I miss the Maelstrom ride so much.

[Planogirl]

I don't agree.

It's $100ish a day to get into EPCOT where there are all of two headlining rides. Future World needs a lot of updating and the World Showcase is nearly all shopping and dining, which you need to pay to do beyond your ticket. With the advent of the Internet, being able to buy unique items from different countries really isn't novel anymore. I can order items directly from any country in the World Showcase. It's not really a novelty now. They're probably less expensive, too.

I like the World Showcase. I don't want it to sound like I don't. I just don't think adding more "family" themed attractions are a bastardization of it. They (Disney) need to do something to continue to entice people into the park. The Magic Kingdom draws on its own and with Avatar coming to AK and Star Wars to HS, EPCOT really NEEDS something. It's a huge park. Disney needs it to take some of their daily touring population.

I don't disagree that Epcot needs help but I think that Future World is the problem not World Showcase. Future World is often said to have two good rides even though I think that Spaceship Earth is pretty special too. Otherwise it's mostly lame, outdated rides and empty building. It really needs a lot.

Again, I'm not against characters being in World Showcase but if Disney just adds kiddie attractions then they might just exclude another group of people when supposedly WDW was meant to be for everyone. World Showcase has been literally carrying Epcot just as it is and I really don't think that it needed much in the way of help.

Besides ordering foreign trinkets online just isn't the same as seeing the products up close and talking to the wonderful CM's and seeing the artwork in some of the pavilions. It's just not the same.

 

[delilah]

This is really old, but, I really miss Pocahontas and her forest friends. My son, niece and nephew really loved that show when they were small, and it closed when my son was 10. They always sat in the front row and interacted with Pocahontas and the animals. It truly broke my heart when it closed. I am going on a trip next week and was checking out what was changing. We are taking my husband's cousin and his family, and I am planning to suggest Festival of the Lion King, because, it's been years since we saw it. Last time was when Pocahontas was still there.

 

[Buzz-Light-Beer]

The last time I was at Walt Disney World I was 10 years old and one of the highlights of Epcot was the Maelstrom ride. I am now 21 years old and the next time I do go to Disney I know I will miss this ride when going to Epcot.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

So I would assume that this is the same feeling for the boat ride in mexico?

Maybe, except that just before America's entry to WWII, Walt was asked to be a cultural ambassador throughout South America. One of the outcomes of his tours was a slew of movies, some of which featured the three amigos. So, there is a tenuous connection between the ride and its location inin Epcot.

 

[PetePanMan]

News and rumors?

There is a rumour out there that very few people actually care about Maelstrom.

 

[Buzz-Light-Beer]

There is a rumour out there that very few people actually care about Maelstrom.

It seems like from this thread that a lot of people actually did care about the Maelstrom ride. Me being one of them.

 

[PetePanMan]

It seems like from this thread that a lot of people actually did care about the Maelstrom ride. Me being one of them.

must have just been a rumour then...

 

[circus4u]

There is a rumour out there that very few people actually care about Maelstrom.

I plead guilty as charged! Was OK when it first opened, except for that movie at the end.

 

[Buzz-Light-Beer]

must have just been a rumour then...

Yes a very bad rumor.

 

[kandb]

Our family loved Maelstrom. My children were upset when I told them they closed it. There are so few good rides in Epcot, why close a ride a lot of
people liked? As far as the movie at the end, you were not required to stay and watch it.

 

[Castle2Castle]

There are so few good rides in Epcot, why close a ride a lot of people liked?

To put in a ride they expect more people to like and actually ride to reflect it. There tends to be far more people ready to talk about their love for a particular ride - especially once it's on the chopping block - than there are to actually ride them over their alternatives.

 

[rteetz]

Our family loved Maelstrom. My children were upset when I told them they closed it. There are so few good rides in Epcot, why close a ride a lot of
people liked? As far as the movie at the end, you were not required to stay and watch it.

Frozen is the biggest animated movie disney has done since the Lion King so they of course has to find a way to put it in the parks. Disney could've done bigger and better but they went with this shortcut way instead.

 

[kandb]

I have no problem with them adding Frozen but why have to take out a ride that was already there and loved by many? I guess it boils down to $$$. Pay the CEO a few less million and keep the rides that are there and build NEW rides.

 

[rteetz]

I have no problem with them adding Frozen but why have to take out a ride that was already there and loved by many? I guess it boils down to $$$. Pay the CEO a few less million and keep the rides that are there and build NEW rides.

The ride was in need of a refurb and wasn't as popular as it once was. Disney takes away things people love all the time look at adventurers club, horizons or the submarines.

 

[Planogirl]

The ride was in need of a refurb and wasn't as popular as it once was. Disney takes away things people love all the time look at adventurers club, horizons or the submarines.

That doesn't make it right particularly if they replace things they take away with lesser attractions. I'm confident that this is true at least in the case of the adventurers club and horizons.

 

[rteetz]

That doesn't make it right particularly if they replace things they take away with lesser attractions. I'm confident that this is true at least in the case of the adventurers club and horizons.

I'm not saying it is right but it's defintely not the first time something that was liked has been taken away.

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

The ride was in need of a refurb and wasn't as popular as it once was. Disney takes away things people love all the time look at adventurers club, horizons or the submarines.

I agree with this. ...especially the part about the Maelstrom not being all that popular anymore. I can't remember the last time I had to wait more than 10 minutes to ride - and usually I could just walk on. Once the new ride opens, it will be MOBBED with people.

 

[rteetz]

I agree with this. ...especially the part about the Maelstrom not being all that popular anymore. I can't remember the last time I had to wait more than 10 minutes to ride - and usually I could just walk on. Once the new ride opens, it will be MOBBED with people.

It will be mobbed but how long will that last? Every new ride that's not an e ticket usually wears off. Look at little mermaid in MK. That was a good 30+ minute wait when opened but a couple years later you can walk on or its a short wait most of the time.

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

It will be mobbed but how long will that last? Every new ride that's not an e ticket usually wears off. Look at little mermaid in MK. That was a good 30+ minute wait when opened but a couple years later you can walk on or its a short wait most of the time.

That's completely unpredictable. Disney can spend millions developing a totally new ride and it might be hugely popular - like Tower of Terror or Big Thunder Mountain. ...or it might not be - like Mission Space (which I really like). Likewise, refits can boom (Space Ranger Spin) or bust (Stitch Encounter). We get the easy job of being consumer and critic. Disney (and other developers) gets the tough job of investing money, time and emotion, and hoping a fickle public likes what they do.

 

[rteetz]

That's completely unpredictable. Disney can spend millions developing a totally new ride and it might be hugely popular - like Tower of Terror or Big Thunder Mountain. ...or it might not be - like Mission Space (which I really like). Likewise, refits can boom (Space Ranger Spin) or bust (Stitch Encounter). We get the easy job of being consumer and critic. Disney (and other developers) gets the tough job of investing money, time and emotion, and hoping a fickle public likes what they do.

That's why I said rides that aren't e tickets. E ticket attractions usually don't wear off.