Frozen ride replacing Maelstrom?

[Cesar R M]

Well, my mother just came to me asking about various changes. Considering my mother doesn't scour the internet and isn't an insider, that leads me to believe that actual credible outlets are reporting this and it made it's way to her. So, regarding Maelstrom getting Frozen, that seems plausible. The rest about Norway? Still speculation, apparently.

Also, she mentioned Soarin' (which we've heard about here), the waterfalls at the Polynesian (ditto), Captain EO (hadn't heard about that, but it was inevitable), and the Great Movie Ride (huh wha?!?).

you know, it would be amazing if they updated captain EO but with the new 3d tech they used for the new MJ Vegas show. (similar to the projection technique they used for GORILLAZ + Madonna feat years ago).

To sum up, we haven't seen anything that looks remotely convincing YET.

You really cant let it go hu?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Well, my mother just came to me asking about various changes. Considering my mother doesn't scour the internet and isn't an insider, that leads me to believe that actual credible outlets are reporting this and it made it's way to her. So, regarding Maelstrom getting Frozen, that seems plausible. The rest about Norway? Still speculation, apparently.

Also, she mentioned Soarin' (which we've heard about here), the waterfalls at the Polynesian (ditto), Captain EO (hadn't heard about that, but it was inevitable), and the Great Movie Ride (huh wha?!?).

It made its way around after the Orlando Examiner did an unsourced story about it... click-bait material IMO... and it got passed around like a Vista Way girl at Motions. The story mentions everything your mother is discussing. Completely unsourced.

 

[Matt_Black]

Fair enough.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

You really cant let it go hu?

ho be ho-ing.

 

[Fox&Hound]

My first thought: Frozen belongs in fantasyland in the MK. But then I think this: if Disney keeps creating stellar animation, where do all the current animated hits that warrant a ride go in WDW and beyond? Can Tangled, Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, Up, Incredibles, and the next few future hits (hopefully- The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, etc) all fit within the Magic Kingdom as people often claim animated movie rides belong. The argument is that real life animal themes belong in AK, movies in HS, and only serious culturally-accurate depictions in EPCOT. I kind of think that if they are going to continue making these hits, it's only natural that they will spill into other parks and maybe the definitions of some of those parks will change. I could think of a few changes they could make to Fantasyland- love the idea of Philharmagic moving to Town Square Theatre and IASW moving to EPCOT (both will never happen) and of course Autotopia is prime real estate, but how many new ideas can you force into MK when the other parks are struggling for new concepts. Maybe it's time we, as fans, rethink the other parks if we want new rides based on current hits. Just a thought....

 

[MarkTwain]

My first thought: Frozen belongs in fantasyland in the MK. But then I think this: if Disney keeps creating stellar animation, where do all the current animated hits that warrant a ride go in WDW and beyond? Can Tangled, Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, Up, Incredibles, and the next few future hits (hopefully- The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, etc) all fit within the Magic Kingdom as people often claim animated movie rides belong. The argument is that real life animal themes belong in AK, movies in HS, and only serious culturally-accurate depictions in EPCOT. I kind of think that if they are going to continue making these hits, it's only natural that they will spill into other parks and maybe the definitions of some of those parks will change. I could think of a few changes they could make to Fantasyland- love the idea of Philharmagic moving to Town Square Theatre and IASW moving to EPCOT (both will never happen) and of course Autotopia is prime real estate, but how many new ideas can you force into MK when the other parks are struggling for new concepts. Maybe it's time we, as fans, rethink the other parks if we want new rides based on current hits. Just a thought....

This is a serious problem Disney is facing. Magic Kingdom already gets an uneven portion of the attendance, and it's not going to help if every single attraction for the most recent hit princess movie ends up there. I'm not sure there's an easy answer for this, other than that Disney needs to shake the idea that every hit Disney movie deserves an attraction, or that the only attractions worth building or the movie-based ones (not gonna happen).

 

[xdan0920]

So tell us then, what would you people do to make EPCOT more interesting? More booze and food? Hate to tell everyone that attractions draw kids, parents come with the kids, PARENTS spend the money. Money makes the world go round. I will not go so far as to say the more money they make the better the parks get, cuz we already see the issues.

HA!

What could we do to make Epcot more interesting? For real? Where do we even start?

SSE- Finish it.

Uni of Ellen - update it/fix it.

Wonders of Life - turn it back into a functioning pavilion instead of a home base for events.

Imagination - the entire pavilion needs to be fixed. It is a ghost town, because it sucks.

The Land - Soarin needs an update desperately. I know this is happening, so that's one in the positive column.

WS - Use up an expansion pad or two and add new countries. Also, add attractions to existing countries. Japan and Germany come to mind.

Illuminations - it's 20 years old, and needs plussing desperately.

Is the park more interesting now? Or do we need to shoehorn more cartoons into it?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

MK still needs more rides, particularly Fantasyland. Its potential capacity is far from tapped out and Fantasyland especially is still lacking a TON of rides compared to the likes of Disneyland or even Disneyland Paris. Just within Fantasyland there's still visible space to either expand or re-purpose existing space (space being squandered on low capacity/efficiency BS like meet and greets and such). The problem is that the Fantasyland expansion arguably didn't even address the inherent capacity problems much at all in terms of attractions. The only two rides that were "added" were merely replacements for prior rides. We can say that the Mine Train replaced Snow White (whose original show building is now being squandered by a meet and greet) and Mermaid replaced 20k Leagues (which has been gone for a decade but during that time never had an actual ride to take its place). So really, we kind of only broke even in terms of rides. And there's still plenty of space to expand considerably even within Fantasyland (not even to mention the other lands).

I think Lee or Martin or someone mentioned to tear down the circus tents and use that space for a new ride (it's about as big or bigger of a space as Mermaid, and you can put something like Frozen there). And it looks like there's still enough space to do a dark ride at the Beauty and the Beast area behind Small World (which should have been part of the plan from the beginning). The old Snow White show building should have been used for any new dark ride (Sleepy Beauty, Cinderella, Tangled or anything that fits) instead of wasting precious show space on an absurdly long lined princess meet and greet that further clogs up the park and makes a mess of things... Adding more rides does wonders for capacity and efficiency in a park. Helps to disperse people better.

Not even to mention the other lands. There's still room in Adventureland apparently that was once being considered for a new E ticket coaster during Eisner's later years (Fire Mountain I think) and I don't know whether there are more plots of lands for other things. There should also still be some space in Frontierland as well, a thread by whylightbulb for example a while back mentioned a pitch to reignite the Western River Expedition concept with a show building somewhere above Haunted Mansion. May also be some space above Big Thunder across the water that could potentially be used in some manner or another (dunno). There's also the cast member parking lot tucked between Tomorrowland and Main Street that I think has been considered for expansion (it looks like a lot of space in there, maybe around as much as the Speedway for the entirety). Not to mention Tomorrowland as it is needs a big overhaul (especially for particularly unpopular attractions such as Stitch).

Now I wasn't really trying to give my take on a wishful thinking sort of armchair imagineer. But I did want to explain that Magic Kingdom still has a TON of space to expand and build new rides that would help crowd levels immensely. There's plenty of room for expansion and improvement in the other parks as well, but it should be done appropriately and respectfully instead of turning them into a Fantasyland spillover...

 

[DisneyFreak23]

We were just in EPCOT yesterday and I agree The Land needs an upgrade desperately. We saw Captain EO for the first time and it is very lame. Figment and EO could both be replaced with something else more exciting.
As far as Norway is concerned, the whole area is becoming a Frozen display. The inside of the stave church is all about the origins of the Frozen characters and the bakery has Frozen character treats. I'm sure Norway is enjoying all the attention.
I also noticed there are Imagineering walls up around the front of Maelstorm which might be a hint that there will be a change for that ride. We rode on it but nothing was different at this point.
Also, it was much more crowded than the last time were here.

 

[Kman101]

Maybe you were at Epcot later in the day but the crowds were very light. Maelstrom was only 10 minutes and the queue moved fairly fast. The walls have been up for a while now.

I noticed some school groups though. Large one gathered outside the bus stops at Magic Kingdom when I was leaving.

Overall though, in general, the parks DO seem more crowded. Yesterday was a pleasant surprise. May 6th was a literal nightmare in terms of crowds at the Magic Kingdom.

 

[bhg469]

HA!

What could we do to make Epcot more interesting? For real? Where do we even start?

SSE- Finish it.

Uni of Ellen - update it/fix it.

Wonders of Life - turn it back into a functioning pavilion instead of a home base for events.

Imagination - the entire pavilion needs to be fixed. It is a ghost town, because it sucks.

The Land - Soarin needs an update desperately. I know this is happening, so that's one in the positive column.

WS - Use up an expansion pad or two and add new countries. Also, add attractions to existing countries. Japan and Germany come to mind.

Illuminations - it's 20 years old, and needs plussing desperately.

Is the park more interesting now? Or do we need to shoehorn more cartoons into it?

You can't be serious?! Use pavillions that have open space in them? No, that won't do!

In all seriousness though, imagination in its current iteration, only uses half the track of the original ride... at what point did they think that made any sense at all... meanwhile the entire second floor, which is huge, sits vacant.

 

[NormC]

That raises the key question: Why do we, and I'm using your word, WANT to hear it? Why is questioning it "trolling", and such people clearly "bad" or "inexperienced" in doing it, when our good prophet-of-doom is clearly so to be admired in his unassailable credibility presenting us with the object of our worst nightmares?

Why are some here so determined to defend--against all argument, and even to the point of personal attack--something they clearly say they don't want? Are we that comforted by our fears and cynicism that we're even more afraid to give them up, if the opportunity permits? Is rationality and logical argument only here to "spoil the fun"?
Are we not only prisoners of our own resentment toward the company, but our own jailor-dogs holding the keys in our mouths as well?

I think the whole point is this is a rumor thread and one should not be afraid to come here and share info rumor or not without being beat up by a newbie on a rampage against "insiders". Rumors by definition may not be true. No reason to start pages of arguments over a rumor. This is a discussion forum for having discussions about WDW rumors and news. You have provided nothing to the discussion other than pointing out other poster's flaws. It is OK for someone to be wrong. It is also OK for others to believe someone who has a track record of being right. Let it go.

 

[doctornick]

So tell us then, what would you people do to make EPCOT more interesting? More booze and food? Hate to tell everyone that attractions draw kids, parents come with the kids, PARENTS spend the money. Money makes the world go round. I will not go so far as to say the more money they make the better the parks get, cuz we already see the issues.

I definitiely think that Epcot -- and IMHO the WS in particular -- needs new rides to be more interesting and entice guests. However, the argument is that you could build culturally relevent rides in the WS that could be enjoyed by all ages without having to resort to established IPs. Stuff like the planned Rhine River Cruise or Mt. Fuji ride. Rides that -- like Maelstrom! -- actually fit for the mission of the World Showcase. I can tell you that my young sons enjoy Maelstrom even without it featuring toons they know; but, who doesn't enjoy trolls and vikings?

I personally think that part of the reason that the WS doesn't draw as many guests as it could is because people ignore it since "there isn't anything to do exacept eat and drink". I don't think the films or American Adventure show draw repeat guests as much as rides would and the rides are limited to one edge of the WS, so even if people do them (but nothing else), it doesn't require walking all around the lake. I think the lack of toons is not really an issue, especially given that there are M&Gs already to satisfy that need.

I think WS would be significantly helped by having some rides placed all around in different countries and that would encourage additional people to check out the WS, spend time there, and increase food/merch sales. And it would enhance the experience for guests who already spend a decent amount of time in the WS.

Just IMHO.

 

[michael.fumc]

MK still needs more rides, particularly Fantasyland. Its potential capacity is far from tapped out and Fantasyland especially is still lacking a TON of rides compared to the likes of Disneyland or even Disneyland Paris. Just within Fantasyland there's still visible space to either expand or re-purpose existing space (space being squandered on low capacity/efficiency BS like meet and greets and such). The problem is that the Fantasyland expansion arguably didn't even address the inherent capacity problems much at all in terms of attractions. The only two rides that were "added" were merely replacements for prior rides. We can say that the Mine Train replaced Snow White (whose original show building is now being squandered by a meet and greet) and Mermaid replaced 20k Leagues (which has been gone for a decade but during that time never had an actual ride to take its place). So really, we kind of only broke even in terms of rides. And there's still plenty of space to expand considerably even within Fantasyland (not even to mention the other lands).

I think Lee or Martin or someone mentioned to tear down the circus tents and use that space for a new ride (it's about as big or bigger of a space as Mermaid, and you can put something like Frozen there). And it looks like there's still enough space to do a dark ride at the Beauty and the Beast area behind Small World (which should have been part of the plan from the beginning). The old Snow White show building should have been used for any new dark ride (Sleepy Beauty, Cinderella, Tangled or anything that fits) instead of wasting precious show space on an absurdly long lined princess meet and greet that further clogs up the park and makes a mess of things... Adding more rides does wonders for capacity and efficiency in a park. Helps to disperse people better.

Not even to mention the other lands. There's still room in Adventureland apparently that was once being considered for a new E ticket coaster during Eisner's later years (Fire Mountain I think) and I don't know whether there are more plots of lands for other things. There should also still be some space in Frontierland as well, a thread by whylightbulb for example a while back mentioned a pitch to reignite the Western River Expedition concept with a show building somewhere above Haunted Mansion. May also be some space above Big Thunder across the water that could potentially be used in some manner or another (dunno). There's also the cast member parking lot tucked between Tomorrowland and Main Street that I think has been considered for expansion (it looks like a lot of space in there, maybe around as much as the Speedway for the entirety). Not to mention Tomorrowland as it is needs a big overhaul (especially for particularly unpopular attractions such as Stitch).

Now I wasn't really trying to give my take on a wishful thinking sort of armchair imagineer. But I did want to explain that Magic Kingdom still has a TON of space to expand and build new rides that would help crowd levels immensely. There's plenty of room for expansion and improvement in the other parks as well, but it should be done appropriately and respectfully instead of turning them into a Fantasyland spillover...

I think DHS and Epcot both NEED ATTRACTIONS, but putting Frozen anywhere, but Magic Kingdom would be a terrible mistake, in my opinion. And I very much agree MK still needs attractions, someone posted a google earth picture showing a mirrored overlay of mermaid, and showed how they could easily fit an attraction there. It would be cool to see the ice castle high in the frozen mountains in the back of FL.
Epcot needs help, lots of upgrades on current attraction and at least one more premiere attraction. DHS needs a little help on upgrades but two good attractions that doesn't continue the identity crisis the park currently has would be a start.
My family loves Frozen, and I think WDW should make a awesome attraction that would be equal to the movie success, but (and this is just my opinion) I can't get my head around how it would fit in either EPCOT or DHS
.

 

[Bocabear]

 

[Bocabear]

That includes Mermaid and Ariel's M&G buildings in yellow... So if they wanted to do it, there is definitely room...

 

[michael.fumc]

View attachment 54422

Thanks for posting it again I was to lazy to find it

 

[doctornick]

My first thought: Frozen belongs in fantasyland in the MK. But then I think this: if Disney keeps creating stellar animation, where do all the current animated hits that warrant a ride go in WDW and beyond? Can Tangled, Frozen, Wreck-it Ralph, Up, Incredibles, and the next few future hits (hopefully- The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, etc) all fit within the Magic Kingdom as people often claim animated movie rides belong. The argument is that real life animal themes belong in AK, movies in HS, and only serious culturally-accurate depictions in EPCOT. I kind of think that if they are going to continue making these hits, it's only natural that they will spill into other parks and maybe the definitions of some of those parks will change. I could think of a few changes they could make to Fantasyland- love the idea of Philharmagic moving to Town Square Theatre and IASW moving to EPCOT (both will never happen) and of course Autotopia is prime real estate, but how many new ideas can you force into MK when the other parks are struggling for new concepts. Maybe it's time we, as fans, rethink the other parks if we want new rides based on current hits. Just a thought....

It is a valid point.

I've advocated creating an animal based "Critter Country" in DAK to host animated features that are heavy on animals or nature (Bambi, Pocahontas, Tarzan, Lady & the Tramp, 101 Dalmations, The Rescuers, etc). And in DHS an expansion of Animation Courtyard for attractions based on Disney movies and Pixar Place for Pixar films is IMHO long overdue. I think it is tougher to justify toons in Epcot (hence the outcry in this thread), although I'm not opposed to something like Ratatouille in France when it clearly is tied to that culture.

But is a valid point that Disney has lots of IP that people would love to see in the parks. I know many here don't like seeing the parks in general becoming IP and toon heavy -- and I agree that I'd like to see more original attractions ideas, but I think that's going to be a rare occurence in the future -- but if they are going to be used, it makes sense to create themed areas in multiple parks where they would work. Everything can't go into Fantasyland.

 

[doctornick]

just my opinion) I can't get my head around how it would fit in either EPCOT or DHS.

There's an area in DHS called Animation Courtyard, at the end of Mickey Ave, which celebrates Disney animated features. Why wouldn't Frozen fit there thematically?

 

[Bocabear]

When Akershus became Princess Storybook Dining years ago, they already ruined the concept of the pavilion...I would rather see Akershus as a Royal Coronation Banquet for the Frozen sisters featuring the food of Norway than a mixed bag of disenfranchised princesses... I initially had a very hard line against Frozen in Norway, but I am softening to the idea... What if the sisters were used as ambassadors for the culture... not just randomly dropped princesses in the theme park? There was serious talk long ago about a Mary Poppins ride in the UK and that seemed acceptable as the British Culture is a part of the story...and face it anything is better than Donald in Mexico...talk about random....I know Saludos Amigos and Donald was a bit random in that movie too.