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

Phil12

Well-Known Member
As long at the truth fits with what you want to believe.
images
 

ColdSarsaparilla

Well-Known Member
A Frozen attraction might fit better in Disney's CineMagic Kingdom ;):rolleyes:... But, if there's a park that has the capacity to handle more guests, it's Epcot. I sure hope it relieves some pressure off Magic Kingdom.
 

ToInfinityAndBeyond

Well-Known Member
I wasn't fast enough yesterday to snag a FP+ for Tuesday 6/21 (which is coincidentally my b-day), but I managed to get one on Wed. I am very interested to see how this is going to go. I'm afraid I am more excited to ride on Soarin' (if it's open. No FP were available. Is this because of the update to the new film? I thought that would just happen overnight and they wouldn't need another closure.)
 

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
That's true... But the A&E meet and greet existing only at Epcot will hopefully pull "princesses" from Fantasyland. I realize many don't want that to happen, but the constant crush of people at MK combined with the open spaces of Epcot make this a potentially good match.
Even beyond the fact that there are people who don't want that to happen -- the Pavilion's existing and forthcoming infrastructure cannot sufficiently hold the amount of people that will be coming. Pull "princesses" from Fantasyland, fine, but pull them to a new, purpose-built attraction that can actually accommodate the demand, unlike Norway and World Showcase.

Epcot has plenty of capacity to fill, and I'm sure once guests guests are done exploring the new Frozen offerings they will disperse into it. But that will be after they wait in 2, 3, 4 hour lines with their kids in the sun that wrap around World Showcase for a too-short ride and a Met and Greet (which, really, don't fit in thematically). Very little in this recipe promises a satisfying guest experience.
 

wdwfan757

Well-Known Member
Even beyond the fact that there are people who don't want that to happen -- the Pavilion's existing and forthcoming infrastructure cannot sufficiently hold the amount of people that will be coming. Pull "princesses" from Fantasyland, fine, but pull them to a new, purpose-built attraction that can actually accommodate the demand, unlike Norway and World Showcase.

Epcot has plenty of capacity to fill, and I'm sure once guests guests are done exploring the new Frozen offerings they will disperse into it. But that will be after they wait in 2, 3, 4 hour lines with their kids in the sun that wrap around World Showcase for a too-short ride and a Met and Greet (which, really, don't fit in thematically). Very little in this recipe promises a satisfying guest experience.

Can it hold the demand now? Maybe not, the pavilion is certainly larger than it was this time when Maelstrom closed...

But can it hold the demand 10 years from now? Absolutely. It's Frozen, not Star Wars or Harry Potter. The operational capacity of Frozen should be a tick better than Maelstrom, which was already better than such veteran franchises as Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Buzz. It's on par with TSM before the 3rd track and Dumbo. Under the Sea and Finding Nemo are popular franchises with much greater capacities, but Finding Nemo wasn't the original use of that omnimover. So Under the Sea stands alone as the only animated disney movie with a ride capacity significantly in excess of Frozen and its peers. Sure, for the next few years, Frozen's line will be insane, just like Minion Mayhem at Uni... eventually, it will even out, especially as Epcot gets better. From a thematic sense, sure MK makes more sense, but it makes 0 business sense, as MK needs no more attention from a ride perspective. HS would have made the most sense from a thematic and business perspective, but with Star Wars, TSPL, and whatever phase III is, it's hard to know how it would've worked in with those plans. AK is sacred. There's certainly a better tie to Norway than to Future World. So they stuck it in Norway. In terms of spreading our crowds and maximizing attractions at the parks, in the long run Frozen in Norway makes more sense than anything else. MK has everything, HS will have Tower of Terror, Rock'n'Roller, two major star wars attractions, and some toy story diversions. AK will likely have three of the best experiences at WDW between avatar, everest, and kilimanjaro, plus it has all the non-ride things to do. Epcot needs something. There is no easy fix for FutureWorld. I'm a big fan of soarin' and test track, but that's it. Frozen will be a nice bonus. Epcot needs frozen more than Frozen needs epcot or any park for that matter. Hopefully it gets a show at DHS one day, but I'm not going to sit around and pout that Frozen deserves better when Aladdin on the east coast is just a spinner and Jungle Book is just now reappearing in parks. Let the Frozen sing-along go on forever.

Cliffs notes... The enlarged Norway pavilion is no smaller than the surrounding areas of the other Fantasyland rides. The ride capacity of Maelstrom is no worse than 80% of the other movies based on disney's animated films. The sky is not falling.
 

Mike S

Well-Known Member
I wasn't fast enough yesterday to snag a FP+ for Tuesday 6/21 (which is coincidentally my b-day), but I managed to get one on Wed. I am very interested to see how this is going to go. I'm afraid I am more excited to ride on Soarin' (if it's open. No FP were available. Is this because of the update to the new film? I thought that would just happen overnight and they wouldn't need another closure.)
Worst, present, ever. Maybe you can return it? ;)
Can it hold the demand now? Maybe not, the pavilion is certainly larger than it was this time when Maelstrom closed...

But can it hold the demand 10 years from now? Absolutely. It's Frozen, not Star Wars or Harry Potter. The operational capacity of Frozen should be a tick better than Maelstrom, which was already better than such veteran franchises as Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Buzz. It's on par with TSM before the 3rd track and Dumbo. Under the Sea and Finding Nemo are popular franchises with much greater capacities, but Finding Nemo wasn't the original use of that omnimover. So Under the Sea stands alone as the only animated disney movie with a ride capacity significantly in excess of Frozen and its peers. Sure, for the next few years, Frozen's line will be insane, just like Minion Mayhem at Uni... eventually, it will even out, especially as Epcot gets better. From a thematic sense, sure MK makes more sense, but it makes 0 business sense, as MK needs no more attention from a ride perspective. HS would have made the most sense from a thematic and business perspective, but with Star Wars, TSPL, and whatever phase III is, it's hard to know how it would've worked in with those plans. AK is sacred. There's certainly a better tie to Norway than to Future World. So they stuck it in Norway. In terms of spreading our crowds and maximizing attractions at the parks, in the long run Frozen in Norway makes more sense than anything else. MK has everything, HS will have Tower of Terror, Rock'n'Roller, two major star wars attractions, and some toy story diversions. AK will likely have three of the best experiences at WDW between avatar, everest, and kilimanjaro, plus it has all the non-ride things to do. Epcot needs something. There is no easy fix for FutureWorld. I'm a big fan of soarin' and test track, but that's it. Frozen will be a nice bonus. Epcot needs frozen more than Frozen needs epcot or any park for that matter. Hopefully it gets a show at DHS one day, but I'm not going to sit around and pout that Frozen deserves better when Aladdin on the east coast is just a spinner and Jungle Book is just now reappearing in parks. Let the Frozen sing-along go on forever.

Cliffs notes... The enlarged Norway pavilion is no smaller than the surrounding areas of the other Fantasyland rides. The ride capacity of Maelstrom is no worse than 80% of the other movies based on disney's animated films. The sky is not falling.
Frozen is currently very big compared to the other animated films that have rides in WDW. It needed a purpose built attraction with higher capacity. It's hilarious to me that WDW is the only resort getting a Frozen ride that doesn't understand this very simple concept. For DHS Frozen could've been phase 3 or whatever and they could've gotten the bigger show coming soon to DCA in the interim. Keep waving that flag for mediocrity though.
 

ParksAndPixels

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Worst, present, ever. Maybe you can return it? ;)

Frozen is currently very big compared to the other animated films that have rides in WDW. It needed a purpose built attraction with higher capacity. It's hilarious to me that WDW is the only resort getting a Frozen ride that doesn't understand this very simple concept. For DHS Frozen could've been phase 3 or whatever and they could've gotten the bigger show coming soon to DCA in the interim. Keep waving that flag for mediocrity though.
 

Launchpad McQuack

Well-Known Member
Worst, present, ever. Maybe you can return it? ;)

Frozen is currently very big compared to the other animated films that have rides in WDW. It needed a purpose built attraction with higher capacity. It's hilarious to me that WDW is the only resort getting a Frozen ride that doesn't understand this very simple concept. For DHS Frozen could've been phase 3 or whatever and they could've gotten the bigger show coming soon to DCA in the interim. Keep waving that flag for mediocrity though.

While I agree that this wasn't the ideal situation, had they waited until DHS phase 3, most of the people now complaining about Frozen in WS would be complaining about Disney's inability to capitalize on the popularity of the film in a timely manner.
 

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
While I agree that this wasn't the ideal situation, had they waited until DHS phase 3, most of the people now complaining about Frozen in WS would be complaining about Disney's inability to capitalize on the popularity of the film in a timely manner.

Oh yeah. Or, if it went in DHS, they'd say, "Oh, DHS is now the Any IP That's Popular Park! Frozen should really go in the Magic Kingdom!" And if it DID go in the Magic Kingdom- "Magic Kingdom doesn't NEED Frozen or anything new! What they should be doing is focusing on the other parks to take some pressure off of MK!"
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Cliffs notes... The enlarged Norway pavilion is no smaller than the surrounding areas of the other Fantasyland rides..

The operational ride area - and queue - is marginally increased. Hardly an enlarged pavilion for that side of things.

Next door has bigger potties and two meet n greet rooms. It will have no impact on the inadequate ride capacity.

And a store.
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
Can it hold the demand now? Maybe not, the pavilion is certainly larger than it was this time when Maelstrom closed...

But can it hold the demand 10 years from now? Absolutely. It's Frozen, not Star Wars or Harry Potter. The operational capacity of Frozen should be a tick better than Maelstrom, which was already better than such veteran franchises as Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and Buzz. It's on par with TSM before the 3rd track and Dumbo. Under the Sea and Finding Nemo are popular franchises with much greater capacities, but Finding Nemo wasn't the original use of that omnimover. So Under the Sea stands alone as the only animated disney movie with a ride capacity significantly in excess of Frozen and its peers. Sure, for the next few years, Frozen's line will be insane, just like Minion Mayhem at Uni... eventually, it will even out, especially as Epcot gets better. From a thematic sense, sure MK makes more sense, but it makes 0 business sense, as MK needs no more attention from a ride perspective. HS would have made the most sense from a thematic and business perspective, but with Star Wars, TSPL, and whatever phase III is, it's hard to know how it would've worked in with those plans. AK is sacred. There's certainly a better tie to Norway than to Future World. So they stuck it in Norway. In terms of spreading our crowds and maximizing attractions at the parks, in the long run Frozen in Norway makes more sense than anything else. MK has everything, HS will have Tower of Terror, Rock'n'Roller, two major star wars attractions, and some toy story diversions. AK will likely have three of the best experiences at WDW between avatar, everest, and kilimanjaro, plus it has all the non-ride things to do. Epcot needs something. There is no easy fix for FutureWorld. I'm a big fan of soarin' and test track, but that's it. Frozen will be a nice bonus. Epcot needs frozen more than Frozen needs epcot or any park for that matter. Hopefully it gets a show at DHS one day, but I'm not going to sit around and pout that Frozen deserves better when Aladdin on the east coast is just a spinner and Jungle Book is just now reappearing in parks. Let the Frozen sing-along go on forever.

Cliffs notes... The enlarged Norway pavilion is no smaller than the surrounding areas of the other Fantasyland rides. The ride capacity of Maelstrom is no worse than 80% of the other movies based on disney's animated films. The sky is not falling.
This really sounds like your trying to convince yourself, not anyone else.
 

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Oh yeah. Or, if it went in DHS, they'd say, "Oh, DHS is now the Any IP That's Popular Park! Frozen should really go in the Magic Kingdom!" And if it DID go in the Magic Kingdom- "Magic Kingdom doesn't NEED Frozen or anything new! What they should be doing is focusing on the other parks to take some pressure off of MK!"
I don't think anyone would complain if the circus tents went away, and a purpose built proper Frozen ride and mini land were built... absolutely no one... I don't think people are on here to just complain about anything...but maybe short sighted decisions that don't make sense in the long run...
 

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
The amount of excuses people continue to make to justify this is mind boggling. They are basically debating with themselves at this point as they will speculate and then counter their own speculations which were never made by those against it.

Those against this have stuck to the two basic FACTS that have been evident since the announcement. The inability to handle the capacity that both the M&G and attraction will generate, and that this is a very forced thematic fit.

Now lets examine the excuses by those who just desire a ride: Frozen was inspired by Norway, My kids are bored with World Showcase, Frozen needs a ride because it is a hot IP, Walts vision for EPCOT never happened so lets just build rides (I havent figured out why they say this one), Frozen will boost Epcots attendance, Frozen will generate interest in the rest of Epcot and WS for those who never enjoyed it before (<=== this is probly the most ignorant one), This will take pressure off MK, Epcot needs more rides, Epcot needs help, and the most potential dangerous one....Each pavilion should have its own IP based ride. They will even throw in the educational aspect for the last one which is odd because we already know that Frostrom will NOT have any educational aspects as its just a collection of favorite songs and scenes from the movie which is what people want because as they so often claim, "I dont go to Disney to learn", yet they will justify more rides via an educational aspect, lol. Nothing factual from this camp, just excuses, wild speculation, and blatant disregard for the very real and intricate process of theme and placement that made all of WDW the wonderful destination that it is. They will unravel the fabric of true creativity in order to see a popular movie have a ride, regardless of its quality
 
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Next Big Thing

Well-Known Member
The amount of excuses people continue to make to justify this is mind boggling. They are basically debating with themselves at this point as they will speculate and then counter their own speculations which were never made by those against it.

Those against this have stuck to the two basic FACTS that have been evident since the announcement. The inability to handle the capacity that both the M&G and attraction will generate, and that this is a very forced thematic fit.

Now lets examine the excuses by those who just desire a ride: Frozen was inspired by Norway, My kids are bored with World Showcase, Frozen needs a ride because it is a hot IP, Walts vision for EPCOT never happened so lets just build rides (I havent figured out why they say this one), Frozen will boost Epcots attendance, Frozen will generate interest in the rest of Epcot and WS for those who never enjoyed it before (<=== this is probly the most ignorant one), This will take pressure off MK, Epcot needs more rides, Epcot needs help, and the most potential dangerous one....Each pavilion should have its own IP based ride. They will even throw in the educational aspect for the last one which is odd because we already know that Frostrom will NOT have any educational aspects as its just a collection of favorite songs and scenes from the movie which is what people want because as they so often claim, "I dont go to Disney to learn", yet they will justify more rides via an educational aspect, lol.
At least for me, it has nothing to do with finding a justification. We're simply stuck with it now, arguing until the end of time about how it doesn't belong isn't going to get you anywhere.
 

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