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

[Matt_Black]

Well, we can't all be Billy Crystal...

(I've made the "Disney's construction crew is made up of Doozers" joke before. The joke was supposed to be that they tend to build things at the pace of a turtle)

I thought Doozers built things fast, and the whole balance in Fraggle Rock was maintained by Fraggles eating the structures. I seem to recall an episode where someone talked the Fraggles into not eating them, and everything quickly became crowded and cluttered.

 

[Brer Panther]

That's true... I think I forgot that when I first made the joke...

 

[Matt_Black]

I am the Fraggle master!

 

[michmousefan]

Massively disagree. Not a bad movie by any means, but it doesn't remotely touch movies like Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Cinderella was a fun movie and pretty enjoyable, the second half anyways, but it's no masterpiece and far away from Disney's top tier live action fare.

Yep, it's a solid double, but by no means a home run and really not even a triple. In other words, I'd give it a straight B, maybe a B+ if I'm in the right mood.

 

[Texas84]

Just saw Cinderella. Loved it (full-grown man). Everyone wants to buy the Elsa snot balls. Now on sale at disneystore.com.

 

[Siren]

Cinderella came in 2nd place at the box office this past weekend with $35 million and $254 million worldwide. That's excellent, the movie cost only $90 million dollars to produce.

Well, then, you need to buy it on iTunes.

No.

Its a flume ride ... SHOCK ... said no one ever, all they are doing is potentially changing the direction of the attraction and sticking a snowman some imaginary characters and crystal ball says they may or may not leave the trolls alone.

Wold be great if someone in leadership in TWDC had the balls to actually say putting Frozen into Epcot was the most creatively bankrupt thing Parks and Resorts have ever done ...

LOL. The only thing that is missing here is a violin.

Just saw Cinderella. Loved it (full-grown man). Everyone wants to buy the Elsa snot balls. Now on sale at disneystore.com.

Ewww, that is so gross. I just didn't see it that way, but now that you mention it -- it's all I can see now.

Leave it to Disney to ruin the *one* character that really resonated with me. Elsa was the perfect combination of beauty queen, supermodel and superhero. She's exuded elegance, femininity and power.

Now, poor Elsa is reduced to being a frail, sickly queen -- plagued with a bizarre cryogenic virus that produces tiny *snot balls* all over creation, who then go on to terrorize the entire kingdom and viewers at home, too. I mean, they are cute in a menacing sort of way -- but, still....

Queen Elsa should never be associated with anything related to *snot*. I'm so over this, I think I will wait to see Frozen 2 on Comcast on Demand.

I was hoping with every fiber of my being that Disney did not manufacture the Snowgies. Again, I guess they're cute in a parasitic kind of way. I can just see them popping up everywhere, like out of my makeup case or something.

Anyway, apparently this whole Frozen "Snowgie" thing, may be a well orchestrated strategy by Disney to take down Universal's Despicable Me Minions. It is believed that the Minions were inspired by Toy Story's green aliens, so Disney may want revenge or just profits or both, lol.

And, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Snowgies incorporated into the Frozen ride either. The article I read described the Snowgies as "frozen, living snot bubbles." So, I can see it now -- Elsa is sick and sneezing uncontrollably and then millions of Snowgies push the boat backwards or something goofy like that. Can't wait.

 

[novawildcat18]

How much are you willing to bet that Snowgies make an appearance in the new Frozen ride?

 

[SirLink]

LOL. The only thing that is missing here is a violin.

Violin? Really really I will leave you and your destroyed vision of WS alone in this thread.

 

[Brer Panther]

At least the Snowgie things are actually kind of cute. Which is more than I can say for the Minions.

On a side note, anyone think that the upcoming Minions film might snag the title of highest-grossing animated film of all time? People REALLY love those little yellow Twinkies (for the record, I find them obnoxious and will NOT be seeing the film).

 

[Matt_Black]

At least the Snowgie things are actually kind of cute. Which is more than I can say for the Minions.

On a side note, anyone think that the upcoming Minions film might snag the title of highest-grossing animated film of all time? People REALLY love those little yellow Twinkies (for the record, I find them obnoxious and will NOT be seeing the film).

The Minions are just knock-off Rabbids. Short, weird looking, speak in a made up language, and created by the French.

 

[RandomPrincess]

My kids still LOVE Minions. Not sure on the highest grossing animated film though but it should be up there.

 

[bhg469]

How much are you willing to bet that Snowgies make an appearance in the new Frozen ride?

They seem like they would be super cheap to produce so I wouldn't touch that bet.

 

[DisDan]

They seem like they would be super cheap to produce so I wouldn't touch that bet.

Tell me about it, all they need to do is get Elsa to sneeze a few times all over Frozetrom and there you go.

 

[wdisney9000]

LOL. The only thing that is missing here is a violin.

This type of response is a great example of how people fail to understand the premise of this overlay being a ridiculous idea. (not a jab at you, @Siren, so please dont take it that way)

Peoples blind love for Frozen or something new at WDW just clouds their judgement or either they refuse to realize the true reasons for this overlay and they think that people who are against it are just whining or complaining. Allow me to clarify a few things about those, or at least myself, who believe this is a bad decision.

1. The idea that this overlay is wrong has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with how I, or others personally feel about Frozen the movie. Does not matter if you love it or hate it, its not about that in any way.

2. It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with "saving Maelstrom".

3. It has nothing to do with anybody trying to revive or bring back the Epcot of the 80's.

4. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that this is the most unimaginative, unoriginal and just plain laziest thing by a company that built its theme park foundation on the exact opposite principles. And for some crazy
reason its applauded by people who fell in love in with the WDW that was created with diligent care and effort
to AVOID this very type of concept. It was designed by men and woman who did not see things in the short- term and took every measure to avoid this exact type of shortcut to give the people what they want.

But Disney is acting on a hot IP you say? Doesnt matter, thats NO excuse and it only enables them to do this again when the next "hot IP" comes along. That excuse works for the sing along and dessert party at HS, but it does not work for shoving an entire attraction into the easiest spot.

But Epcot and World Showcase are old and need a new direction you say? Fine, Im all for that, but making Magic Kingdom 2.0 is NOT a new direction. Its the same direction. Diversity creates dimension in the world, its powerful, it creates beauty, it makes a difference. Would you want every butterfly to look exactly the same?

But Disney is also building Avatar and spending a lot of money on that and Star Wars is coming. So what, does one quality product excuse another for being lackluster? It wouldnt matter if SW and Avatar are the best things ever designed in any theme park, it has nothing to do with this.

Im just tired of hearing the same old garbage. "Epcot needs something new". Of course it does, you could also say that about every theme park, especially if you have visited many times.

"World Showcase has nothing for my family". Thats truly sad if you believe that.

"I love Frozen and so do my kids, we cant wait for this to open". Well, congratulations. Your impatience is being rewarded by Disney...with mediocrity.

 

[dgp602]

This type of response is a great example of how people fail to understand the premise of this overlay being a ridiculous idea. (not a jab at you, @Siren, so please dont take it that way)

Peoples blind love for Frozen or something new at WDW just clouds their judgement or either they refuse to realize the true reasons for this overlay and they think that people who are against it are just whining or complaining. Allow me to clarify a few things about those, or at least myself, who believe this is a bad decision.

1. The idea that this overlay is wrong has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with how I, or others personally feel about Frozen the movie. Does not matter if you love it or hate it, its not about that in any way.

2. It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with "saving Maelstrom".

3. It has nothing to do with anybody trying to revive or bring back the Epcot of the 80's.

4. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that this is the most unimaginative, unoriginal and just plain laziest thing by a company that built its theme park foundation on the exact opposite principles. And for some crazy
reason its applauded by people who fell in love in with the WDW that was created with diligent care and effort
to AVOID this very type of concept. It was designed by men and woman who did not see things in the short- term and took every measure to avoid this exact type of shortcut to give the people what they want.

But Disney is acting on a hot IP you say? Doesnt matter, thats NO excuse and it only enables them to do this again when the next "hot IP" comes along. That excuse works for the sing along and dessert party at HS, but it does not work for shoving an entire attraction into the easiest spot.

But Epcot and World Showcase are old and need a new direction you say? Fine, Im all for that, but making Magic Kingdom 2.0 is NOT a new direction. Its the same direction. Diversity creates dimension in the world, its powerful, it creates beauty, it makes a difference. Would you want every butterfly to look exactly the same?

But Disney is also building Avatar and spending a lot of money on that and Star Wars is coming. So what, does one quality product excuse another for being lackluster? It wouldnt matter if SW and Avatar are the best things ever designed in any theme park, it has nothing to do with this.

Im just tired of hearing the same old garbage. "Epcot needs something new". Of course it does, you could also say that about every theme park, especially if you have visited many times.

"World Showcase has nothing for my family". Thats truly sad if you believe that.

"I love Frozen and so do my kids, we cant wait for this to open". Well, congratulations. Your impatience is being rewarded by Disney...with mediocrity.

EXCELLENT!

 

[xstech25]

Ultimately it all comes down to the $$. A lot of people still don't visit Epcot because they don't think the kids are going to find it interesting. This basically guarantees that people are going to pay the extra $ or spend the extra day to see the Frozen attraction, similar to how Universal put Harry Potter in both parks to get people to pay for both parks.

As Lee Cockerell says: "Daddy can't say no to the little princess"

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

This type of response is a great example of how people fail to understand the premise of this overlay being a ridiculous idea. (not a jab at you, @Siren, so please dont take it that way)

Peoples blind love for Frozen or something new at WDW just clouds their judgement or either they refuse to realize the true reasons for this overlay and they think that people who are against it are just whining or complaining. Allow me to clarify a few things about those, or at least myself, who believe this is a bad decision.

1. The idea that this overlay is wrong has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with how I, or others personally feel about Frozen the movie. Does not matter if you love it or hate it, its not about that in any way.

2. It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with "saving Maelstrom".

3. It has nothing to do with anybody trying to revive or bring back the Epcot of the 80's.

4. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that this is the most unimaginative, unoriginal and just plain laziest thing by a company that built its theme park foundation on the exact opposite principles. And for some crazy
reason its applauded by people who fell in love in with the WDW that was created with diligent care and effort
to AVOID this very type of concept. It was designed by men and woman who did not see things in the short- term and took every measure to avoid this exact type of shortcut to give the people what they want.

But Disney is acting on a hot IP you say? Doesnt matter, thats NO excuse and it only enables them to do this again when the next "hot IP" comes along. That excuse works for the sing along and dessert party at HS, but it does not work for shoving an entire attraction into the easiest spot.

But Epcot and World Showcase are old and need a new direction you say? Fine, Im all for that, but making Magic Kingdom 2.0 is NOT a new direction. Its the same direction. Diversity creates dimension in the world, its powerful, it creates beauty, it makes a difference. Would you want every butterfly to look exactly the same?

But Disney is also building Avatar and spending a lot of money on that and Star Wars is coming. So what, does one quality product excuse another for being lackluster? It wouldnt matter if SW and Avatar are the best things ever designed in any theme park, it has nothing to do with this.

Im just tired of hearing the same old garbage. "Epcot needs something new". Of course it does, you could also say that about every theme park, especially if you have visited many times.

"World Showcase has nothing for my family". Thats truly sad if you believe that.

"I love Frozen and so do my kids, we cant wait for this to open". Well, congratulations. Your impatience is being rewarded by Disney...with mediocrity.

This. This again. And again. And again ad infinitum.

Well done.

 

[Nick Pappagiorgio]

This type of response is a great example of how people fail to understand the premise of this overlay being a ridiculous idea. (not a jab at you, @Siren, so please dont take it that way)

Peoples blind love for Frozen or something new at WDW just clouds their judgement or either they refuse to realize the true reasons for this overlay and they think that people who are against it are just whining or complaining. Allow me to clarify a few things about those, or at least myself, who believe this is a bad decision.

1. The idea that this overlay is wrong has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with how I, or others personally feel about Frozen the movie. Does not matter if you love it or hate it, its not about that in any way.

2. It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with "saving Maelstrom".

3. It has nothing to do with anybody trying to revive or bring back the Epcot of the 80's.

4. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that this is the most unimaginative, unoriginal and just plain laziest thing by a company that built its theme park foundation on the exact opposite principles. And for some crazy
reason its applauded by people who fell in love in with the WDW that was created with diligent care and effort
to AVOID this very type of concept. It was designed by men and woman who did not see things in the short- term and took every measure to avoid this exact type of shortcut to give the people what they want.

But Disney is acting on a hot IP you say? Doesnt matter, thats NO excuse and it only enables them to do this again when the next "hot IP" comes along. That excuse works for the sing along and dessert party at HS, but it does not work for shoving an entire attraction into the easiest spot.

But Epcot and World Showcase are old and need a new direction you say? Fine, Im all for that, but making Magic Kingdom 2.0 is NOT a new direction. Its the same direction. Diversity creates dimension in the world, its powerful, it creates beauty, it makes a difference. Would you want every butterfly to look exactly the same?

But Disney is also building Avatar and spending a lot of money on that and Star Wars is coming. So what, does one quality product excuse another for being lackluster? It wouldnt matter if SW and Avatar are the best things ever designed in any theme park, it has nothing to do with this.

Im just tired of hearing the same old garbage. "Epcot needs something new". Of course it does, you could also say that about every theme park, especially if you have visited many times.

"World Showcase has nothing for my family". Thats truly sad if you believe that.

"I love Frozen and so do my kids, we cant wait for this to open". Well, congratulations. Your impatience is being rewarded by Disney...with mediocrity.

Just about covers every angle...

 

[wdwfan757]

How different is shoehorning frozen into maelstrom than pretty much everything universal has done in the last 5 years not named Harry Potter? Take something unpopular, gut the building, add in newer, fresher IP to the same building, await while WDWMagic rants about how quickly you're way better than WDW these days.

I just don't see why everything has to be a D-ticket/E-ticket. Half the board says that adding garbage like Pixar Place to HS is a better solution than adding a 3rd track to TSM... yet, replacing Maelstrom with a Frozen themed dark ride isn't an upgrade? Because apparently Frozen should get sooo much more? What should it get? What does Frozen deserve? Peter Pan is 2:45, Winnie the Pooh is 3:08, Snow White's Scary Adventures was 2:25 and everyone acts like those were the greatest thing ever. They gave you a 6 minute Under the Sea and everyone says it sucks. So it's not length. Aladdin doesn't have anything but a spinner, Lion King doesn't have a ride. They gave you a mine train that lacked duration but managed to give you a fun/tame coaster with a new animatronic style, and you all said it wasn't long enough. So for anything to matter it needs to be an E-ticket, and for some reason, it needs to jump over Avatar and Star Wars in terms of the E-ticket agenda.

They're replacing Maelstrom with an improvement over Maelstrom and it should just be left at that. Just because it's Frozen doesn't mean it deserves it's own land yet or its own E-ticket yet... and if they spent eons developing a Frozen E-ticket everyone would complain about how Disney didn't used to base their best attractions on movies.

 

[orlando678-]

The problem is, is that Maelstrom wasnt unpopular. Also it doesnt matter what universal does, this is Disney, not universal. Another thing is that Harry Potter doesnt completely change the look at a park. Sure we miss jaws, but without it, we can still have a Universal Studios theme park. Frozen however completely breaks through and changes the cultural look at world showcase. Frozen will get so many people to the calm world showcase and also Frozen doesnt depict Norway that much, except for trolls that arent completely based on the Norwegian versions of them, costumes and landscape. The real trolls, the gods, the vikings, nothing of that is in Frozen and thats what im going to miss most when frozestrom opens.