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

[Magnolia Mickey]

Why not add a Mulan ride in China? Why not add an Aladdin ride in Morocco? Why not add a Beauty & The Beast attraction in France? Why not add a Brother Bear attraction in Canada? Why not add a Mary Poppins ride in the UK? You get the point! Epcot is not Fantasy Land. The World Showcase is special because it presents a somewhat realistic view of the best of culture and history of each location. If individuals want Frozen (and they obviously do), let them go to Magic Kingdom. The dumbing down of Epcot continues...

 

[jamesgf]

Feh. By the time the thing's built, your kid'll be good and sick of Frozen. Wait and see.

My daughter already is, and she loved the movie when it came out. I told her about Maelstrom, the first thing she said was "I'm so tired of Frozen"

 

[cw1982]

Perhaps and likely. I'm content to wait and see. They could surprise us with an integration rather than an overlay that focuses on Frozen in a way that bring interest to Norway.

Like it or not (general, not you specifically), it worked for The Seas with Nemo. I think that's probably the best outcome to hope for at this point.

Lol... don't smack me, but I'm not a huge fan of the Nemo ride either. I found it to be extremely boring when I rode it a few months ago. But I do fully understand your point there. TDO accomplished their apparent goal with that ride; I clearly was not part of the target audience in that project.

If they do pleasantly surprise us, I'll be among the first to admit being wrong. I just can't see how they can possibly keep the focus on Norway when they have described the ride as being a journey through the film, and the film has nothing to do with the country.

 

[FigmentsFangirl]

Why not add a Mulan ride in China? Why not add an Aladdin ride in Morocco? Why not add a Beauty & The Beast attraction in France? Why not add a Brother Bear attraction in Canada? Why not add a Mary Poppins ride in the UK? You get the point! Epcot is not Fantasy Land. The World Showcase is special because it presents a somewhat realistic view of the best of culture and history of each location. If individuals want Frozen (and they obviously do), let them go to Magic Kingdom. The dumbing down of Epcot continues...

There was rumor of putting the Aladdin Musical Spectacular in Morocco somewhere. But now with Spice Road table, most likely not to happy now

 

[BigTxEars]

Please stop. And no thanks on the TX citizenship, us Northerners are a little too hardcore on the hockey for ya'll.

You do own the hockey world, good sport too. I wish we had a team but we don't, Dallas does but I don't cheer for Dallas teams.

You can at least come and visit, good food and music. No where better for that combo in the world

Oh and we own humidity.....nobody can touch us on that!

 

[FigmentsFangirl]

They do move slow, I would love a quick turn around on this If we see it in 2016 I think that will be quick for Disney. Maybe the Frozen gals are holding out for more money, that Olaf looks like a greedy SOB as well.....

I think Olaf is holding out for more Summertime; Elsa might want a payraise though I think {She's the first Disney Queen for petes sake!} A quick turnaround could mean disaster for Disney; unsafe/unfinished ride for example. They did the update to POTC ride in two weeks. {they already have the AAs mastered and can whip uip a few dozen when needed for anything at this point} So doing an overlay might mean it is temp, or if it is perm, I want to see some art of what it will look like.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Why not add a Mulan ride in China? Why not add an Aladdin ride in Morocco? Why not add a Beauty & The Beast attraction in France? Why not add a Brother Bear attraction in Canada? Why not add a Mary Poppins ride in the UK? You get the point! Epcot is not Fantasy Land. The World Showcase is special because it presents a somewhat realistic view of the best of culture and history of each location. If individuals want Frozen (and they obviously do), let them go to Magic Kingdom. The dumbing down of Epcot continues...

It presents a realistic view of culture and history?!? You're daft.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Another thought.

So Disney is clearly banking on all the Frozen fans to drown out the complainers like us. But unless this project is far bigger in scope than we assume, there's no way the Maelstrom ride and building can ever live up to the expectations of the Frozen fans, and they, too, will be disappointed.

 

[BigTxEars]

I think Olaf is holding out for more Summertime; Elsa might want a payraise though I think {She's the first Disney Queen for petes sake!} A quick turnaround could mean disaster for Disney; unsafe/unfinished ride for example. They did the update to POTC ride in two weeks. {they already have the AAs mastered and can whip uip a few dozen when needed for anything at this point} So doing an overlay might mean it is temp, or if it is perm, I want to see some art of what it will look like.

I think that all of 2015 should be enough time is all

I don't care to see any artwork or anything at all to be honest. I avoid all thing 7D Mine Train until I rode it, and I think I enjoyed it more. Same reason I have not looked at anything regarding Potter 2.0 yet. I trust Diseny to build something I will enjoy. I think I am most excited about the queue area, they have done great jobs on those lately IMO.

 

[acishere]

Just my opinion and not trying to offend.

This reminds me of WWII buffs who think any WWII movie that is not 100% accurate in every small detail is worthless in teaching non WWII buffs about that amazing time in history. If one plane used in the movie is not correct, one soldier carries the wrong type of rifle etc then the movie is worthless and nobody can learn from it. I have never agreed with that, as a WWII buff I think movies like "Red Tails" (which was torn apart by many WWII buffs) did wonders to teach many about the sacrifice of those men.

I think a Frozen overlay in Norway can do the same. If Frozen can be an introduction to Norwegian culture, even a simple basic one then it can teach. I would guess that more American parents and kids have had conversations about Norway in the last year than in the previous 10 years combined because of Forzen. That can not be a bad thing for education.

The Snow Queen is a Danish fairy tale, not Norwegian. So it is technically a representation of a different culture's legends.

 

[DisneyRoy]

I felt compelled to copy my post from another thread here after reading pages and pages and pages of comments....and when my 5 YO daughter heard this news....happiest child on the face of the planet.

What this all comes down to is one fact....Epcot is a THEME PARK. It is there for entertainment purposes and to make Disney some money. Will "repurposing" this attraction draw more crowds? YES. Is this movie making Disney a butt load of money? YES. So is it going anywhere soon? NO.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed Maelstrom. But it's not the greatest most iconic ride that some are making it out to be. It's got freaky trolls and some giant weird oil rig that you go down a hill backward for. No cohesive story and just plain strange. I am not weeping for this to be changed.

As far as the "culture" argument goes? The ride adds nothing to the culture that is Norway in my opinion. You get more of that from the shop and the food.

Characters in World Showcase? Who cares....as I said above, it's a Theme Park! Disney will put characters where people will want to see them. And all of the characters in the World Showcase always have long lines for M&G. So again....nothing new here.

I for one welcome any changes Disney decides to make. They have sat on their laurels for far too long and changes are needed in all the parks....whether they "fit" or not.

 

[Monkee Girl]

Right. I agree with you there.

But, as I said when I replied to Matt Black, it's not quite the same thing because the Africa section of AK doesn't stand or fall based on the references to The Lion King, whereas the Norway pavilion is so small and has so little in it that basically the only thing left that will still be non-Frozen is the bakery... and for all we know, TDO could be planning to change that too. The Lion King references don't make the entire area, but the Frozen theme will all but take over the Norway pavilion.

There's Olaf cupcakes in the bakery..........just sayin'......

And my opinion on the two is The Lion King fits better regardless. Yes both were inspired by their respective counties....but The Lion King uses music, language and culture to give off the essence of it's location. When you see/hear the Lion King you think Africa. So it fits in the Animal Kingdom fine. Especially when it's not taking over; it's in one show building.

Frozen, on the other hand, has none of that. The clothing may be the most obvious cultural thing about the movie. Otherwise, the only way people would know it was supposed to be Norway is because Disney said it was.

 

[roj2323]

This is Disney and remember Disney took their time with the mine train.

And look at how that turned out. The attraction opened with non working elements and basic things that were simply not done such as railings and missing electrical covers. TO top that off it was easily noticeable that the attraction was scaled back from the original imaginering and no thought was given to accommodating guests with larger assets. On the other hand Frozen Summer Fun was planned in 10 days and it has been a huge success.

If they really wanted to do this Frozen Malstrom makeover properly they would build the new sets and animatronics off site before the attraction is closed and before it was announced so the downtime was reduced as well as the perceived construction time. The attraction would still be closed for 6 months likely but that's a hell of a lot shorter than 15+ months of yet another closed attraction in a park that has seen numerous permanently closed attractions in the last 15 years.

 

[FigmentsFangirl]

I think that all of 2015 should be enough time is all

I don't care to see any artwork or anything at all to be honest. I avoid all thing 7D Mine Train until I rode it, and I think I enjoyed it more. Same reason I have not looked at anything regarding Potter 2.0 yet. I trust Diseny to build something I will enjoy. I think I am most excited about the queue area, they have done great jobs on those lately IMO.

Can't argue with you there; Disney has actually made some really fun queues recently, {BTM & HM for example} I for one am looking forwards to this 'update' because honestly, I like the colors, the music, and the characters.

 

[cw1982]

46 pages In less than 12 hours.

Personally, I think the backlash comes in with it being "frozen" rather than an update/refurb/other change.

To the Epcot fanbois, where were you when original shows were being cut/closed? Where what your righteous indignation then? (I realize it's past their bedtime)

All in all.... It's a theme park. It's a kiddy ride in a theme park.

It's not curing cancer. It's not bringing world peace. It certainly has nothing to do with Walt Disney. It didn't open in 1982 and it wasn't that good an attraction.


And Philadelphia is still the birthplace of America.

Not sure if you're referring to me (it probably should be past my bedtime, as tired as I've been lately LOL), but I did express displeasure in regards to the entertainment cuts. I hardly knew anything about some of the terms being discussed in regard to contracts and such, but I did read up on it enough to know that TDO seemed to be making the changes strictly to cut costs, and that this seemed to fit the same pattern as choosing to overlay Maelstrom instead of building a whole new ride. TDO is all about saving money, even at the risk of compromising the overall feel of one of their most well-known parks.

As best I can tell, the two issues are tied by one thing: doing things as cheaply as possible. TDO knew they needed to add in a Frozen ride ASAP, and this was (probably) the least expensive way to do it.

 

[FigmentsFangirl]

Not sure if you're referring to me (it probably should be past my bedtime, as tired as I've been lately LOL), but I did express displeasure in regards to the entertainment cuts. I hardly knew anything about some of the terms being discussed in regard to contracts and such, but I did read up on it enough to know that TDO seemed to be making the changes strictly to cut costs, and that this seemed to fit the same pattern as choosing to overlay Maelstrom instead of building a whole new ride. TDO is all about saving money, even at the risk of compromising the overall feel of one of their most well-known parks.

As best I can tell, the two issues are tied by one thing: doing things as cheaply as possible. TDO knew they needed to add in a Frozen ride ASAP, and this was (probably) the least expensive way to do it.

Also the quickest way to do it, at the moment, buit we're still looking at a YEAR or more before actually seeing any results {or even some artwork of what the proposed overlay will look like}

 

[PhotoDave219]

Not sure if you're referring to me (it probably should be past my bedtime, as tired as I've been lately LOL), but I did express displeasure in regards to the entertainment cuts. I hardly knew anything about some of the terms being discussed in regard to contracts and such, but I did read up on it enough to know that TDO seemed to be making the changes strictly to cut costs, and that this seemed to fit the same pattern as choosing to overlay Maelstrom instead of building a whole new ride. TDO is all about saving money, even at the risk of compromising the overall feel of one of their most well-known parks.

As best I can tell, the two issues are tied by one thing: doing things as cheaply as possible. TDO knew they needed to add in a Frozen ride ASAP, and this was (probably) the least expensive way to do it.

No, I'm talking about the 12-year-olds that are screaming about Epcot in ruins now.

Honestly if the least popular attraction in Epcot being changed ruins Epcot for you, you have not been paying any attention in the past 10 years.

 

[Magnolia Mickey]

It presents a realistic view of culture and history?!? You're daft.

Perhaps you missed "somewhat" and "best of." Having traveled abroad, I understand the difference between Disney's depiction and the real thing. Nevertheless, the World Showcase stripped of animation (besides the ride in Mexico) is quite charming.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Also the quickest way to do it, at the moment, buit we're still looking at a YEAR or more before actually seeing any results {or even some artwork of what the proposed overlay will look like}

So? This is all about making money. This is all about adding revenue to the parks. This is all about increasing attendance.

If you think management cares about Epcot being some sort of educational experience, then you were surely joking yourself will run some really good drugs. I can hear you can buy them from a local blogger....

 

[BigTxEars]

The Snow Queen is a Danish fairy tale, not Norwegian. So it is technically a representation of a different culture's legends.

But as I posted since both country's' cultures are based on a overall Scandinavian culture there are tangible links.

http://americanscandinavian.org

http://www.scandinavianculturalsociety.org

http://www.scandinavianculturalsociety.org/?page_id=2

and a bunch more out there.......there are deep links between these countries....that is not an opinion it is a historical fact.