Norway Pavilion Frozen construction - Frozen Ever After ride

[jensenrick]

More info on the ride

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015...xclusive-look-at-disneys-upcoming-attraction/

That looks awesome. I'm very pleased to see what they're doing to reimagine the story for the ride.
Takes care of the "book report" ride complaints. (Other complaints remain I'm sure)

 

[Lee]

I have a question for @Lee @marni1971 @WDW1974

Was the Meet and Greet planned before or after the ride?

I'm still trying to wrap around in my head if the brass thought that would eat up some of the capacity from the ride.

It just seems like the idiotic way of thinking we've become used to...

No clue, sorry.

 

[PhotoDave219]

It can if they'd kill the Tomorrowland Speedway and free up that valuable real estate.

Hell no. Too many nice trees over there. Also, plenty of other expansion pads inside the MK that arent being used.

 

[Victor Kelly]

I don't think it is wise to have a 4 minute ride when people will undoubtedly wait 3 hours to ride it. I think they are setting themselves up for a monumental failure.

While the art work looks nice, the attraction never lives up to the art.

As far as SDMT, we liked it. We thought it was neat and fun. The mine scene was very well done. I do not think it is worth waiting over an hour for though. A full hour sure, but nothing over that. And truthfully, FLE was not very crowded when we were there in January, the whole 10 days you could walk on anything with less than or equal to a 20 minute wait, with the exception of SDMT.

Many of us understand Disney is throwing massive amounts of cash into the property. The have to, Potter is beating the snot out of them. Not just in admission but sales of merchandise. Universal went from one theme park, to a huge sprawling but landlocked resort that is fierce competition for Disney. People can deny it, but it is the truth. But, while Disney's answer is to throw money, they may not be doing it wisely because they are taking shortcuts. They are building with an attitude like when they raced to open the Studios before Universal could. They build it then fix the problems, which hurts the bottom line in the long run.

 

[Victor Kelly]

Hell no. Too many nice trees over there. Also, plenty of other expansion pads inside the MK that arent being used.

I am curious, could you highlight some on a map? I think I know where they may be. But I have been known to be wrong before.

 

[rioriz]

A piece of advice to everyone on here who are losing sleep on this. ...

Live for AK expansion
Live for Kong
Live for Pandora
Live for Nintendo Universal
Live for Star Wars

Lesson is don't waste time on these on in between projects. Quality will come bUt only every 3 years or so at WDW and every 2 years for a bit at Uni.

Unfortunately, Frozen is an in between project at WDW and not a major one. Yes wrong park but if you haven't got used to that at Epcot by now there's no hope .

So don't plan your next WDW trip till 2017 and Uni about the same. You can experience two possibly 3 great lands in 3 parks (2 Uni).

In the end Disney is right in stating most families only come every 3 years or so...because that's what they want. Thus far their line of thinking has only been supported by their convoluted way of marketing and expansion. They can afford to do things the way they have and will continue to do so. If you would like to have less stress in your life expect this and just enjoy the quality project you get every 3-4 years.

Rant over

 

[khale1970]

This project is really hard to understand because of the capacity issue. They are adding capacity to Soarin and TSMM and improving infrastructure and pathways all over. One of the best decisions of NFL was the added Dumbo spinner. This goes in the complete opposite direction.

As TWDC doing the right thing and building a worthy attraction in the MK isn't going to happen, could they do the sort of right thing and make changes to say double capacity and double length for a reasonable cost? I'd say in light of the pain they are buying themselves and pouring out on their guests with this ill conceived ride, doubling or tripling the budget to boost capacity and length is the least they could do if it's possible.

@articos , @Lee , @marni1971 , if you don't mind an ignorant peasant asking, could TWDC mitigate this by doubling/tripling the budget? Seems a reasonable price to keep a 10%+ attendance bump at least reasonably pleased with their choice to visit EPCOT.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I am curious, could you highlight some on a map? I think I know where they may be. But I have been known to be wrong before.

@marni1971 knows the MK expansion pads better than me.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I don't think it is wise to have a 4 minute ride when people will undoubtedly wait 3 hours to ride it. I think they are setting themselves up for a monumental failure.

My (admittedly baseless) prediction is that within a year and a half of opening they will announce an "expansion" to meet demand, like Soarin' or Midway Mania. It will involve building a copy of the ride in the back half of the plot currently reserved for the meet and greet (which will just be parking space when that project's done).

Disney would benefit both from having the "new" ride up ASAP, while being able to crow about "unprecedented demand" and how much they're investing to "improve the guest experience".

 

[Brer Panther]

What's up with the story. I read the article and I'm already confused on what's suppose to be going on during this ride.

Here's the story from what I can gather...
First you see Olaf and Sven. Then the trolls. Then you go to Elsa's ice palace and everyone starts screeching "Let It Go" (and everyone who hates the song dives out of the boat and swims back to the load area). I think then you do the backwards part, and you run into Marshmallow and the Snowgie things. And then at the end you meet Anna and Kristoff. No Hans, unless they plan on giving him a quick cameo a la the one in Frozen Fever (as in, one that would feature him getting pummeled by a snowball or something).

Winnie the Pooh tells a coherent story. Snow White, post-refurbishment, told a coherent story. Gran Fiesta Tour tells a coherent story. Even the Nemo ride tells a coherent story.

Scott from IL on June 9th, 2015 at 5:27 pm
I can’t believe how much hate this ride is getting. It’s Frozen! Everyone loves Frozen!
So what if it’s not based on a real country. Why is that a first? Like Morocco is a real country. It was just made up so that Mo’Rockin had a place to play!
So what if there will seemingly not be much of Norway left in the pavilion? Princesses are real, I saw that one was just born in London, and that’s Europe, and all of Europe is the same thing anyway!
So what if the story of this attraction seems to not be a real story, and instead just a ride past our favorite characters? Who rides rides for stories anyway? If I want a story, I’ll turn on Reading Rainbow!
So what if an expansion pad is being turned into a giant meet and greet? Meet and Greets are just the interactive cosplay attraction of the future, allowing fans to interact with franchise characters and build their bond with the brands they love!
Let it Go all you h8ters, thaw your Frozen Heart! For the First Time In Forever, Disney is tearing down an existing attraction to build a new one. Maelstrom was always a bit of a Fixer Upper anyway. This place is going to be a madhouse, and who doesn’t Wanna Build a Snowman In Summer? Look deep inside think about the new ride and realize that Reindeers are better than People. I for one cannot wait for this attraction to finish and I can prove that Love is an Open Door to the new Frozen Ever After ride!

I'm sensing sarcasm...

 

[ChrisFL]

"The queue line will include a trip through Wandering Oaken's Trading Post."

So will this be the first Disney attraction to route you through a gift shop BEFORE you ride? Waiting for 6 hours...might as well buy $400 in merchandise meanwhile.

BRILLIANT!

Maybe they'll reverse the queues, so you start in the existing Norway gift shop.

 

[Lee]

"The queue line will include a trip through Wandering Oaken's Trading Post."

So will this be the first Disney attraction to route you through a gift shop BEFORE you ride? Waiting for 6 hours...might as well buy $400 in merchandise meanwhile.

BRILLIANT!

Maybe they'll reverse the queues, so you start in the existing Norway gift shop.

Not really.
The plans do not show a shop in the queue.
I assume it is just a small area themed like Wandering Oaken's...whatever that is.

 

[ChrisFL]

Not really.
The plans do not show a shop in the queue.
I assume it is just a small area themed like Wandering Oaken's...whatever that is.

Darn, thought I was onto something

 

[DisneyJunkie]

This ride STILL has no business being in the Norway pavilion in Epcot.

 

[PhotoDave219]

This ride STILL has no business being in the Norway pavilion in Epcot.

Well Of course..... but tell Tom Staggs that.

 

[articos]

Not really.
The plans do not show a shop in the queue.
I assume it is just a small area themed like Wandering Oaken's...whatever that is.

There isn't a shop in the queue. Just part of the theming. One of the scenes you pass while in queue is Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, which WDI is half-jokingly trying to include as part of the experience. There is a shop after the attraction, however.

We couldn't put a shop in a queue. Can you imagine how that would (not) work? People would stop causing traffic flow nightmares and fights if people think other people are skipping, items would get stolen...plus guests would have to store bags before getting on the ride and would leave them afterwards...would be a terrible guest experience.

 

[imagineer boy]

Well Of course..... but tell Tom Staggs that.

I'm sure if you did tell Tom Staggs that, he'd probably respond in this manner:

 

[ChrisFL]

Frozen Ever After Ride....or FEAR for short, like after you see the wait times...nothing but FEAR

 

[articos]

As TWDC doing the right thing and building a worthy attraction in the MK isn't going to happen, could they do the sort of right thing and make changes to say double capacity and double length for a reasonable cost? I'd say in light of the pain they are buying themselves and pouring out on their guests with this ill conceived ride, doubling or tripling the budget to boost capacity and length is the least they could do if it's possible.

@articos , @Lee , @marni1971 , if you don't mind an ignorant peasant asking, could TWDC mitigate this by doubling/tripling the budget? Seems a reasonable price to keep a 10%+ attendance bump at least reasonably pleased with their choice to visit EPCOT.

I think I'd like to shed some light on what this "is". This attraction is cheap by normal standards. Could they mitigate by adding money? Sure. Money equals being able to do whatever we want to do. Could they blow out a wall and add a building and double the ride length? Sure. But it would be tons more money, and adds months to the schedule. This attraction is a very specific enterprise: it is a limited budget redo on a tight schedule in order to take quick advantage of an IP that has a shelf life. It's just not the same as building a new capital budget allocated attraction from scratch, nor is it intended to be. Will it be cute? Sure. Will it be short? Yes, hence scene one in the queue. Will it have some cool new effects and be fun? Yes, absolutely. Will it have lines for hours for the first year? Yep. Then what happens when Frozen thaws? No capacity issues any longer.

 

[articos]

I am enjoying the fact the poor polar bear is being replaced by a giant snowman creature named Marshmallow.