Frozen ride replacing Maelstrom?

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NormC

NormC

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
Anyway, if this rumor comes to pass, I'd be crushed....

1. I love Maelstrom and would hate to see it go. It really should be a model of other rides for the WS to show off the culture of the host country, rather than be tossed aside.
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What is Disney's obligation to the host country when they themselves no longer support the pavilion?
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
NormC said:
What is Disney's obligation to the host country when they themselves no longer support the pavilion?
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I don't think Disney has any obligation to the host country (unless they are providing sponsorship, as you note). But I think Disney has an "obligation" to provide properly themed entertainment in their "theme parks". Putting Frozen in a Norway pavilion doesn't make sense for the established theme of Epcot; it's Disney being inconsistent with what they are selling to the guests.

Anyway, I'm not opposed to toons in Epcot like some hardline folks are. I just think they need to be used properly and appropriately. Remy in France is debatable. I think Nemo and friends in the Seas is acceptable (but they are not used properly). A bunch of non-Norwegian characters loosely based on a Danish story is not a sensible use of toons in Epcot.
 
John

John

Well-Known Member
[
dadddio said:
There's a lot to discuss in your post, but the bolded bit struck me the most. In all the times that I've rode Maelstrom over the years, I cannot remember ever waiting in line for more than a couple minutes. Do people even know that the ride exists?
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You must be very lucky. They installed a Fast Pass because of its popularity.
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Maelstrom has always had a line when I've ridden it. Of varying lengths, but i've never ridden when it was virtually a walk on or just had a couple minutes wait time. I suspect one could get on super quickly during very early morning at park opening during slow seasons, but I've never seen it that dead when i've ridden. I've visited WDW (and Maelstrom) too many times to count at this point, before and after Fastpass inflated the wait times. It has always been a pretty popular ride and commanded at least 5-10 minute waits even in the non-busy seasons (far longer in moderate to busy season). I'd imagine the ride doesn't have the highest capacity for a Disney ride given its relative short length compared to most/all other boat rides (though probably far from the lowest) but its loading seems pretty efficient. The line moves along at a good pace.
 
Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
People will hate me for this, but I think it's time to let go of what Epcot has been from opening up until recent years. It's not a place to showcase the up and coming, it's not a jaunt around the world's countries... it's barely a decent representation of the countries themselves. It's time to let it go (sorry) and start thinking of Epcot as it is and, it seems, what it will become: a place where certain character's countries and lands are showcased.

If Frozen is indeed taking over Norway, and Norway changes into Arrendale, then Aladdin's Morrocco might as well change into a more representative view (from the movies) and ditto Mary Poppins' Britain and on and on, you get the idea.

Nemo is already in the Seas. The characters are already in the park. Maybe this is what Disney is ultimately trying to do... erase what Epcot was and turn it into something 'new'. Instead of a 5th gate, a rebuild.. of a current park. MK is bursting at the seams, maybe this is their "solution" or, god help me, their "potter swatter" idea.

The only thing I don't see fitting very well is the booze sales... food could easily be fitted (and renamed) into a theme, but not so much with the booze. That could be an issue.

Not saying I totally agree with it, but it's something to think about.

:\

I wonder if talks of an Epcot DVC are still on the table. @pheneix ? @Lee ?
 
NormC

NormC

Well-Known Member
doctornick said:
I don't think Disney has any obligation to the host country (unless they are providing sponsorship, as you note). But I think Disney has an "obligation" to provide properly themed entertainment in their "theme parks". Putting Frozen in a Norway pavilion doesn't make sense for the established theme of Epcot; it's Disney being inconsistent with what they are selling to the guests.

Anyway, I'm not opposed to toons in Epcot like some hardline folks are. I just think they need to be used properly and appropriately. Remy in France is debatable. I think Nemo and friends in the Seas is acceptable (but they are not used properly). A bunch of non-Norwegian characters loosely based on a Danish story is not a sensible use of toons in Epcot.
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Thanks. I think it could be done right but given the current examples like Mexico I would wish for much better.
 
D

dadddio

Well-Known Member
xdan0920 said:
I am asking for a source for your claims that Maelstrom will be getting a Frozen overlay and the pavilion will be getting a M&G and a Frozen store.
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All of that was just my speculation on what they might do. I'm not an 'insider', nor do I pretend to be one one the internet.

They might rip out Maelstorm and put a completely different ride there. In my opinion, it will likely be 'Frozen' themed because Frozen is a big deal and Norway seems like a pretty good place to plop it. I imagine that if they can work a Frozen story into the current layout, they will. After all, Maelstrom is not a bad ride.

I didn't suggest that they will build a Frozen store per se. That being said, exiting a ride into a gift shop seems like a good business idea that they've repeated over and over. Frozen ride and Frozen swag seem like a good match.

A Frozen meet and greet also seems like a good plan, in my opinion. It would certainly be popular and there are other princess meets in World Showcase, so it's not much of a stretch.
 
NormC

NormC

Well-Known Member
bhg469 said:
I think they have an obligation to the guests to maintain the park or find a country that wants in. And I mean a country, not a fictional cartoon. I would feel the exact same way if they tried to change Morocco into tatooine.
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I agree Tatooine would be a huge stretch even if there were a Tunisia pavillion. A movie based on Norway (even if the book was Danish the movie was not) could be used to bring kids an educational experience about Norway if done right. As it stands now people walk right past the movie and through the gift shop.
 
Gomer

Gomer

Well-Known Member
Pardon me if this has been mentioned already. I skimmed through the pages since the initial post, but I may have missed it. But is it possible that the retheming of the pavilion wouldn’t be to Arrendale as is being speculated, but to Scandinavia as was once the plan for the pavilion? Changing from Norway to Scandinavia would allow them to keep things like the Kringla Bakery, Stave Church, and Akershus while retheming the ride to include the Danish in origin Frozen.

Not offering this up as an endorsement of the plan, but it would make more sense in WS than the fictional land of Arendale would.
 
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dupac

dupac

Well-Known Member
I don't expect them to make Norway into Arendale. I expect them to stick a Frozen ride (maybe with no explicit reference to Arendale) in Norway and it's related because ice and snow and girls with braids.
 
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