The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[Animaniac93-98]

Not "The Spirited Seventh Seal" or "Snow White and the Seven Spirits" (in honor of the new ride)?

 

[WDW1974]

@pheneix told quite a different story...

Um ... I don't know what you expect me to say. I respect the poster greatly, but we all get things wrong or are fed things to suit agendas from time to time.

I stand by what I posted as I know it to be true.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Position is considered a demotion, not a promotion.

Wasn't Fitz president of WDI at one point?

 

[WDW1974]

Any rumblings about these things in Epcot as well as Frozen? Another thread was talking bout rumors of Energy Adventure getting a redo finally and Imagination finally coming down for its redo that has been talked about???

I know of no current plans for Energy whatsoever.

There are plans for Imagination ... all sorts of plans. Doing something is a different story.

 

[Kman101]

So basically the Frozen overlay is supposed to fix everything wrong with Epcot in their minds? So sad.

Thanks for the info as always and welcome back!

 

[WDW1974]

I don't care about any of that! But really, thanks for caring & sharing, dear @WDW1974. So tell me, Any news for DCL??? What's the word from the inside on what, if anything, is to be done about DL's AP capacity issues???

And I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on the wonderful Wonder, crossing the jungle locks, & the Grand out west! We rescheduled the Canal to '15 as our oldest's graduation voyage. Finally made it out west just in time to get sandblasted. I think I'm officially old because I don't seem to like people much. May or may not be hitting up the Grand in September. That's if we stick with that set of airline tickets. The more I think of dealing with the herds the more I rethink it. <--Hence my interest in DL's capacity issues.

You don't care?!?! Why do I bother? Why? WHY?!?!!

Well, the late 2015 sailings were announced and all I will say is that Disney didn't originally plan on going back to Galveston or doing a month of sailings from San Diego (the worst, most unorganized place I have ever gotten off a ship, btw) ... so read into that what you will.

I know I keep saying this, but DCL is adding ships (plural). It's just a question of when and I think it is going to be much sooner than Disney is publicly saying.

I recall you were going to do our cruise and then decided on DLR instead. You should have done like the Faux Top One Percent and done BOTH! ...It is a lot of fun to cross the Canal and I loved getting 25 hour days versus the 23 hour days on all my transatlantics.

Yes, I saw you had the very hot weird weather versus the California perfect weather we had (like I keep saying, climate change is an evil liberal media creation designed to harm business!) The Grand is a wonderful hotel, but we booked it using DVC points for a villa. I wouldn't pay anywhere close to what they charge otherwise when I can PL a Marriott for $50-60 a night nearby. But be warned that September typically gets the weird weather you had a month ago.

As to DLR and capacity issues ... that discussion will also be coming. (Loved walking by the ticket booths late one night and talking about how ridiculous the prices have gotten only to wake up to the prices having MAGICally been raised over night).

 

[tirian]

What exactly would be the virtue in a Frozen overlay of Maelstrom?
The ride, and especially the queue are limited in length and capacity.
As of today, the attraction is still one of the most popular rides at EPCOT, with queues rarely dipping below 30 minutes for most of the day.

Do they want to take the ride offline for a year, then have it reopen with 2-3 hour queues for a decade or so, just because?

Since the attraction overlay is moving forward, that tiny area with its tiny queue is going to be swamped. Sure, Disney could extend the queue, but that's a load-bearing wall and won't be easily done.

What a short-sighted decision.

 

[WDW1974]

@WDW1974 I thought it was a strong possibility that the Ratatouille ride was coming to Epcot? And will there be an update of Phillharmagic

It isn't. It keeps getting tossed around by fanbois on the net. WDW isn't spending $200 million (or more) on a ride for EPCOT. And it doesn't belong there. Studios, yes.

I doubt it. They planned on doing so back in 2002-03 when they were creating the film. It's 2014 now.

 

[Clamman73]

So basically the Frozen overlay is supposed to fix everything wrong with Epcot in their minds? So sad.

Thanks for the info as always and welcome back!

I thought Cronuts fixed everything wrong in EPCOT

 

[Mike C]

There were lots of photos and videos from Diagon Alley too, and I've seen a few people that seem be really stretching to find faults with it theming and detail wise. There are a lot more animatronics in, on (dragon), and around Diagon Alley than I thought they would be.

 

[WDW1974]

Thanks, so I assume this is all part of the 800 million they upped to budget? Will we actually see anything extra when the park opens beyond your list you posted, or just in the following few years?

Any hints to what might be in "Phase II"?

Also any comments on an HKDL second gate?

I don't have a breakdown on how the money is being spent/allocated. ... Following years. ... Not yet.

HKDL will not have a second gate for quite a while, even if chatter and blue sky work has picked up.

 

[WDW1974]

Are these 2 linked? We agree to a huge bailout if we can push some of the costs of our "experiment" to you.

Of course.

Why do you think Disney pushed OLC so hard? Why is SDL being built with all the infrastructure needed? Disney wants someone else to pay for the mess or at least be able to spread it around their tangled parks web.

 

[WDW1974]

What exactly would be the virtue in a Frozen overlay of Maelstrom?
The ride, and especially the queue are limited in length and capacity.
As of today, the attraction is still one of the most popular rides at EPCOT, with queues rarely dipping below 30 minutes for most of the day.

Do they want to take the ride offline for a year, then have it reopen with 2-3 hour queues for a decade or so, just because?

Frozen is a phenomenon. Maelstrom is a 1988 boat ride that wasn't all that great from the start (due to money being pulled, naturally) and only gets crowds because EPCOT has so few rides these days.

While I don't like the idea at all, it makes perfect business sense. Some would argue it makes creative sense too, but I wouldn't be one.

The fans and general public will love this. Bottom line.

 

[ChrisFL]

I like Maelstrom as a little low-budget ride with some unique elements. Truly it isn't a "high standards" attraction, but I appreciate what the imagineers did with such a small space and budget.

I don't know how they're going to WEDGE frozen into it, but I knew it was only a matter of time before something took its place.

 

[docandsix]

Seriously, is there a shred of good news? Even one?

(Even if one is a fan of Frozen or the idea that it deserves to be jammed into the parks before its historical significance (aside from its box office impact) has been decided, which I'm most certainly not, I can't imagine believing that a cheap, hurried, half-***ed overlay in too cramped and limited quarters is the way to do it justice.)

Bah.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Welcome back, Spirit. Always nice to vicariously live the faux one percent Disney insider lifestyle through your postings.

These renewed rumblings about Maelstrom are definitely concerning. Trying to quickly shoehorn Frozen into the Norway pavilion is the worst of both worlds: not only would it further dilute the theme of World Showcase and Epcot, it also means Frozen wouldn't get the fully immersive attraction it probably should get. Its a lose lose situation all around. It may make for some great TV promo shots, but I can't see how its a great idea in any other way.

Curious on hearing the rest of your thoughts/ramblings. Any new info regarding the additions coming to DAK (Avatar, Rivers of Light, etc.) or whats happening with Flamingo Crossing?

 

[WDW1974]

I was on the Panama Canal cruise and didn't realize I could have met you. I may have and didn't even know it.

Anyway, I was at George Scribner's presentations onboard the Panama Canal Cruise as well. Personally, I felt he hinted more at the possibility of a Frozen segment being added to Philharmagic than it replacing Maelstrom (perhaps both are being considered). He made several points during his discussion of his involvement with Philharmagic on how each segment and its transitions were made to allow for segments to be replaced and mentioned Frozen a number of times. In fact, he said something along the lines of how at the end of the Ariel segment that it was designed that way to allow for a transition to another film (besides Lion King), such as Frozen. Nothing confirmed though.

During another presentation regarding his involvement with redoing Gran Fiesta tour he brought up the Norway pavilion being next for a reimagining. If I recall, he brought this up on his own. He pre-emptively brought up the question by asking himself at the beginning of his presentation "why do we change rides" and explained the usual that everything is up for a change and many projects are on a schedule above his pay grade for updating the parks but mentioned at that same time that Norway was next up. Nothing specifically that this was Frozen related, but one could make that assumption I suppose.

Oh, I am a Spirit in the shadows, but you may well have met me. I did eat ... a lot.

You missed what Scribner said when he mentioned that Norway was next (this was at the Gran Fiesta presentation) ... his exact quote (I wrote it down there) was ''Cough ... Frozen is coming. ... Cough ... Frozen.'' He then joked a bit (may have said something about not supposed to be saying what he did, that I didn't write down).

And he definitely answered a question about adding toons when someone brought up Three Caballeros being added to what was The River of Time.

He did indeed talk about how PhilharMagic was constructed to move segments in and out in that other presentation. But he in no way said Disney was going to do so with Frozen or anything else. Just that the film was made to be able to do so.

Did you enjoy the cruise?

 

[Tigger1988]

Maelstrom is, was, and forever will be the worst of the "classic" EPCOT Center rides. The only reason it's revered now(by fanbois only) is because it's the last one left and that is certainly no reason to keep it around.

 

[WDWDad13]

So it's official. Instead of giving Frozen a grand ride like it deserves (in Magic Kingdom) they're shoehorning it into Norway where it doesn't belong Anyone know if they sell Maelstrom shirts in the gift shop? I'll have to buy one on my next trip to remember what once was.

It's official because spirit says so? lol c'mon surely you've been around long enough to know...well ya know

 

[WDW1974]

Welcome back, dear!

A Frozen attraction/overlay truly sounds nauseating. If I don't hate that movie at this point, I will next month. Sick of hearing about that film. I really don't understand the big hoopla.

I had a feeling SDL was behind schedule. We're not really hearing that much about it.

Thanks. And as I said privately, I am very sorry we were not able to connect. We will next time. Things came up that I wasn't expecting and I was largely in the O.C.

I like the film. It is absolutely the best Disney film since the 1990s. But it doesn't compare with even the weaker efforts from that era. I think it was just timing plus having a love story that was about sisters, not romantic, that sparked interest.

I saw it again on the cruise. Now, I know two songs from what is supposed to be an amazing soundtrack.

As an aside, who goes on a cruise, even a Disney Cruise and buys a DVD/Blu ray?

Disney doesn't want to release much about SDL. I am sure they were thrilled when I published the menu ... and then when Michael Eisner went over and took pictures with the Tron coaster looming behind him (the one they still haven't said they are building) ...