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

[wm49rs]

Granted, they could improve the pavilion, but not sure what the outrage is with incorporating characters into Epcot, as long as it fits with the vision of what Epcot is about. You may not have noticed Nemo, and co are already in the park incorporating a ecological environmental spin.

Personally believe they should incorporate Ratatouille into France. Makes more sense that making a french themed land in DisneyLand Paris.

And just what vision do characters from a fictional land fit in the WS?

 

[JordanNite]

Perhaps because they don't feel it's a terrible attraction? Or perhaps instead of an overlay they'd prefer to see this pavilion (and others) upgraded and improved....

I'm a sucker for nostalga like the next man, but attraction is terrible. Don't care what anyone says. The 'outrage' seems based on nostalga, and a sense of Epcot loosing it's original concept idea. Whilst i can agree with the latter, the nostalga one really irks me. You would have people here complaining if they took away 'It's a small world' or the 'Stitch' attraction, despite them being horrendous.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Does anyone realize Maelstrom is one of the worst rated attractions at "WDW"? It also has some the least requests for FP+. This one change will drive attendance to Epcot like never before, and update attraction which is quite frankly horrible. Not sure what a very minimal group is holding onto?

So would adding a great static steel roller coaster. That doesn't mean that it's the right way to do it. Frozen deserves more than being shoehorned into an existing area. I challenge you to give me an example of when shoehorning an attraction into an existing area/ride system has worked.

 

[cw1982]

I think there are better arguments to make against this attraction overhaul.

This was only part of my original argument lol. It's been picked apart to the point of going in circles, which is fine, but this only happened because I disagreed with the idea of it being acceptable to lump all Scandinavian countries into one mass culture. The person I was disagreeing with was phrasing his argument in a way that came off like it's okay to encourage people to confuse the two countries. My whole point was that it's not respectful and not accurate to do such a thing, especially when there's a chance to keep the attraction distinctly Norwegian and not foster that confusion.

Respectfully, I have a wedding to go get ready for, so I just don't have time to keep this going at the moment. We may just have to agree to disagree on this part of the discussion, for now

 

[RSoxNo1]

Education in Epcot had a long and storied life, but today slipped away quietly after a long slow decline in health.

Education in Epcot was born in 1966 to Walt Disney, father of many mind boggling and forward thinking achievements. In it's youth, it's father dreamed of a Utopian city, melding some of industry's leaders together to create a new world for the future. Sadly, Education in Epcot's father passed away shortly after it's birth.

As Education in Epcot grew, it realized it's true calling, to bring out the best in human civilization by fostering excitement among people big and small, educating people from all walks of life about the technologies and dreams of the future, as well as exposing people to the global community that would need to come together to make these dreams come true.

During it's teenage years, Education in Epcot contracted a case of malaise brought on by poor decision making from it's new foster parents. Starting in 1994, it started losing some of it's most important fundamental beliefs. It started to lose it's energy and mobility in 1996, it's imagination in 1998, and by late 1999, all of it's dreams of the future crumbled away.

Education in Epcot still maintained a love for foreign travel though, and continued to enjoy life with it's love for cuisine and world music. These loves could only be sustained for so long though, and signs of it's death started cropping up in the past few years. It quietly passed away today, it's last heartbeat frozen in time. It's death was announced in a short statement on social media.

It is survived by it's half-sibling Corporate Greed.

Education in Epcot: 1966 - 2014. Rest in Peace.

Donations can be made in Education in Epcot's honor to local school systems and libraries.

Edutainment is a hell of a concept. Somewhere along the line it was lost though. It became characters we're familiar with trying to teach us things. That's a lazy form of edutainment but likely the only way this makeover makes sense.

 

[wm49rs]

I'm a sucker for nostalga like the next man, but attraction is terrible. Don't care what anyone says. The 'outrage' seems based on nostalga, and a sense of Epcot loosing it's original concept idea. Whilst i can agree with the latter, the nostalga one really irks me. You would have people here complaining if they took away 'It's a small world' or the 'Stitch' attraction, despite them being horrendous.

These nostalga heads really irk me.

What nostalgia? More people here (and elsewhere) have been discussing the simple fact that characters from a movie incorporating a fictional land shouldn't take the place of a real one. You don't like Maelstrom, fine. But that still doesn't mean that Arendelle should all but take over the very real Norway. Want a proper Frozen attraction/land? There's plenty of other places to place it....

 

[Monkee Girl]

Concept art for the new meet and greet:

"Disney's® Magical Frozen™ Cash Grab Starring Anna and Elsa™"

OMG I have to steal this and post it on facebook. Hilarious

 

[RSoxNo1]

The original romantic idea of Epcot is dead my friend. Like so many things that look great on paper it had the fatal flaw of not appealing to the vast unwashed masses making it unprofitable.

This simply is not true. World Showcase is primarily built of profit centers. Almost every component of World Showcase is designed to make money. It is an incredibly well themed food court and shopping mall. What attractions need to do is entice people into that food court/shopping mall.

 

[Chemnitz]

WDW absolutely should have a Frozen ride. This location sucks.

 

[PlutoHasFleas]

My comment on the parks blog wasn't approved. Imagine that.

The ones that were approved are all the same.

I wonder how much backlash they are actually seeing, or if they are paying someone to run the social media and delete/block any negative opinions of this decision.

 

[mmkr03]

Transformers shows you can build a new attraction very quickly if you put your mind to it.

I didn't say it couldn't be done just that Disney doesn't want to pay the overtime to make it happen. I've been very impressed with Universal and because of that they get more and more of my vacation time when I visit Orlando. I'm glad they have a parent company that is willing to invest because good competition always benefits the consumers, I just hope Disney gets their act together soon!

 

[mousehockey37]

My comment on the parks blog wasn't approved. Imagine that.

The ones that were approved are all the same.

I wonder how much backlash they are actually seeing, or if they are paying someone to run the social media and delete/block any negative opinions of this decision.

We said that a loooong time ago.

But go to CNN... Disney isn't in control of the responses there. I haven't looked at the FB page, but I can imagine that is still getting hit as well, just like twitter.

 

[xdan0920]

Frozen deserves a properly themed area. World Showcase deserves to stay free of permanent character based attractions.

So succinct.

Can anybody defending this move, please explain to me why you think this is the right place for a Frozen attraction?

Why is replacing one of the only rides in WS, the right thing to do when you have a park. DHS, absolutely begging for family friendly attractions?

I can usually see both sides of an argument, really I can. But with this, there is NO room for two sides. This is lazy, cheap, and sad.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Personally, I don't think a permanent Frozen attraction should exist in DHS. However, I think both DHS and DCA should continue to have venues to host short term things like Frozen Summer Fun Live. At DCA, I think this is what the Muppets area should become. In DHS, the Premier theater and other soundstages can accomplish this. The facilities like the Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid buildings can feature stage shows on more permanent runs. But when it comes to rides based on fairytales, they belong in Fantasyland.

 

[mousehockey37]

Personally, I don't think a permanent Frozen attraction should exist in DHS. However, I think both DHS and DCA should continue to have venues to host short term things like Frozen Summer Fun Live. At DCA, I think this is what the Muppets area should become. In DHS, the Premier theater and other soundstages can accomplish this. The facilities like the Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid buildings can feature stage shows on more permanent runs. But when it comes to rides based on fairytales, they belong in Fantasyland.

How long can you run a Frozen Summer Event.... In 2 weeks, it's officially not summer anymore...

 

[wm49rs]

My comment on the parks blog wasn't approved. Imagine that.

The ones that were approved are all the same.

I wonder how much backlash they are actually seeing, or if they are paying someone to run the social media and delete/block any negative opinions of this decision.

They don't have a handle on the FB/Twitter responses. Not in the least....

 

[sshindel]

This simply is not true. World Showcase is primarily built of profit centers. Almost every component of World Showcase is designed to make money. It is an incredibly well themed food court and shopping mall. What attractions need to do is entice people into that food court/shopping mall.

I was reading my Epcot Center book this morning, the one that they put out to hype the park opening in 1982.
In it, in the WS section, it said that every single item for sale in WS gift shops were "made in the country" itself. Wow, I can't even begin to imagine that these days. What is the current percentage of that? 1%?
It's again the difference. I am sure that Disney was looking to make money on those gifts in 1982, but they did so with thought and purpose toward the host nations. Now it's all done and over. Norway is dead.

 

[sshindel]

They don't have a handle on the FB/Twitter responses. Not in the least....

And those have been a bloodbath from what I was seeing. Much more than any recent decision that I can remember.

 

[RSoxNo1]

This shouldn't be a shock to anyone. We've known about it since at least January.

First mentioned by Jim Hill in December. And possibly in earlier additions of the Unofficial Guide, @lentesta was this in the 2014 guide?

 

[Oddysey]

Let the defiling of Epcot continue