Norway Pavilion Frozen construction - Frozen Ever After ride

[Marlins1]

I actually think the ride will turn out well but the capacity vs demand issue will be crazy. It just seems to go against everything that they are doing elsewhere to make things more efficient and less crowded.

 

[Captain Neo]

I actually think the ride will turn out well but the capacity vs demand issue will be crazy. It just seems to go against everything that they are doing elsewhere to make things more efficient and less crowded.

Honestly this feels like classic Fitzgerald. He rose to prominence in imagineering by coming up with these slick quick overlays to existing attractions with whatever the hottest movies were at the time (Lion King and Aladdin into Tiki Room, Nemo into Living Seas, Buzz Lightyear into Dreamflight, etc.) He probably hauled his butt over to the executives the second the box office sales were coming in and pitched a fairly inexpensive overlay that would get a Frozen ride built ASAP and the suits signed it off no questions asked.

 

[Captain Neo]

Frozen deserved its own land with a real attraction (and Tangled deserves a dark ride as well). Instead of that half baked Fantasyland expansion they should have left room for new animation classics. Maelstrom needed a refresh with new show scenes and AA's but it should have stayed true to its existing theme of exploring Norway heritage and lore. They could have still built the Summerhaus with an Anna/Elsa meet & Greet with an exhibit showcasing how Frozen ties into Norway's culture and mythology and that way they would have had Frozen in two WDW parks done in a very tasteful & respectful manner. But nobody at Disney is thinking and there is no focused leadership. I put the blame squarely on three individuals: Iger, Staggs, and Lasseter.

The only things this project has going for it is that it is being designed by someone who actually cares about making a good ride rather than playing office politics and Tony Baxter vouched for it.

 

[RSoxNo1]

You haven't. even. seen. it. yet. How about we actually RIDE THE RIDE before we go off on how low quality it is and how much it sucks?

I'm expecting a shorter version of Little Mermaid... there's nothing wrong with that it will be a C/D ticket, and if it was in Fantasyland it would be a good thing. People that are saying the ride is going to suck because it's based on Frozen are idiots. The ride can still be a good ride, I have no reason to think it won't be. The issue is that it's in the wrong place, has insufficient capacity, and can't be longer than 4 and a half minutes because they're using existing infrastructure.

 

[RSoxNo1]

just for the record, the designer designing the attraction is a talented European and is working hard to make sure the design is related to Norway. If Tony Baxter can praise him as well as he has, and give such postive remarks on how beautiful and well done its going to be, Im willing to see how it turns out.

Who's the designer? I assumed Kathy Mangum and Tom Fitzgerald were in charge of this.

Honestly this feels like classic Fitzgerald. He rose to prominence in imagineering by coming up with these slick quick overlays to existing attractions with whatever the hottest movies were at the time (Lion King and Aladdin into Tiki Room, Nemo into Living Seas, Buzz Lightyear into Dreamflight, etc.) He probably hauled his butt over to the executives the second the box office sales were coming in and pitched a fairly inexpensive overlay that would get a Frozen ride built ASAP and the suits signed it off no questions asked.

Didn't Fitzgerald rise to prominence with Horizons?

 

[Rteetz]

Who's the designer? I assumed Kathy Mangum and Tom Fitzgerald were in charge of this.



Didn't Fitzgerald rise to prominence with Horizons?

Baxter said in a podcast interview that the guy who is working on frozen worked with him on fantasy faire in fantasyland in Disneyland. Baxter also said in the interview that it was time for maelstrom to go, he rode it before the closure and said this needs some ride needs some work.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Baxter said in a podcast interview that the guy who is working on frozen worked with him on fantasy faire in fantasyland in Disneyland. Baxter also said in the interview that it was time for maelstrom to go, he rode it before the closure and said this needs some ride needs some work.

Maelstrom wasn't a good attraction, it needed an update. Very few people are disputing that. I also think people correctly expected the exteriors in Norway to blend in with the rest of the pavilion as it should. They're not putting a circus tent in Norway but it still doesn't mean the intellectual property is a good fit. Yes, it's better that you don't have a huge ice castle behind the Stave Church, but putting a Frozen attraction in the pavilion still isn't correct.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Who's the designer? I assumed Kathy Mangum and Tom Fitzgerald were in charge of this.

Baxter said in a podcast interview that the guy who is working on frozen worked with him on fantasy faire in fantasyland in Disneyland. Baxter also said in the interview that it was time for maelstrom to go, he rode it before the closure and said this needs some ride needs some work.

Michel Den Dulk is the Imagineer referenced by Baxter.

 

[Next Big Thing]

Maelstrom wasn't a good attraction, it needed an update. Very few people are disputing that. I also think people correctly expected the exteriors in Norway to blend in with the rest of the pavilion as it should. They're not putting a circus tent in Norway but it still doesn't mean the intellectual property is a good fit. Yes, it's better that you don't have a huge ice castle behind the Stave Church, but putting a Frozen attraction in the pavilion still isn't correct.

Yes, something had to be done about Maelstrom. However this was not the right decision. Even some of the less ego driven people within the company would likely tell you it was a mistake.

Imagine Arendelle fully fleshed out (like the port that TDS is getting) as one of the new lands at DHS. Now THAT would've been a good fit and would've made sense too with how much DHS has pushed Frozen the past few years.

 

[aladdin2007]

Who's the designer? I assumed Kathy Mangum and Tom Fitzgerald were in charge of this.



Didn't Fitzgerald rise to prominence with Horizons?

I haven't heard a word about Fitzgerald, Im not sure hes involved at all in this. Mangum is in charge and Michel Den Dulk is the designer as lazyboy said. If any fingers were to be pointed at who gave the greenlight to the horrible location for this, Id say Staggs more than anyone else.

 

[wdisney9000]

You haven't. even. seen. it. yet. How about we actually RIDE THE RIDE before we go off on how low quality it is and how much it sucks?

Same response that was regurgitated over and over with 7DMT and look what the outcome was. Its not a bad ride, but its not amazing either. And here we are again. The writings on the wall with this project in terms of capacity/logistical issues, regardless of what the quality will be. Some people see it, other choose to ignore and pretend its something else. The "lets wait and see" approach doesnt matter. Mathematics dont lie.

People could tell that 7DMT would be nothing more than Barnstormer on steroids, and thats exactly how it turned out. And thats not to say its a bad thing. Its a fun ride, but sooooo many people were pretending it would be more than that and thats exactly whats happening here with the Frozen ride. The collision course they could be on is what @DisDan mentioned. The ride will be popular, no doubt. The high demand for the attraction will crash into the low capacity causing a logistical nightmare for not only the CM's but the guests as well. Disney painted themselves into a corner, which is odd because they are the the best in the theme park biz. Its like Michelangelo using the wrong size canvas..., on purpose.

 

[DisneyRoy]

Same response that was regurgitated over and over with 7DMT and look what the outcome was. Its not a bad ride, but its not amazing either. And here we are again. The writings on the wall with this project in terms of capacity/logistical issues, regardless of what the quality will be. Some people see it, other choose to ignore and pretend its something else. The "lets wait and see" approach doesnt matter. Mathematics dont lie.

People could tell that 7DMT would be nothing more than Barnstormer on steroids, and thats exactly how it turned out. And thats not to say its a bad thing. Its a fun ride, but sooooo many people were pretending it would be more than that and thats exactly whats happening here with the Frozen ride. The collision course they could be on is what @DisDan mentioned. The ride will be popular, no doubt. The high demand for the attraction will crash into the low capacity causing a logistical nightmare for not only the CM's but the guests as well. Disney painted themselves into a corner, which is odd because they are the the best in the theme park biz. Its like Michelangelo using the wrong size canvas..., on purpose.

And with the original budget 7DMT should have had an additional inside scene and more outside track. Unfortunately they slashed all that. So yes. Let's see what they have planned for the ride. But I agree in the throughput and logistical issues. Nightmare!!!

 

[dstrawn9889]

umm, 7DMT is the "CLONE" if an overseas 7DMT... was designed for them, and they cloned it for here. ours may have opened first, but the design work was put in for Shanghai. if our budget were slashed from an original, why has shanghai got the same layout?

 

[180º]

Baxter said in a podcast interview that the guy who is working on frozen worked with him on fantasy faire in fantasyland in Disneyland. Baxter also said in the interview that it was time for maelstrom to go, he rode it before the closure and said this needs some ride needs some work.

Well, I can attest to the beauty of Fantasy Faire at Disneyland. It's really well-designed. Probably more so than Imagineering's other recent works.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Same response that was regurgitated over and over with 7DMT and look what the outcome was. Its not a bad ride, but its not amazing either. And here we are again. The writings on the wall with this project in terms of capacity/logistical issues, regardless of what the quality will be. Some people see it, other choose to ignore and pretend its something else. The "lets wait and see" approach doesnt matter. Mathematics dont lie.

People could tell that 7DMT would be nothing more than Barnstormer on steroids, and thats exactly how it turned out. And thats not to say its a bad thing. Its a fun ride, but sooooo many people were pretending it would be more than that and thats exactly whats happening here with the Frozen ride. The collision course they could be on is what @DisDan mentioned. The ride will be popular, no doubt. The high demand for the attraction will crash into the low capacity causing a logistical nightmare for not only the CM's but the guests as well. Disney painted themselves into a corner, which is odd because they are the the best in the theme park biz. Its like Michelangelo using the wrong size canvas..., on purpose.

Or the wrong brush...on purpose.

 

[ght]

I'm expecting a shorter version of Little Mermaid... there's nothing wrong with that it will be a C/D ticket, and if it was in Fantasyland it would be a good thing. People that are saying the ride is going to suck because it's based on Frozen are idiots. The ride can still be a good ride, I have no reason to think it won't be. The issue is that it's in the wrong place, has insufficient capacity, and can't be longer than 4 and a half minutes because they're using existing infrastructure.

 

[elchippo]

It's just a shame the timing of new Fantasyland fell when it did...had Frozen been released maybe just 2 years sooner, it would have shaken things up over there and might have spared Maelstrom...OR we would have lost Maelstrom sooner.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I'm expecting a shorter version of Little Mermaid... there's nothing wrong with that it will be a C/D ticket, and if it was in Fantasyland it would be a good thing. People that are saying the ride is going to suck because it's based on Frozen are idiots. The ride can still be a good ride, I have no reason to think it won't be. The issue is that it's in the wrong place, has insufficient capacity, and can't be longer than 4 and a half minutes because they're using existing infrastructure.

it would be nice if they could slow the ride down when going backwards and add more boats (more back to back even)

 

[dstrawn9889]

wouldnt work, only so much space b/t the the two reversers...

 

[DisneyRoy]

umm, 7DMT is the "CLONE" if an overseas 7DMT... was designed for them, and they cloned it for here. ours may have opened first, but the design work was put in for Shanghai. if our budget were slashed from an original, why has shanghai got the same layout?

Maybe the whole design budget for the ride in both locations was ashes then. I've seen the plans floating around on these boards for the three different track layout possibilities that were given. From what I understand, Disney originally chose one of the better layouts but then slashed and chopped to the cheapest version.