I see no valid point here...
For 1 thing the pavilions are run by the countries, Disney only gets a SMALL percentage of the profits. So you can't blame Disney.
Nevertheless...
The restaurant; is still there, and so is most of the food. The fact that it is no longer a full buffet doesn't make it a bad restaurant, otherwise you are condemning all the WS restaurants except for Germany. Furthermore, with the entry and desert now table service, they receive quite a "royal" treatment. I've never seen a guest unhappy that 5 beautiful friendly women (dressed as princesses), visit their table whether they have children or not. And if seeing little princess girls full of excitement upsets you, then you don't really belong at WDW.
The ride is still there, and hasn't changed, the fact that most of the people bypass the film has nothing to do with anything. The ONLY shop that they've added princess stuff to is the small 1st shop that used to have basically nothing in it except a few books (Legos?) autograph books, post cards, pins and a penny crusher. There's nothing horrible about devoting ONE little shop to the little princesses of the world for their special time at Epcot (the month before Halloween). Hopefully THIS shop brings in enough money to pay the maintenance for the pavilion (I'm sure the $200 sweaters go like hotcakes), otherwise it will be shutdown like the Life pavilion, since Norway no longer contributes to the pavilion. Just keep up the “purist” talk and soon the whole pavilion will be closed for financial reasons.
Finally, the Viking ship has only been there about a decade, and without kids for almost 5 years, so it has little to do with the original Norway pavilion.
Oh, and before the characters and kidcot stations were brought into Epcot it was dying...the TRUE WDW caters to the ENTIRE family, THAT was Walt's dream.
I really don't know what kind of point you are making here. Let me see if I have this straight. Kidcot and characters are good because the TRUE WDW caters to the whole family. But of course Kidcot and characters cater to small children, so I guess you are saying the Epcot before didn't have enough to interest small children.
But...you realize that Viking ship you don't care about was there to cater to small children, right? But it's okay to close that because it's been gone for a while?
Then...we can't blame Disney for the merchandise sold in Norway because the country runs the pavilion, and Disney only gets a small piece.
But...we have to be glad the pavilion is still open, because the country no longer contributes? So...Norway or whoever has pulled sponsorship but still gets most of the profits?
Honestly it sounds like you are willing to grab for anything to excuse Disney.
But look, you know, I would agree that whether or not a certain peice of merchandise is sold at Norway is not, by itself, a big deal. The buffet going character dining, by itself, is not a big deal. All the other similar changes, each taken by themselves, are not a big deal.
BUT!
Do you know the paradox of the rich man? It goes like this:
1. If you have a dollar, you are not rich.
2. If you are not rich, and someone gives you a dollar, you are still not rich.
Most people would agreee with both of these statements. But the paradox is, if someone gives you a million dollars, one dollar at a time, you would, by these rules, still not be rich!
In the same way, we might say that one character breakfast, one out of place merchandise stand, doesn't change the character of a park. But even done one at a time, eventually a line is corssed even if we aren't sure where.
Of course you may be in the camp that wouldn't care if all the parks were the same in feel, in which case it wouldn't matter.
I don't see the big deal, when this country hosts a princess breakfast! If you didnt complain when the breakfasts started a couple of years ago, you shouldnt complain now!
