Norway Pavilion Frozen construction - Frozen Ever After ride (Part 2)

[ToTBellHop]

They did it on Dueling Dragons so that the trains would sync. Definitely possible, and possibly likely in the future.

Will Olaf sweetly tell people they are too fat and need to melt off some pounds?

 

[Goofyque']

Will Olaf sweetly tell people they are too fat and need to melt off some pounds?

Nope, DDP to the left, all others to the right. that will about sort us out!

 

[Cesar R M]

Will Olaf sweetly tell people they are too fat and need to melt off some pounds?

But then social justice warriors AND lawyers will shred Olaf back to where he belongs

 

[RSoxNo1]

I wrote this a few days after the official announcement (September 2014) of Frozen going to Norway:

It is more than reasonable to expect the Frozen attraction to be a quality attraction. Given the popularity of the movie, it is also reasonable to expect it to be among the most popular attractions in all of Walt Disney World. Building a Frozen attraction is truly a no-brainer.

The issue has never been with Frozen as a property. The issue has always been its placement as a permanent addition to World Showcase. World Showcase is a romanticized version of these cultures with an acknowledgement of their history and folklore. There is certainly an element of fantasy involved in Maelstrom, but that fantasy is more grounded in Norway’s cultural history than Frozen ever will be.

The Walt Disney World theme parks all have their own individual identities. When a fairytale property moves into an area that’s somewhat grounded in reality, those individual park identities begin to deteriorate. When the park identities deteriorate the logic of theming and placemaking become irrelevant.

Then I wrote this about a year later (September 2015):

A Frozen attraction could be placed anywhere in Walt Disney World and it would become an immediate favorite. But just because an attraction could be built anywhere doesn’t mean it should be built anywhere.

The best theming transports guests to a new reality. When Frozen Ever After opens, the Norway Pavilion will have conflicting theming. As we learned at the D23 Expo, the new exterior facades will thankfully maintain the look and feel of Norway, but when guests enter the new buildings the theming will shift from Norway to Arendelle. It will be jarring to some guests and subtle to others but regardless, it will be there.

Great theme park lands like Diagon Alley at Universal Studios, Cars Land at Disney California Adventure or Africa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom all have cohesive theming. That theming is a type of non-linear story telling that satisfies guests both consciously and subconsciously. A guest can walk through Diagon Alley and feel 100% satisfied, but not know why. Similarly, that same guest could walk through Hogsmeade and feel 95% satisfied and also not know why. For Hogsmeade, perhaps their satisfaction was reduced subconsciously by the exposed steel at Dragon Challenge or the unthemed parts of the Forbidden Journey show building. These types of things, while subtle, help tell the story. When there is a break from that story, guest satisfaction suffers.

Multiple sources have informed me that the capacity for Maelstrom was roughly 900-1100 guests per hour. Even with improvements at the loading and unloading area, the in ride track switches will continue to throttle the attraction’s capacity. Those same sources speculate that the best case scenario for the attraction’s capacity is around 1200 guests per hour. That’s roughly the capacity of Toy Story Midway Mania.

It’s not unreasonable to expect lines to regularly exceed three hours for Frozen Ever After. I also expect Fastpass+ reservations to be fully reserved before the thirty day reservation window opens for non-resort guests. Neither of these should be considered a measure of success for the attraction. Frozen is an incredibly popular property and the signature attraction is going into an area that was never designed to satisfy that demand.

Frozen Ever After is truly set up to fail. If it’s a quality attraction, its popularity will be magnified that much more than already anticipated due to the capacity issues. If it’s a poor attraction, it will be condemned from a quality and thematic standpoint. There really is no scenario where the attraction can be of a high quality and still satisfy guest demand.

The deadly combination of a significant thematic break along with the likelihood of a major operational nightmare leads me to only one conclusion: Disney is setting Frozen Ever After up to be the worst new attraction decision in the history of Walt Disney World.

Frozen made over $1.2 billion in the worldwide box office and it deserves a great themed area in Walt Disney World. It does not deserve the shoehorn treatment, the franchise is too important.

Frozen deserves more and World Showcase deserves more. Publicly, Disney will point to 3-6 hour waits for Frozen Ever After as a sign of success, but privately I’m sure they’ll be kicking themselves for not building a fully realized concept in an area that is better suited for the franchise. At a time when Wall Street is pushing Disney to milk everything they can out of their existing properties, Frozen Ever After is incredibly short sighted and represents a gigantic missed opportunity for Walt Disney World.

 

[Lee]

I wrote this a few days after the official announcement (September 2014) of Frozen going to Norway:

Then I wrote this about a year later (September 2015):

I really love that last one.

 

[shortstop]

Then I wrote this about a year later (September 2015):

The funny thing is, everybody knew this was a short-sighted decision - except for Disney. And now they're the ones paying for it. Hopefully they learned their lesson here, although I doubt it.

 

[roj2323]

Anyone know what the wait time is looking like for Frozen at about 8-8:30 pm? I'm thinking the line should be shorter then with illuminations and it being closer to park close.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Anyone know what the wait time is looking like for Frozen at about 8-8:30 pm? I'm thinking the line should be shorter then with illuminations and it being closer to park close.

180 min at 8:59 pm.

 

[Disney_TX_Guy]

I think Frozen Ever After is the perfect ride for fans. It has the songs they all know and love and the animatronics look so life-like. The only minor complaint I have is that Elsa's sleeve during the "Let it Go" portion really don't match her dress.