Frozen ride replacing Maelstrom?

[sshindel]

Luckily that is (or at least it used to be) Disney's specialty.

And it used to be a challenge that Disney seemed to enjoy as well.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

And it used to be a challenge that Disney seemed to enjoy as well.

"It's find of fun to do the impossible."

 

[sshindel]

"It's find of fun to do the impossible."

These days it's:
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible as long as it fits within a small budget and appeals to the lowest common denominator and has a solid proven return on investment"
It just doesn't go as nicely on bumper stickers as the Walt original.

 

[Mike S]

"It's find of fun to do the impossible."

Now replaced with "it's kind of fun to be cheap and lazy and still rake in the cash"

 

[FerretAfros]

Remember when the parks were a place where you could "savor the challenge and promise of the future"? *sigh*

 

[vinnya1726]

Not trying to turn this into a Uni vs Disney post at all....
However, I wonder if a little of the lack of want to create educational experiences is a result of the growth of the Orlando park options overall?
Back in '82 when EPCOT was first opening, its only local competition was what...the Magic Kingdom and I guess Seaworld? I doubt WDW had a terrible fear of losing visitors to the MK and Seaworld wasn't very large at the time. However, they could focus on education a bit more as there wasn't much to draw folks elsewhere. The lack of other entertainment options may not have been necessary, these educational experiences in the early days of EPCOT were so good anyway, but as time has worn on and so many other entertainment experiences have come, both within the entire WDW property and now the super growth spurt of Uni, it's going to be tough to convince people to visit the educational-entertainment vs pure entertainment. I suppose I could liken it to cable and satellite TV growth. As a child, I watched a ton of PBS and those sneaky people found ways to bury education within their broadcasting, but I only had 7 channels that came through on the ol' rabbit ears. Today's children far more options. Yes, there are strict channels dedicated to the educational experiences, but I'm guessing the remote can veer them away all too swiftly.
If WDW is to draw people in with educational experiences again, they'll have to step up their game to circa 1982 styles again, but we don't see that in many, if any, new attractions world wide, do we? If not, it'll be hard to tell a guest to spend x number of dollars to learn the mythology of a troll under a bridge in Oslo if they would rather be entertained fighting their way out of Gringotts.

Excellent Points!

 

[vinnya1726]

Regarding the bit about media saturation and education, I think it's more that, in this day and age, if you want to learn something, it's easier than ever. You can google on your computer or smart phone and you're on your way. With that kind of competition, both the entertainment and educational content of an attraction have to be top notch to keep someone's attention.

As an Elementary School Principal I could not agree more. Since Epcot opened in 1982 the world has been turned upside down. The internet, Smartphones, Smartboards, IPads, these have all changed the way schools present educational information. If Disney is going to present World Showcase and Future World as Educational then they need to present an exceptional product, but that might be some serious changes that I think would cost serious money and would probably cause riots on message boards like this, who hate any change and will criticize Disney either way. So Disney is in a no win situation. Is frozen a bad idea for World Showcase...yes...but Should Malestrom stay the way it is...should every one of those movies in World Show case be ripped out and made more interactive...Hell yes. Disney is going to do what Disney wants to do and we just have to hope it is of high quality. The Mine Train is not bad for a family ride, which is what they said it was going to be...it was never intended to be this super duper high thrill roller coaster e-ticket that everyone seems to want. Many families and many people without families come to Disney because it is not all Roller Coasters.

 

[acishere]

Regarding the bit about media saturation and education, I think it's more that, in this day and age, if you want to learn something, it's easier than ever. You can google on your computer or smart phone and you're on your way. With that kind of competition, both the entertainment and educational content of an attraction have to be top notch to keep someone's attention.

That shouldn't be an excuse for Disney to not bother. It is supposed to be their mission to rise to the challenge of creating great edutainment content in Epcot. There are better ways to refurb and improve Maelstrom without just turning it into "Where's Olaf?" like they did in Mexico. That is the lazy solution.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

As an Elementary School Principal I could not agree more. Since Epcot opened in 1982 the world has been turned upside down. The internet, Smartphones, Smartboards, IPads, these have all changed the way schools present educational information. If Disney is going to present World Showcase and Future World as Educational then they need to present an exceptional product, but that might be some serious changes that I think would cost serious money and would probably cause riots on message boards like this, who hate any change and will criticize Disney either way. So Disney is in a no win situation. Is frozen a bad idea for World Showcase...yes...but Should Malestrom stay the way it is...should every one of those movies in World Show case be ripped out and made more interactive...Hell yes. Disney is going to do what Disney wants to do and we just have to hope it is of high quality. The Mine Train is not bad for a family ride, which is what they said it was going to be...it was never intended to be this super duper high thrill roller coaster e-ticket that everyone seems to want. Many families and many people without families come to Disney because it is not all Roller Coasters.

which is why six flags is always in bankrupty

 

[lazyboy97o]

Regarding the bit about media saturation and education, I think it's more that, in this day and age, if you want to learn something, it's easier than ever. You can google on your computer or smart phone and you're on your way. With that kind of competition, both the entertainment and educational content of an attraction have to be top notch to keep someone's attention.

And yet educational experiences represent a lot of growth in themed entertainment. There is more interest than ever in the concepts behind the EPCOT Center so it makes no sense for those same ideas to suddenly be irrelevant when it comes to Disney. The problem is Disney, not the greater population. There is a massive audience for what Disney and too many fans have dismissed as no longer having a place in this world. Disney pushed away the people, they didn't disappear, because Disney thinks theme parks are just silly amusements and no longer considers them to be the place for big ideas.

 

[aladdin2007]

That shouldn't be an excuse for Disney to not bother. It is supposed to be their mission to rise to the challenge of creating great edutainment content in Epcot. There are better ways to refurb and improve Maelstrom without just turning it into "Where's Olaf?" like they did in Mexico. That is the lazy solution.

This.

 

[seascape]

which is why six flags is always in bankrupty

Six flags is not always in bankruptcy. They had a bad quarter but the weather up north did stink. Anyway they are growing and expanding. I think you will be surprised how well they do over the next few years. This does not mean I think they compare in quality to Disney and Universal but they are growing and fill an important market.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Six flags is not always in bankruptcy. They had a bad quarter but the weather up north did stink. Anyway they are growing and expanding. I think you will be surprised how well they do over the next few years. This does not mean I think they compare in quality to Disney and Universal but they are growing and fill an important market.

because they are only building roller coasters and trashing their parks

 

[Disneyhead'71]

because they are only building roller coasters and trashing their parks

Then Cedar Point must be teetering on the edge of the abyss.

NOT!

Oh, I'll take a redo on the ride over removing the ride to be replaced with a Princess M&G, a la Snow White's Scary Adventure.

 

[seascape]

because they are only building roller coasters and trashing their parks

I agree with you that six flags has become a roller coaster park. However at Great Adventure in NJ they do have a great safari ride. What they lack is the shows they had when they first opened 40 years ago. I actually think it was a better park way back then than it is now but the potential is there and if they could get new management they could be amazing.

 

[Gomer]

Take this with a grain of salt obviously, but there was some twitter chatter last night about a 9/28 final closing date for Maelstom. Hoping the source was incorrect, as I know he has been spotty in the past.

 

[muteki]

Take this with a grain of salt obviously, but there was some twitter chatter last night about a 9/28 final closing date for Maelstom. Hoping the source was incorrect, as I know he has been spotty in the past.

I saw this, and FP+ availability was cited as one of the reasons but (once again) 9/28 was 60 days out, which would be a big coincidence. If it wasn't available after this date for a week long stay on 10/1+ would be interesting, but I can't check.

If they could hold back another month so I could see the original one more time that would be awesome.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

So we've got a possible start date but no art/concepts to speak of? I assumed that Disney would be itching to crow about a Frozen ride

 

[cw1982]

So we've got a possible start date but no art/concepts to speak of? I assumed that Disney would be itching to crow about a Frozen ride

If it's true that they are trying to give Norway a chance to invest in the pavilion to keep Frozen's appearance to a minimum, they really can't start letting any plans out that would make it look like they have moved forward. Doing so would be even worse PR than what they have done already with this situation.

 

[aladdin2007]

If it's true that they are trying to give Norway a chance to invest in the pavilion to keep Frozen's appearance to a minimum, they really can't start letting any plans out that would make it look like they have moved forward. Doing so would be even worse PR than what they have done already with this situation.

Next week = meetings. fingers are crossed as its the last chance/hope.