Although I would be upset, I have to sadly disagree that Americans would be outraged. Yes, there might be a few thousand Americans actually outraged, but the vast majority of Americans that would visit EPCOT, wouldn't care less if they changed the American Adventure as long as they could get a beer somewhere close because thats what EPCOT has really become. The place to drink your way around the big pond in the middle.
Is that more than 60 days out?
I think it does make a difference. Changing the name sends a message from Disney that the mission of World Showcase is no longer "the world". Fiction seeping in here and there corrupts the message, but it does not necessarily kill it. Making the pavilion a fictional land is an official admission that the World Showcase as it was designed is no more, and I don't think there is any coming back from that. To me, changing the name to Arendelle is the equivalent of putting space mountain in the middle of Frontierland. Putting Frozen in Maelstrom and a shop inside the Norway pavilion is like putting Iago and Zazu into the tiki room. Both are disruptions to the theme, but in my opinion, one is a far more unforgivable breach of theme than the other.
Yesterday was 60 days out from when I could start to make Fastpass choices on 9/29 which is my first day there, and I didn't see Maelstrom as a choice.
This just gets worse and worse
I've bought 3 Helly Hansen jackets from Norway over a number of years, and the prices are reasonable.
One person says they dont buy merch there and you surmise that it makes no sense taking up all that floor space? I buy many things in both of those Pavilions, so does my family and the countless others I've stood in line with. By your standards that means they should increase the floor space, right?
Ugh, yeah, don't want that. Besides, my packable, breathable, 100% waterproof lightweight Helly Hansen jacket is my foul weather gear answer to the tacky Mickey cartoon poncho. Granted the price difference between the two is staggering, but I have gotten years of use.
That's probly a key factor of unique merchandise being phased out. People paid a higher price for unique items such as a sports jacket with the Yacht Club Resort logo (or something similar) and Disney simply took it as a sign that customers would pay a high amount for items but they failed to recognize it was due to the uniqueness of the item, not because it was a higher price. And here we are years later with the same $30 t-shirts in every store.
And not to disparage my fellow human beings or anything, but if Walmart has taught us anything, it’s that in the absence of options people will buy whatever is in front of them. So, quality and variety drops, and people just keep spending that souvenir budget they saved up on whatever is available. Disney sees it as a victory, and those of us who enjoy shopping in Disney World lose out.
I actually heard a rumor like that this morning somewhere on Tumblr.
