Changes to Norway?

[butterfly71076]

Please, no more princess based rides. Trolls were good, my sons like the troll boat in Norway. Just my two cents. Carry on.

Do princesses have to take over everything? My DS agrees with yours, leave the trolls alone! But, without question, update the movie!

 

[tsme]

My DH & DD would be heart broken if they replaced Maelstrom. Epcot's World Showcase is NOT the place for movie themed rides, etc. It's the place for countries!!

 

[lugnut33]

Placing a Frozen ride or land in DHS makes way more sense and it is also in need of more feature attractions (it it wasn't then Disney wouldn't have tiers there). Putting it anywhere in Epcot totally breaks character.

If they do that then you might as well make China into a Mulan overlay, France into Ratatouille, Canada into Snow Dogs, England into Chimcheriland, and etc.

What Disney really needs to do is get Epcot back to being about edutainment, like Walt wanted. It will still attract guests if it does that.

 

[ucfknight]

Do princesses have to take over everything? My DS agrees with yours, leave the trolls alone! But, without question, update the movie!

There are plenty of trolls in Frozen.

Ooh... better idea to make it even more "boy friendly"... maybe they can make it a ride with a plot of a wild escape from Marshmallow. He can chase you around the ride. I'm thinking patterning it on the T-rex chasing the Jeep scene from the Jurassic Park movie. He can pop up in the current troll scene and chase you down the backwards portion of the ride. You finally escape him by going over the cliff at the end (the current drop to the North Sea).

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

But WDW is probably very aware that anything Frozen related is going to make them tons of money.

Which should translate into Disney building an ALL-NEW attraction that is state-of-the-art in an appropriate park*cough*DHS*cough*.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I'd rather they saved DHS for Star Wars, but if they can make a ton of Frozen money by sticking a couple of cutouts of princesses in Maelstrom they'll probably do it.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Go to Rotten Tomatoes and look at the aggregate ratings for Frozen from both critics and audiences. Now pull up any of the Transformers films and look at their aggregate ratings from critics and audiences.

Now tell me how your comparison makes any sense.

If people didn't like the Transformers movies, they wouldn't continue to see them.

As for critics, who cares what they think?

 

[sonofanarchy]

What Disney really needs to do is get Epcot back to being about edutainment, like Walt wanted. It will still attract guests if it does that.

Although I agree, that's not what Walt wanted. Epcot was never supposed to be a theme park. It was supposed to be a city where people lived. It wasn't until after he died that the Imagineers found it unrealistic and changed the concept to a theme park. What they did in the first 10 years, from everything I've read about Walt, would have made him happy. What it is now, he would probably be sick to his stomach.

 

[bwang123]

Is there a Kingdom of ARENDELLE? I don't believe there is. It isn't a real place.

neither are the any of the villages, castles or any other character you can meet in many areas throughout the world showcase.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

neither are the any of the villages, castles or any other character you can meet in many areas throughout the world showcase.

Really? There actually is an Akershus. most of the buildings in Italy are a mishmash of Rome and Venice. One of the British buildings is based on Anne Hathaway's cottage (not the actress)

 

[Aurora86]

I wouldn't mind a Frozen overlay to Maelstrom but that's only because for some reason that ride creeps me out. I know a lot of people love it how it is though.

On the other hand, I would hate for the whole Norway pavilion to be changed. World Showcases should continue to have real countries represented not ones made up for movies.

 

[Bellamouse]

Really? There actually is an Akershus. most of the buildings in Italy are a mishmash of Rome and Venice. One of the British buildings is based on Anne Hathaway's cottage (not the actress)

Right, and that "Eiffel Tower" thing over in France, that's not a real place either... And Morocco was designed by the King of Morocco (or something like that) to ensure it's authenticty.

ETA: Maelstrom is my 2nd favorite ride in all of Disney. I will be heartbroken if they change it to Frozen

 

[Planogirl]

I hate to hear this. In our trip there last month, Maelstrom was one of the few attractions that had not changed a bit since I was young.

But having said this, the Norway pavilion/Maelstrom ride could certainly use some updates. However making this a Frozen pavilion with "just a hint of Norway sprinkled in" is a horrible idea. It goes against the grain of what Epcot and World Showcase are supposed to be about. And if that problem is the fact that the Norwegian government is not willing to invest in the pavilion, they should find another country that is rather than using it as a place to market another movie. Save that for MK and HS. Don't get me wrong... Disney movies are great. But when I stroll through World Showcase, I do it for the fascinating experience of learning about the different cultures; not because a Disney movie was set in a certain country.

Norway with just a hint of Frozen sprinkled in would be much more acceptable/appropriate.

Is Disney in essence blackmailing other countries like they apparently are Norway? The article makes it sound like Disney is demanding money or else! I adore Norway but they ought to completely pull out if they are being singled out.

If people didn't like the Transformers movies, they wouldn't continue to see them.

As for critics, who cares what they think?

We all know that it's all about money when it comes right down to it. Michael Bay makes bad Transformers movies but there is no questioning their success.

neither are the any of the villages, castles or any other character you can meet in many areas throughout the world showcase.

It's about CULTURE. They countries represent the culture of each nation. A made-up land of fantasy represents nothing.

 

[Jennasis]

neither are the any of the villages, castles or any other character you can meet in many areas throughout the world showcase.

Frozen depicts a FANTASY land (hehe) of girls with magic powers and talking snowmen. It doesn't belong in a "world's fair" style showcase of the culture and people of a real life country. It's actually insulting to the good people of Norway. A Meet&Greet would be fine, just like Belle/Beast, Aladdin/JAsmine etc meeting in the areas they are in. We know Agrabah isn't a real place, but the characters fit for appearances. But an Aladdin ride through the cave of wonders would be outlandish.

But my opinion is just that. I thought the movie was pretty lackluster, the characters were so one-dimensional as to be nearly see-through, the plot had holes you could drive a bus through, the story was rushed with cookie cutter characters shoe-horned in for zero reason (though Olaf IS cute!), I can't recall a single verse of any of those songs, and Idina Menzel's voice is like nails on a chalkboard, so maybe I"m not the right person to chime in on the appropriateness of a Frozen ride replacing Maelstrom.

 

[bwang123]

Really? There actually is an Akershus. most of the buildings in Italy are a mishmash of Rome and Venice. One of the British buildings is based on Anne Hathaway's cottage (not the actress)

yes, Belle, Mary Poppins, Winnie The Pooh, etc are all real too and are 100% accurate representation of each of the countries culture they can be found in throughout the world showcase.

 

[grimley1968]

yes, Belle, Mary Poppins, Winnie The Pooh, etc are all real too and are 100% accurate representation of each of the countries culture they can be found in throughout the world showcase.

You do realize that the article details the possibility of the ENTIRE Norway pavilion, not just the Maelstrom ride, being turned into a Frozen theme, right? The Norway identity would be lost, except for the one gift shop. This goes against the reason for those pavilions in the first place.

A few character M&G's in the pavilions of their nations, which have kept their identity, is not much of a comparison.

I wouldn't mind a few Frozen touches added to Maelstrom, but gutting the identity of the Norway pavilion is entirely another thing.

 

[bigAWL]

Is Disney in essence blackmailing other countries like they apparently are Norway? The article makes it sound like Disney is demanding money or else! I adore Norway but they ought to completely pull out if they are being singled out.

According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway_(Epcot)), Norway pulled out years ago.

The original idea was to create a Nordic Pavilion that would combine elements from various countries into one exhibit. Three countries were consulted, but it finally ended up with investors from Norway raising the US$30 million required to create an exclusive national pavilion. Disney contributed the other one-third of the construction cost. In 1992, the investors sold their stake to Disney. Since nearly as many people visit Epcot as live in Norway, the government felt it still was a good promotional tool for their tourism industry. The federal government continued to contribute US$200,000 annually for five years to help fund the exhibit. Renewed in 1997 for a further 5 years, the government stopped payments in 2002, against the recommendations from their American embassy.

Supposedly, when EPCOT Center opened in 1982, none of the WS pavillions were funded by nations. Only corporate sponsors (associated with the respesctive country) were involved. The last two additions, Morrocco and Norway, were the first ones to have any financial involvement by national governments. Now it appears that Morrocco is the only government left in play.

I'm not sure of the status of any other corporate investers in Norway since 2002, but I haven't found a reference to one. I believe most of the other pavillions do still have a sponsor of some sort, so Norway may be one of the few where Disney is going it alone. That may be why you don't hear about other countries being "blackmailed." But if no one outside of Disney is willing to invest, then I don't think Disney has a lot to lose in this change (if it does happen). Well, except maybe for their souls.

For the record, I thought Frozen was the best Disney and/or Pixar films in years.

 

[DisneyFive]

It's a short boat ride. It fits right in with what World Showcase is supposed to be. It was never meant to be a Super Headliner, but it's been a very popular mainstay of Epcot for about 25 years.

Well..... why did it have Fast Pass machines (pre FP+) if it wasn't a headliner?

That was a good part of our underwhelment (yeah, I just made up that word ), to be honest. Our first trip to Disney was in 2010, and as we were exiting Akerhus for lunch, we saw the FP machines for Maelstom. Hadn't heard about Maelstrom before that, but we saw the FP machines and automatically thought: This must be a pretty cool ride if it needs to have FPs!!

So we pulled FP's, which were literally for minutes later , and then saw that the SB time was pretty much zero. So we didn't even use the FP's (still have them in a drawer somewhere). A nice souvenir.

So yeah, we were underwhelmed. We still liked the ride, mind you, but we were expecting something at the level of all the other rides that had FP availability. (which had all been headliners). We haven't ridden it since. There are other things we do at Epcot instead.


Dan

 

[Planogirl]

According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway_(Epcot)), Norway pulled out years ago.



Supposedly, when EPCOT Center opened in 1982, none of the WS pavillions were funded by nations. Only corporate sponsors (associated with the respesctive country) were involved. The last two additions, Morrocco and Norway, were the first ones to have any financial involvement by national governments. Now it appears that Morrocco is the only government left in play.

I'm not sure of the status of any other corporate investers in Norway since 2002, but I haven't found a reference to one. I believe most of the other pavillions do still have a sponsor of some sort, so Norway may be one of the few where Disney is going it alone. That may be why you don't hear about other countries being "blackmailed." But if no one outside of Disney is willing to invest, then I don't think Disney has a lot to lose in this change (if it does happen). Well, except maybe for their souls.

For the record, I thought Frozen was the best Disney and/or Pixar films in years.

But do the nations have any say-so on how their names are used? Could Norway ask that their name not be used if they don't like how they're portrayed?

Of course, Norway might even like being portrayed by Frozen. I can't imagine but who knows.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Well..... why did it have Fast Pass machines (pre FP+) if it wasn't a headliner?

That was a good part of our underwhelment (yeah, I just made up that word ), to be honest. Our first trip to Disney was in 2010, and as we were exiting Akerhus for lunch, we saw the FP machines for Maelstom. Hadn't heard about Maelstrom before that, but we saw the FP machines and automatically thought: This must be a pretty cool ride if it needs to have FPs!!

So we pulled FP's, which were literally for minutes later , and then saw that the SB time was pretty much zero. So we didn't even use the FP's (still have them in a drawer somewhere). A nice souvenir.

So yeah, we were underwhelmed. We still liked the ride, mind you, but we were expecting something at the level of all the other rides that had FP availability. (which had all been headliners). We haven't ridden it since. There are other things we do at Epcot instead.


Dan

It has FP machines because from about mid-afternoon until closing, lines can be up to 60 minutes for it. Also, there aren't as many attractions in Epcot. Not all attractions that had FP kiosks are super headliners:

Living With The Land, Winnie The Pooh, Stitch, Primeval Whirl.

Not everyone likes the same thing. My belief is Maelstrom has that "it factor" that is hard to explain, but it just makes die-hard WDW fans feel at home and is a must-do. I can't explain it, but I love the whole experience, from the ride, to the village after the ride, to the movie.