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

[Mike S]

We have gone from people complaining Disney is not investing enough in new attractions to now they are investing too much.

And people criticize me for being out of touch. Wow.

WDI's bloated budgets and waste have been detailed on these forums time and time again. You just choose to ignore it.

Seems like if they just added the attractions that were originally planned for World Showcase, they would have no problems attracting families... and that is without having to bring in characters...Much was planned for that park that never got completed... Also an updated Imagination, and revival of something into the Wonders Of Life pavilion would be great... There were so many opportunities for them to create new attractions to bring in the young families before they needed to stoop to cartoon characters in World Showcase...

Wrong. Frostrom is so much better for children than anything that would actually fit in World Showcase.

 

[UpAllNight]

Thank God the entire world does not have that attitude. No you do not just "accept it". When something goes wrong or bad things happen, you say something. Yes, many here will still ride it at least once but no matter what the ride looks like on the inside, it does not change the fact that it is in the wrong spot.

There's a clear disconnect between the concensus on this forum and I suspect how the general public will view this attraction. As much as I agree that when something goes wrong it should be commented on, the masses are the ones that Disney will listen too and many will lap this attraction up.

So complaints to me are admirably aimed at saving Epcot from further toonification. Again, the masses will decide with their wallets, with their comments on blogs, social media and tripadvisor, and with their comments and complaints at guest relations on if this has been a success.

It is in the wrong spot. It's been mentioned many many times. Everyone knows this. But anyone not willing to give the actual ride a fair shot is doing themselves an injustice.

 

[FigmentForver96]

There's a clear disconnect between the concensus on this forum and I suspect how the general public will view this attraction. As much as I agree that when something goes wrong it should be commented on, the masses are the ones that Disney will listen too and many will lap this attraction up.

So complaints to me are admirably aimed at saving Epcot from further toonification. Again, the masses will decide with their wallets, with their comments on blogs, social media and tripadvisor, and with their comments and complaints at guest relations on if this has been a success.

It is in the wrong spot. It's been mentioned many many times. Everyone knows this. But anyone not willing to give the actual ride a fair shot is doing themselves an injustice.

I'm sure most will still ride the ride. I will not wait multiple hours for it because well I won't wait for no ride multiple hours. Someone has to always be willing to say something

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I'm sure most will still ride the ride. I will not wait multiple hours for it because well I won't wait for no ride multiple hours. Someone has to always be willing to say something

No ride in the world is worth more than a 30 minute wait to us. My opinion is that anyone here that has bashed a ride they have never seen should never be allowed to ride it, as it won't matter if they love the ride, they will still come back here and say it sucked, so they aren't proven wrong.

 

[MOM2FOUR]

Why? Why would they not take them? Since 1982....yes 1982 adults AND CHILDREN were vastly entertained, wowed and amazed by EPCOT Center. Future World inspired generations about the future and how if they can dream it they can do it. Learning that some our best secrets were found in our past. World Showcase shows a ideal version of each country. Children and adults can experience the sound, sights, people and culture that make up great nations. Norway was always interesting because the ride went into some of the Norway myths of trolls and hidden adventures. Once guest left the ride they would often find storytellers who told the stories of Norway legends and the monsters they believed to roam the lands. So yes adults LOVED the idea of taking their children to EPCOT Center because not only did they learn, but they did it in a fun environment where they truly did discover new things but were not bored. This whole "Epcot is boring" mantra is something rabid Disney lovers throw around to defend the pathetic decisions of a company that wishes to quickly make money off of a film.

How old are your kids? I couldn't take my two year old or four year old on the old Norway ride. Heck, my six year old would probably pee her pants. So like I said, unless you've got older kids, little ones aren't going to be learning about the experience and wonder of Norway from the old troll boat ride. Nowadays kids can go to live feeds of the fjords and FaceTime classmates in Oslo. And so while I agree the World Showcase Norway and Frozen don't go together, Disney did it to make money. Why would you expect anything else? Disney is a for profit company that shoves, mostly fun, garbage down our throats and we eat it up for lots of different reasons.

 

[marni1971]

We have gone from people complaining Disney is not investing enough in new attractions to now they are investing too much.

And people criticize me for being out of touch. Wow.

And again you blow it out of context.

It's very very very silly.

 

[marni1971]

Disney will invest in what makes them the most money. That's why they are capitalizing on the Frozen franchise in as many areas as possible, especially in someplace like Epcot that's struggling to get young families to visit.

That's well known. So instead of developing new attractions that would both fit the intent, the demographic, and the park they do this. Smacks of desperation to bring people in.

 

[Mike S]

How old are your kids? I couldn't take my two year old or four year old on the old Norway ride. Heck, my six year old would probably pee her pants. So like I said, unless you've got older kids, little ones aren't going to be learning about the experience and wonder of Norway from the old troll boat ride. Nowadays kids can go to live feeds of the fjords and FaceTime classmates in Oslo. And so while I agree the World Showcase Norway and Frozen don't go together, Disney did it to make money. Why would you expect anything else? Disney is a for profit company that shoves, mostly fun, garbage down our throats and we eat it up for lots of different reasons.

I'll just leave this here. Better than anything I would say.

Walt Disney once said, "When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say, 'But why do you want to build an amusement park? They're so dirty.' I told her that was just the point — mine wouldn't be."

Walt Disney took out a mortgage on his house and reportedly went $100K into personal debt to help pay for Disneyland, at a time when median household income was under $5K.

You know what?

Disney was a business in 1955 when Disneyland opened to rave reviews and financial glory.

Wanting to honor his brother's vision, the 73 year-old Roy O. Disney postponed his retirement for 5 years in order to oversee the construction of Walt Disney World, which opened in October 1971. Roy died 2 months later.

Disney was a business in 1971 when operating margin was actually higher than what it's averaged under Bob Iger.

Struggling to find a direction for the company, Card Walker reportedly invested $1.5 billion in Epcot at a time when the entire company's annual revenue was $1.0 billion.

Disney was a business in 1982 when this bold investment grew company revenue by 60% in 2 years.

With Disney's film industry in tatters, Roy E. Disney fronted the effort to bring in Michael Eisner, who not only managed to turn Disney into a film juggernaut but also built Disney-MGM Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, Disney's Animal Kingdom, more than a dozen hotels, shopping districts, and a sports complex.

Disney was a business in the 1980s and 1990s when Eisner created The Walt Disney Company megacorporation and built the modern Walt Disney World.

In recent years, the Disney "business" under Bob Iger has made quality cut after quality cut, price hike on top of price hike, and project delay after project delay, turning Walt Disney World into a shell of its former glory. This in a decade that has seen company revenue grow by a paltry 5.1% annually under Iger.

No one had to explain away bad corporate behavior for Disney's first 50 years in the theme park industry, yet for some reason the "Disney is a business" crowd thinks it's OK to trot out this tired cliché every time the Disney "business" does something to bring Walt Disney World down.

 

[JustInTime]

How in the world is it late May and we have literally nothing new on this ride?! I feel like this has taken forever! How do they have have an opening date hammered out on this thing?

 

[Kate F]

How in the world is it late May and we have literally nothing new on this ride?! I feel like this has taken forever! How do they have have an opening date hammered out on this thing?

Well, we got some new photos the other day...

First glimpse of the actual attraction

 

[JassiSidhu2000]

Have no problem with Frozen attraction in Norway. Infact i think they should shoe Horn Ratatouille into France.

Where i see problems is Future World is pretty barren, and instead of enjoying the stroll around world showcase it's going to be very busy, when the crowds should be spread around future world and showcase.

Just a quick question, why didn't they just make a brand new attraction? Why use the same exisiting layout as Maelstrom? Pirates of the Caribbean in Shanghai show just what Disney Imagineers are capable off.

 

[xdan0920]

RIP Nimoy

Cool, more gifs...

 

[Mawg]

My boys were 6 and 8 when we last went. They loved World Showcase, it kind of surprised me as I thought they would be bored but they really enjoyed the atmosphere of it. I thought only the rides would entertain them but they found entertainment in all the little side shows and crafts to do.

 

[raymusiccity]

People keep saying "oh well the old ride was dumb anyway this should be better"! If the old ride was so bad they should had properly updated or replaced the ride. Not shoehorn something into the ride to capitalize on a booming franchise.

Winnie the Pooh was 'shoehorned' in to replace Mr. Toad.......That worked out pretty well!

 

[FigmentForver96]

Winnie the Pooh was 'shoehorned' in to replace Mr. Toad.......That worked out pretty well!

Not the same....

 

[aladdin2007]

How in the world is it late May and we have literally nothing new on this ride?! I feel like this has taken forever! How do they have have an opening date hammered out on this thing?

not only that but also received the new mickey monitor this week and the only thing it shows for it is the exact same piece of concept art they have shown for the past two years now....is that all they have to show for at this stage?

 

[aladdin2007]

Have no problem with Frozen attraction in Norway. Infact i think they should shoe Horn Ratatouille into France.

Where i see problems is Future World is pretty barren, and instead of enjoying the stroll around world showcase it's going to be very busy, when the crowds should be spread around future world and showcase.

Just a quick question, why didn't they just make a brand new attraction? Why use the same exisiting layout as Maelstrom? Pirates of the Caribbean in Shanghai show just what Disney Imagineers are capable off.

because they are tightwads, and wanted it fast tracked. though their definition of fast tracked is laughable.

 

[zooey]

We have gone from people complaining Disney is not investing enough in new attractions to now they are investing too much.

And people criticize me for being out of touch. Wow.

It's about what you get for the money.

 

[montyz81]

because they are tightwads, and wanted it fast tracked. though their definition of fast tracked is laughable.

could it be that they didn't think how this could potentially break the backstory of World Showcase? (What the hell am I talking about?) World Showcase was meant to be a permanent worlds fair showcasing various cultures. This does not showcase anything but fantasy. Has nothing to do with what World Showcase was initially intended to do. Maybe in their haste to get it in here, they are challenged with making Word Showcase still look like it showcases culture while bringing in a bit of fun with Frozen. I suspect it will still fail to showcase Norwegian culture even with Frozen there. Or maybe they just designed it so quickly that nothing works inside forcing them to do boat load of retest. So what we end up having is a half baked ride that was rushed through design to get it running quicker which is now causing issues because it wasn't designed with proper thought in mind forcing them to release it when it would have likely been released if they spent time and really thought it through! (Kind of makes me think of Michael "Goob" Yagoobian)

 

[JustInTime]

Well, we got some new photos the other day...

Unofficially, yes. :-/