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

ttalovebug

ttalovebug

Active Member
spiritofNorway said:
If anyone is interested in seeing some of the pictures from "behind the scenes"/backstage at the Maelstrom ride, I have put them on my site. www.norwaypavilion.com
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Wow, these photos are amazing, thank you so much for sharing! And thank you and your fellow CMs at Maelstrom for being so kind to all of us crazy fans. You really are a pleasant bunch over there.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
Mr Anderson

Mr Anderson

Well-Known Member
I saw a hilariously sarcastic rant in another thread that I thought I'd share...
Mawg said:
But as others have said, it's still not enough because the demand is still so high. It's important for Disney to keep putting Frozen where ever they can to make people happy. They now get to take over Cinderella's Castle, good for them, great thinking Disney. Where else can they go? They should put them in It's a Small World when they were young kids. Since it happens in the same time as Little Mermaid, they should add them to the Little Mermaid ride. That Yeti is Dumb on Everest, Replace with the snow monster from Frozen and we're talking cha ching. Still demand won't be met. Let's really see Elsa's power and have her freeze Big Thunder. How awesome would that be to ride the train around in an Ice land? Seriously should do this. Replace the red head in Pirates with Anna, then Elsa can come save her....Brilliant! Any more places we can put some cheap overlays to meet demand, why not Main Street? We are talking big bank now!!!

This is the biggest animated feature of all time, Disney needs to put it everywhere, it deserves it. People don't have to see it if they don't want to. But those people are crazy because it is the best movie ever so they should just get over it. And, as long as Disney can keep making money off of it they should keep putting it everywhere.
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:hilarious::hilarious::hilarious::hilarious::hilarious:
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Prototype82 said:
Honestly, what is Tom Fitzgerald even doing? Is the park completely in danger now? Entertainment cuts, Frozen,...we all thought he was going to bring great things as "creative director" ...What is going on?
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Anyone who thought job changes at Walt Disney Imagineering would bring operational changes at the park is a fool who does not properly understand the role of Walt Disney Imagineering inside Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
 
Prototype82

Prototype82

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Anyone who thought job changes at Walt Disney Imagineering would bring operational changes at the park is a fool who does not properly understand the role of Walt Disney Imagineering inside Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
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Well you certainly stated that politely. And no. I wasn't assuming a creative director decides operational changes. I just question his choice of replacement entertainment.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
I have been trying to figure out why, since I agree that Frozen doesn't belong in the Norwegian Pavilion for at least 3, maybe 4 good reasons, I simply don't care that it is happening. I think I figured it out.

1. The EPCOT Center I fell in love with is dead and is not coming back.
2. The Epcot we have is lame.
3. The Disney of today isn't the Disney that designed these parks. They have replaced passe terms like "intellectual depth" and "artistic integrity" with hip new terms like "synergy", "strategic market placement", and "maximized quarterly profits".
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
I have been trying to figure out why, since I agree that Frozen doesn't belong in the Norwegian Pavilion for at least 3, maybe 4 good reasons, I simply don't care that it is happening. I think I figured it out.

1. The EPCOT Center I fell in love with is dead and is not coming back.
2. The Epcot we have is lame.
3. The Disney of today isn't the Disney that designed these parks. They have replaced passe terms like "intellectual depth" and "artistic integrity" with hip new terms like "synergy", "strategic market placement", and "maximized quarterly profits".
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Sad but true. It really sucks.
 
afb28

afb28

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
I have been trying to figure out why, since I agree that Frozen doesn't belong in the Norwegian Pavilion for at least 3, maybe 4 good reasons, I simply don't care that it is happening. I think I figured it out.

1. The EPCOT Center I fell in love with is dead and is not coming back.
2. The Epcot we have is lame.
.
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I definitely agree with that but you have to look at what the board sees.

MGM is going to get Star Wars and some sort of update where Backlot tour is gone from.
AK is getting Pandora/Avatar.

So in their minds, AK & MGM's attendance will improve with all those hundreds of millions of dollars tied up. So now they must figure out a way to increase Epcot and this is their end result.

Now, I definitely don't agree with it and think Frozen trackless system to replace backlot and a whole themed area could work there since it's the animation part of MGM and then spend money on fixing Future World of Epcot to provide better attractions and usage of the technology. But that is what the oversight of WDW's future is so they took the easy out and threw it in Epcot in hopes of boosting attendance there.


Side note: Was at F&W last night and it felt like a summer weekend night, it was super busy. Makes me wonder if park attendance is as bad as people speculate.
 
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aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
The waterfall is running and operating, which at least looks nicer. I dont like how the fastpass signs are covered in black, like the black death plague hit or something, which to many it did in a way. But a different color covering would have been nicer, those signs will probably be used to operate with frozen which is why they were not taken down.

I thought the pavilion would be depressing and somewhat of a downer but surprisngly it was packed and very upbeat and the shop was very busy, and Norwegian music was playing inside and out. They have changed the merch around in the shop, there is more frozen now already in the main troll room, but all of the Norwegian merch is still there as is geir and hellyhansen. The trolls are still for sale even though they have moved, but the big troll I think is staying put.

The perplexing part is the first little shop where the meetngreet was, no one seems to know what the plan is for that space but it is now all boarded and walled up from the inside, previously there was just a curtain seperating it. The bakery had some more Norwegian flags in it and I think with the ripping out of Maelstrom they really are trying to retain the spirit of Norway, which will hopefully remain that way.

They had about five castmembers standing in front of the maelstrom doors (is that many really necessary?) and many people were taking pictures of the blacked out hole in the waterfall and the shuttered doors. I was just happy to walk away with a uplifted hopeful spirit becuase it was not at all what I was expecting.
 
AEfx

AEfx

Well-Known Member
Captain Neo said:
Maelstrom actually was my introduction to Norway as a kid and got me really interested in their culture and motivated me to actual visit the country someday. If I was the same age today (or in 2016) I really don't think a frozen ride will do the same thing. It will just be yet another ride through of scenes from a movie everyones already seen just so trailer park crowd can shut their kids up for a few minutes by going "look honey bobo theres elsa from dat movie you like!"
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Well, and I'm just going by the news reports that have been well linked in this thread - your experience was somewhat unique. According to the articles/newscasts from Norway, they never saw any evidence of the Norway pavilion contributing to tourism in Norway, but they have seen an uptick of nearly 40% of folks actually spending money and visiting Norway because of Frozen (not just interested, spending the thousands of dollars to go).


Lucky said:
You mean like with Hannah Montana or High School Musical? Nah, that never happens.
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Yeah, I mean, it will probably end up like one of those forgotten films like The Little Mermaid, or Beauty and the Beast. I mean, they were hit films, but seriously - can you imagine them building rides or theming areas based on those movies today? People would just walk right past them. They were irrelevant after a few years.


spiritofNorway said:
If anyone is interested in seeing some of the pictures from "behind the scenes"/backstage at the Maelstrom ride, I have put them on my site. www.norwaypavilion.com
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Thank you so much! That is awesome! :)
 
sedati

sedati

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
While I don't doubt the OC Register had a source for that number (their labeled 'documents filed with the city') - I would doubt the number they are referencing really reflects the total spend. Its hard to say without their actual source cite. Disney spends more than that on a food location.. so I question how a total ride rebuild plus show upgrade that takes almost 9m in actual execution (let alone the time before the attraction was closed), and includes major elements from outside partners being done that cheap is Disney.
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I searched a bit further but four million is the only number that I could find. The re-furb did go way over schedule, so I'm certain it cost more. The good news I guess is that instead of saying the Frozen overlay is "only" 75 million, we should really be saying that the Frozen overlay is "at least" 75 million.
 
Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
sedati said:
I searched a bit further but four million is the only number that I could find. The re-furb did go way over schedule, so I'm certain it cost more. The good news I guess is that instead of saying the Frozen overlay is "only" 75 million, we should really be saying that the Frozen overlay is "at least" 75 million.
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Saying "at least" could imply that the budget could potentially go higher than $75 million though, which wouldn't be accurate given the info we have.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
You know, if they don't spend a whole lot monkying around with the mechanics of the ride system, $75 Million can buy a lot of eye candy for such a tiny space.

Not that I'm on board with the redo, just pointing out the possible future cognitive dissonance some of us "haters" may experience.

And since I have been informed that it will NOT be the new Princesslandia Pavilion and Norway will still be represented I shall henceforth refer to that section of the park as The Disney's "Frozen" Pavilion featuring some stuff from Norway.
 
baloofigment14

baloofigment14

Well-Known Member
Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
AEfx said:
Well, and I'm just going by the news reports that have been well linked in this thread - your experience was somewhat unique. According to the articles/newscasts from Norway, they never saw any evidence of the Norway pavilion contributing to tourism in Norway, but they have seen an uptick of nearly 40% of folks actually spending money and visiting Norway because of Frozen (not just interested, spending the thousands of dollars to go).




Yeah, I mean, it will probably end up like one of those forgotten films like The Little Mermaid, or Beauty and the Beast. I mean, they were hit films, but seriously - can you imagine them building rides or theming areas based on those movies today? People would just walk right past them. They were irrelevant after a few years.




Thank you so much! That is awesome! :)
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Wasnt there a report where the first years of the Norway pavilion.. Norway actually got a boost?
I dont think you will get much boost if you let your pavilion fall apart in mediocrity and people do not want to see it again.
 

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