/adult aspect of the showcase and what it has to offer. Frozen offers me nothing. I wish TPB would think before acting and make choices based on more than how popular something is at this one moment in time.

So when I walk through the gates and head to the showcase I will be by passing the ride 100 percent. May even bypass the entire pavilion. and if a CM ever stopped me for a survey, I will tell them what I think.

end childish rant.

 

[spacemt354]

I teach in an elementary school. We have had multiple days of heat index days where the students cannot go outside for recess when the heat index is over 105. The past two weeks we have had multiple days of indoor recess because of this. The students have two choices when the gym is not available for indoor play. Choice one is free time in the library....computers, chrome books, or reading. Choice two is watch a movie in the multipurpose room. We went through a phase where Frozen was THE movie of choice. Now, we cannot get the kids to pick Frozen...except for the Kindergarten classes. The Fourth and Fifth grade classes have been over it longer than the younger classes. But, even now Second and Third are on the anti-Frozen bandwagon.

Now, I am sure we will still see lots of little Anna and Elsa costumes at Halloween. But we see more Sophia the First backpacks and lunchboxes vs. Frozen. Not sure how this will play out in a year and a half. For children....that is a LONG time and lots of new things will have come into their lives by then.

'Burning out the circuit'. A phrase that defines something that is done or watched so frequently that it actually becomes uninteresting over time.

Happens a lot. Things are popular for a while then eventually, they fall back into an ocean of obsolete items, either by burning out the circuit or simply when something better comes along.

If Disney knows Frozen is currently popular and is simply looking to boost their next few quarterly earnings, then they will look for the cheapest ways to include Frozen everywhere. And it looks like they have done that. DHS Frozen Summer Fun, Meet and Greets, Castle Christmas show, and an overlay of a 2 minute boat ride.

If Disney wants Frozen to become a classic, and to impact their quarterly earnings over years to decades, then they should look to give it a proper foundation and location in the parks (MK or DHS) with an imaginative and inventive dark ride. Animation Courtyard in DHS would have been a perfect place to showcase Frozen and bring more crowds to that park.

An overlay in a country's attraction has already been done with El Rio del Tiempo in Mexico. If they do the overly in that fashion, people (including me) will complain that:
-They waited 90 minutes for basically the same ride as they used to ride for 20-30 minutes for.
-Even though they kept the history of Norway aspect to the attraction, they ruined the ride with Olaf and friends on screens. If it wanted to watch Frozen, I could have put it in my Blu-Ray player.

If they do a full refurb and create an entirely different attraction, people (including me) will complain that:
-they tarnished the culture of Norway with adding cartoons
-The pavilion is now too crowded and the beauty and charm of the place is gone.

If they just put a Frozen ride in MK or DHS, everyone would be happy (well more happy than they are now )

Disney needs to understand that currently popular films are not synonymous with "classic" films.

 

[Cesar R M]

The best we could hope is that it becomes a guest relations nightmare and then management sits around saying "what were we thinking"?!?!?!

.-"Money.."
.-"Ah Yes!, let's then return back to our A/C Office in Burbank while we leave a minimum paid college exchange student to fix the mess for us"

 

[Monkee Girl]

The Newsies was filmed here too.

And I think Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (one of my FAVORITE shows as a kid)

Studios is another problem in itself. I like the Working Studio idea but with more and more brands coming into the Disney fold they need a place to put them. Studios is the best place. So I think Disney REALLY needs to think hard and make a choice. Are they doing the working studio theme? Or are they just going to celebrate the magic of movies? As it is, the place is just a huge mish mosh of stuff and yet...nothing to do. it's so weird.

 

[Cesar R M]

Capacity issues?
View attachment 65804

 

[celluloid]

Construction of New Fantasyland took 3 years (2011 to 2014) and Avatarland was announced in 2011, construction began in 2014 and will take three years. And in 15 months you can build a lot, it's all a question of the logistics on the construction site which is far easier in WS than it was in New Fantasyland, where they needed the space of the future SDMTR for the logistics of TLM etc. Otherwise they could have finished the project in perhaps a little more than 2 years, as an architect I consider myself expert enough to assess the situation there. O and they built entire EPCOT in three years.

It took them six months to change Test Track. There was no demolition involved, and the biggest changes were to queue and post show, the ride dynamics are exactly the same, lights turned off, screen based scenes and glow lighting added.

It would be great to be wrong but considering all that would have to be demolished and work would really have to squeeze in the backstage area while the pavilion remains open, there are many give a away that would imply the ride is just being re-themed. I am not trying to be cynical, I really appreciate the insight but have my doubts. I would love to be wrong on this one and at least make a change worth while.

 

[misterID]

Disney needs to understand that currently popular films are not synonymous with "classic" films.

They know the difference. They don't care. They know this is going to bring in a load of people who will buy lots of Frozen merchandise. And they were concerned about WS current demographic. They needed more tantrums.