Show Your Teeth: Maelstrom or Frozen Overlay?

[Beholder]

Putting Frozen in Maelstrom or Nemo in LS or Aladdin in Morocco or whatever property they can force into whatever space is a reflection of our culture just as much as the culture of TDO. We are in an era of sequels and remakes/reboots. We crave the familiar and studios seem unwilling to bankroll new or original ideas. This is a general statement to be sure, but the biggest budgets and biggest promos go to the tried and true names. I suppose WDW is banking on that same formula. I don't like it at all. Using a nation to sell the latest Disney hit is so distasteful to me. Small doses, where it makes sense, maybe, but taking out an entire ride/attraction for the sole purpose of moving merchandise is about like taping corporate logos on the backs of the animals on the KS in AK to sell chicken nuggets and Lion King DVDs. I exaggerate, but I'm trying to illustrate a point. Frozen ride? Great, put it in MK or DHS. Norway is fine the way it is. You know, for a real place and all.

 

[Gullywhumper]

Maelstorm is a great classic

 

[FettFan]

#SaveNorwayEPCOT

 

[aladdin2007]

http://www.change.org/p/walt-disney-world-save-the-norway-pavilion-at-epcot

 

[scoobygirl39541]

I vote Frozen 100%. I rode Maelstrom once maybe 10 years ago and was bored. Just rode it again this past trip thinking I missed something, nope. Bored again. I think this is a case of nostalgia blinders. As the attraction stands right now, its really nothing worth keeping, in my honest opinion.

That said... The Frozen supporter in me would like the franchise to be treated better. I would LOVE a full Frozen land with an E-ticket castle ride and "snow" that falls every 15 minutes or whatever. But that's never going to happen.

As much as you guys want to keep WS culture specific, that's as much as I want Frozen to get respect. And a sing-a-long isn't going to cut it.

 

[G00fyDad]

As much as I would like to keep EPCOT away from the Disney characters, I voted for the Frozen overlay just because it would be something different than the current incarnation. I have ridden that ride only once in my entire life, and I can honestly say that I severely disliked the ride. It needs something different. Anything. But, as they say, that is my opinion. I know there are those that love this ride. If they were to keep it as is then I would simply never ride it again, and I know that would never bother anyone.

 

[Mike S]

I vote Frozen 100%. I rode Maelstrom once maybe 10 years ago and was bored. Just rode it again this past trip thinking I missed something, nope. Bored again. I think this is a case of nostalgia blinders. As the attraction stands right now, its really nothing worth keeping, in my honest opinion.

That said... The Frozen supporter in me would like the franchise to be treated better. I would LOVE a full Frozen land with an E-ticket castle ride and "snow" that falls every 15 minutes or whatever. But that's never going to happen.

As much as you guys want to keep WS culture specific, that's as much as I want Frozen to get respect. And a sing-a-long isn't going to cut it.

It is happening. In Tokyo. Really makes you wonder why we're getting a cheap overlay while they get the really cool stuff.

 

[Doodlyday]

Original Maelstrom all the way!

 

[G00fyDad]

It is happening. In Tokyo. Really makes you wonder why we're getting a cheap overlay while they get the really coll stuff.

Because they're not directly funded by Disney. (I think)

 

[disneyhabit]

So disappointed with Maelstrom going, why couldn't they have put Frozen in Fantasyland! Instead of Showcase around the World, it will be Movies around the World, I can see them ruining Epcot already!

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I thought the World Showcase was my Epcot safe haven and it would stay the same forever. Fantasyland would have been a great place for a frozen attraction and they could have done allot more in my opinion. As for all my favorite rides at Epcot, that's all of them gone and ruined now. I knew it would happen, I just didn't know how.

 

[Beholder]

I have nothing new to add to the conversation, really, but I'd just like to say that's it's fairly obvious that from now on, more than ever, if TDO/Burbank can't justify updating, building new, or overlaying attractions without an obvious revenue generator, it's not going to happen. Maelstrom could've been cleaned up, updated, reimagined, but nope, just ignored. Along comes a monster success, which bears an aesthetic resemblance to Norway, and all of a sudden we lose another original attraction based on authentic cultural references. Because of lazy, cheap, and an utter dismissal of the historical legacy of EPCOT. Not only do the shops sell all the same crap, but all the parks will present the same character based experiences. So yeah, I want Maelstrom.

 

[wdisney9000]

I rode Maelstrom once maybe 10 years ago and was bored. Just rode it again this past trip thinking I missed something, nope. Bored again.

So if the Frozen layover is boring as well, you wont mind them gutting it for the next movie thats a success?

That said... The Frozen supporter in me would like the franchise to be treated better.

Frozen supporter? I prefer to be a WDW supporter, the quality would fall into place if it were ran by people who didnt have their heads up their butts so they could sniff their wallets as they get fatter. Perhaps you should look at the bigger picture as to why your Frozen isnt getting treated better, which is actually funny because its getting more presence in the parks than any other film ever has, its just not getting the money.

 

[scoobygirl39541]

So if the Frozen layover is boring as well, you wont mind them gutting it for the next movie thats a success?

Hmm. Not immediately, but if its been there long enough, sure why not. New things keep it exciting. Maelstrom is no Pirates or HM, so I don't see the harm in trying something new with it.

Frozen supporter? I prefer to be a WDW supporter, the quality would fall into place if it were ran by people who didnt have their heads up their butts so they could sniff their wallets as they get fatter. Perhaps you should look at the bigger picture as to why your Frozen isnt getting treated better, which is actually funny because its getting more presence in the parks than any other film ever has, its just not getting the money.

Well of course I'm a WDW supporter or else I wouldn't be here lol By "Frozen supporter" I mean, I really loved the film and I'm not afraid to admit it. I know a lot of people despise it simply because its popular (not implying you are one of those people, just stating in general).

It may have a lot of presence, but I wouldn't call sing-a-longs something to brag about. It isn't getting treated well at all. Enlighten me, what is the bigger picture of why it isn't getting treated better? Because going easy and cheap is Disney's mantra these days? Their priorities are theirs alone, but that won't stop me from being happy to see an old attraction being turned into something I really like. Might it be absolute crap? Sure! But its too soon to tell.

 

[LAKid53]

I've never ridden Maelstrom and sadly won't be back to the Mouse House in time to ride it before it closes, but given what WS is all about, how does a fictional land from a Disney animated movie fit into the theme of Norway in WS? Same question I ask about Avatar Land in AK, given the original concept of AK....

So my vote is keep the girls out of Norway. And Scooby, I don't despise Frozen because of its popularity - it was a cute movie. I'm just tired of Disney corporate beating it to death to make money off of parents. The Frozen Summer overwhelmed Hollywood Studios, a small park to begin with. Frozen has a place, not just Norway in WS in my opinion.

 

[mf1972]

whatever they do to it, I just hope they totally gut it & make a real good ride out if it instead of what they did in Mexico. I prefer to keep maelstrom. I'll miss it personally. have to wait & see.

 

[Beholder]

Ok, I know I said I didn't think I had much to add, and I probably don't, but nobody else cares as much as the folks here, so I'll vent.

EPCOT by it's very nature is a park that should always be advancing it's own envelope. Design, theme, attraction lineups, should always have an eye towards the future while honoring the past. Freshening up Maelstrom or maybe even a complete make over should've happened years ago. Norway has plenty of cultural traditions to draw on without throwing Frozen in it. They could put Anna and Elsa in a mosquito infested swamp and the wait would be 2 hours to get just a picture. DHS NEEDS help, needs family style attractions, needs another reason for people to go there, so put it there! I really like the movie, it deserves it's own attraction designed just for it, not forced into a place it has no business being. It's just a shortsighted move that some corporate clown probably got a promotion for.

It's just another poor, lazy decision that once again insults the integrity and legacy that is/was so much bigger than these morons are capable of understanding.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I really dont give a flying , none of this will affect my enjoyment of adult beverages during the F&W festival. WDW isnt interested in me, beyond separating me from my money, and Im not really that enamoured with it, Id rather be in Vegas, but being a dad sometimes means making a small sacrafice for an easy life.

 

[networkpro]

I'll be take WDW over Vegas any day. No hookers, significantly less smoke, and the veneer is much more pervasive. One block off the strip and you're in squalor.

It's a remodel complete with a new theme. Even the current ride is extremely light in Norwegian history. If the area is to foster good feelings and encourage visits then why not?

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Give me an updated Norway Pavillion with an expanded reworked Maelstrom with projection effects similar to Mystic Manor, more trolls and more culture.

Give me a Frozen attraction, in Disney's Unnamed Hollywoodland. Duh!
(see what I did there)