Frozen Attraction Coming to Epcot - Replaces Maelstrom

[Tekneek]

...but as a kid I didn't care.

If the parks were going to be built based off of what I liked most about Disney films at that young of an age, it would have been one massive tribute to Kim Richards with Doc Terminus and Hoagy peddling their snake oil in Passamaquoddy-land.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Hey EricJ, how's that crow you are now eating buddy? Want to apologize to John and I? Finally going to admit you were wrong and we were right? I'm waiting, once you get done with your rants that is (what happens when you are 100% totally wrong, and now wind up with egg on your face)...

Some of us knew this was happening months ago... Some of us told you so... You are welcome Intercotees for getting this news MONTHS ago...

Guess some of us do know exactly what we are talking about after all huh John?

[Kenny1113]

Oh no! Looks like my DSs will not be riding maelstrom anymore. They really enjoyed the ride. However to quote DS10 (going on 40) [in regards to the frozen buzz, at his 4yo cousin's end of the year show ]- "this is what happens when a lame movie becomes popular". So I don't think he will want to do it let alone wait long to ride it either.

[Imalismom]

Please remember that this topic is a "family" topic, and that Family does not treat family bad.

It is not needed, nor is it called for.

Please do not make me (or any other moderator) delete comments that are personal attacks.

[Gator]

Can we just ask not to be dumped from Arrendelle to PERFUMELAND. I have to beg every time I get off Maelstrom to be let out at the entrance and explain that perfume store makes me physically ILL.

OK, you and Melanie are crazy! I LOVE that smell. I love to sit near Norway during Illuminations and smell that fragrance pouring out. Easily my favorite smell at WDW. Lucky for you, bad for me, it's leaving. Geir will not be sold in the new shop per several sources.

[Gator]

I was just watching some Universal Harry Potter ride videos today and was thinking, "Disney really needs to find something this cool and take advantage of it. I do believe that Frozen is a good start. Is it "Middle Earth" or something that will attract nerds like me from all over the universe? No. But it will be pretty cool. I mean, c'mon. Are you really happy that FantasyLand got a rollercoaster based on Dwarves? How does that compete with Diagon Alley? It doesn't. But Disney has a billion dollar baby that CAN compete.

Hey, I love Maelstrom as much as anyone. It was my son's first ever Disney ride. I wish that the Frozen ride could go somewhere else. But Norway is a pretty good fit for this ride, I must admit. Add to it the Princess meal right next door, and it all works. I just hope they don't turn the Stave church into a meet&greet hall.

[PirateLover]

If the parks were going to be built based off of what I liked most about Disney films at that young of an age, it would have been one massive tribute to Kim Richards with Doc Terminus and Hoagy peddling their snake oil in Passamaquoddy-land.

Lol. Of course I'm not saying the parks should be based solely around what kids want. I was just commenting on the movie's popularity with children and how the plot doesn't matter as much to them as a catchy song.

[AgentC]

Although one joke I like to needle shallow, posing fans with is, "You liked Frozen so much? Okay:
Explain why.....WITHOUT fan-quoting one of the song lyrics. No "For the f*rst t*m* in f*r*v*r", no B**ld*ng of Sn*wm*n, and on pain of death, no, no, NO, uttering of the Three Vile Words. One lyric, and you're disqualified."
(Oh, but that's because you were struck by the story and characters so much, it'll be easy for you! It's not because of anyone being a Broadway fangirl obsessed with karaoke'ing the CD soundtrack, or anything!)

Me, I can explain why I liked Wreck-It Ralph--because, of course, there weren't any songs in it--I can explain why I liked Tangled, because I've forgotten all the songs that were in it, and I'm reasonably comfortable that I can explain why I liked, say, Aladdin, and how it took me on a whole new.....erm, thing.

Okay, I'll guess I'll play this one too though I have a feeling we may have discussed this over in the movie forum

First, since Frozen more than many Disney films is a musical (check the singing to dialogue ratio in the first 1/2 of the movie), its a bit unrealistic to say that liking the music isn't a valid reason to like the movie.

I'll agree with PirateLover that there are plot issues and character development problems. There is a feeling on incompleteness due Elsa being changed from a villain to a heroine.

However as Imalismom stated it is a movie that celebrates girls/women as actual heroines not accessories to men. Even in Tangled (one of my absolutely favorite movies), Rapunzel is saved by Flynn's action not her own. Additionally it adds the message of not hiding who you really are. These are powerful messages that resonate with many girls and women. Part of the movies success is that it struck an emotional chord in people.

But for some it didn't and that is fine. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

[missymouseworld]

I must admit that I liked the music more than the movie. When watching the movie, I felt like they were recycling a lot of prior characters/movies from Disney past. I kept saying to my family, doesn't that remind you of this movie, etc.

I was also thinking that the area in Norway where the ride is located is pretty small for all those lines/people that will be heading there. We were there in July with crowds and I can't imagine how it will be with the Frozen ride in there.

When telling my husband that they are putting the ride there and about the expected crowds, he said good, then the other attractions at Epcot won't be so crowded. Bring it on.

[RunDMV]

You are not zee first attraction to go (out) zees vay.....nor shall you be zee last.

[SteveO]

Blech. No. Awful. Epcot (I still think of it as EPCOT Center the way it was in the beginning) is so far from what I like(d) about it that it pains me to go there. It all sort of stated with moving Nemo into "The Seas". That broke my heart. The Frozen deal makes my heart heavy. It just does not belong in World Showcase or Epcot for that matter. The Studios, fine. Epcot, no.

[NJGIRL]

I didn't see the movie so my opinion isn't based on whether I liked it or not. I wished they weren't putting a Frozen attraction into EPCOT. Not just because I like what they have in Norway already, but mainly because I loved the fact that the EPCOT attractions weren't based on Disney characters for the most part....we have the MK and DHS for that.

I just hope that they don't pull out a really unique ride to put in a recycled Ariel ride with the Frozen characters slapped on it.

I have a bad feeling that this is going to be the Mexico ride all over again.

[DisneyGiant]

Okay, I'll guess I'll play this one too though I have a feeling we may have discussed this over in the movie forum

First, since Frozen more than many Disney films is a musical (check the singing to dialogue ratio in the first 1/2 of the movie), its a bit unrealistic to say that liking the music isn't a valid reason to like the movie.

I'll agree with PirateLover that there are plot issues and character development problems. There is a feeling on incompleteness due Elsa being changed from a villain to a heroine.

However as Imalismom stated it is a movie that celebrates girls/women as actual heroines not accessories to men. Even in Tangled (one of my absolutely favorite movies), Rapunzel is saved by Flynn's action not her own. Additionally it adds the message of not hiding who you really are. These are powerful messages that resonate with many girls and women. Part of the movies success is that it struck an emotional chord in people.

But for some it didn't and that is fine. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

Hey! Elsa is not a villian! She was just having a tantrum after spending years locked up!

I was also thinking that the area in Norway where the ride is located is pretty small for all those lines/people that will be heading there. We were there in July with crowds and I can't imagine how it will be with the Frozen ride in there.

When telling my husband that they are putting the ride there and about the expected crowds, he said good, then the other attractions at Epcot won't be so crowded. Bring it on.

This is my concern. The ride is like 1 min long! They'll need to make it longer, plus revise the queue. We won't go on it unless we can get a fast pass!

At least it will be a usable fast pass. As it stands now, there's nothing to get a fast pass for in Epcot except for Test Track or Soarin. And they force you to get three.....

[Ian]

My girls are going to be THRILLED!!

[Septbride2002]

Although one joke I like to needle shallow, posing fans with is, "You liked Frozen so much? Okay:
Explain why.....WITHOUT fan-quoting one of the song lyrics. No "For the f*rst t*m* in f*r*v*r", no B**ld*ng of Sn*wm*n, and on pain of death, no, no, NO, uttering of the Three Vile Words. One lyric, and you're disqualified."
(Oh, but that's because you were struck by the story and characters so much, it'll be easy for you! It's not because of anyone being a Broadway fangirl obsessed with karaoke'ing the CD soundtrack, or anything!)

Me, I can explain why I liked Wreck-It Ralph--because, of course, there weren't any songs in it--I can explain why I liked Tangled, because I've forgotten all the songs that were in it, and I'm reasonably comfortable that I can explain why I liked, say, Aladdin, and how it took me on a whole new.....erm, thing.

I can tell you exactly why I like Frozen - aside from the sound track and a cast that I think is phenomenal. Alan Tudyk - I'll watch anything he is a part of. That includes Wreck it Ralph which BTW I like as well - but more for the secondary characters then the squeaky voiced main character. However I doubt my reasons for liking the movie would persuade anyone into changing their mind.

I'm hoping they don't just stick Anna and Elsa in at random moments during the attraction (like Pirates). Hopefully it is a total refurb. Including the songs as Disney hasn't had this talented a singer since Jodi Benson voiced Ariel and prior to that it was Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins.

Maelstrom was an okay attraction. Honestly we walked by it more then we rode it. I'll be interested in seeing the changes.

[Septbride2002]

Well, she was supposed to be a villain in the early storyboards--Or, at least, the tragic antagonist whose complexes and refusal to give in to the heroine threatened the entire kingdom.
But then, when they made her more sympathetic, that left the story without an actual Villain-villain, and story doctors had to come up with one out of thin air....And boyyyy, did they ever.



Although Brenda Chapman's little personal choo-choo going off the rails during the production of Brave hasn't exactly put a good light since on "Female animation directors appealing to both halves of the audience"--Which seems to be one of the main complaints with the Y-chromosome crowd that tends to concentrate on, y'know, the story and stuff.

Up to now, some of us hadn't really noticed whether Jennifer Lee's screenwriting was too "skewed", since Tangled came off without a hitch, even with the whole teen-girl "Moo-mm!" theme of the story.
But now, it's starting to reflect suspiciously on just how much Lifetime Networking we were getting in Lee's other films--The whole subplot of Vanellope and the Mean-girls in Wreck-It Ralph, for instance. (Only a female screenwriter could have come up with the "I'll have you all executed! " joke.)

I'm not going to get into a whole off-topic battle-of-the-sexes discussion about "5 Mistakes Female Viewers ALWAYS Get Wrong About Snow White" ( ), but there seems to be a lot of "We're not damsels in distress!" battles being fought, long after they....really need to be, by audiences who still want to fight them. Yeah, I remember back when it was cool to use Disney as a symbolic all-purpose social whipping-boy too, but I grew out of it, and so did their films.
(I remember back when we were having this EXACT SAME symbolic championing of Merida as Feminist-Warrior Symbol, and those coming to the defense of Disney pointed out just how much spunk some of the "classic" princesses had, despite being pasted with an unfairly negative Snow White stereotype, by those whose private personal issues wanted to paste them with it: Just think of half the things Jasmine, Rapunzel, Esmeralda or Pocahontas accomplished in their films, and they still ended up with their prince at the end of the film...C'est l'amour, and it ain't all that bad as a subplot.)

As we both note, the loony sudden gear-switch of having You-Know-Who suddenly out of nowhere turn out to be a baddie-waddie is due to some emergency last-minute script-doctoring, but that still doesn't excuse the low-comedy humiliation the Duke is forced to endure near the beginning of the film (his toupee falls off because he's old and he's a dance-date from hell, oh, the symbolic hilarity!), or Kristoff forced to be the unthreateningly-emasculated parody of the Grungy Lonely Single Guy, so that he'll be "safe" (ie., flawed) enough to be a funny romantic interest.
Walt used to be a stickler for making sure that his stories appealed to EVERYONE, because of the story, and I'd make a safe bet that in Walt's day, this movie's gender-agendas would've gotten Jennifer fired from the studio faster than Brenda was. And no, I'm not talking about Brenda's "Evil Male-Hollywood Conspiracy".

There were plenty of bombs on Walt's watch.
Sleeping Beauty was considered a flop. And truthfully the story is a real snoozer - the only saving grace being Maleficent.

[KODABEAR]

Looking forward to something new!

[yuba13]

So when John Lasseter became overlord for Disney Parks, he wanted to try to carry on Walt Disney's claim that 'Disneyland will never be completed' meaning imagineering and the parks should evolve with time replacing older attractions with new ones to keep the place(s) exciting and fresh. Sure I miss some of the now-gone classics, and I adore the Maelstrom attraction.

Back to Mr. Lasseter - He knows a core fact that people come to the Disney Parks because they are "DISNEY" Parks - that's what sets them apart, that's what the main attraction is. This explains his infusion of the Disney/Pixar canon of films and characters into all of the parks - in Epcot namely Nemo and the Three caballeros but also the Meet'n'greets of Aladdin, Mulan, Belle, etc...

Sure EPCOT was meant to be something else when it opened. Actually, the original EPCOT CENTER park(s) are far from Walt's original concept of E.P.C.O.T. as a functioning community/city run by science and technology's latest, a "working" Tomorrowland, not a theme park. Look at the evolution of California Adventure - it's entire purpose and "back-story" was remade and rebuilt. Originally CA was devoid of any Disney characters and advertised as such. Everything must evolve.

Yes, I'll miss the Maelstrom greatly but what awesome memories

[AgentC]

Walt used to be a stickler for making sure that his stories appealed to EVERYONE, because of the story,

Okay, this is getting way off topic and I am not going to visit any of the paths you are wandering down except to say I don't recall saying anything negative about the classic princess movies and it is highly unlikely that you will find me complaining about a romantic subplot.

What I said was it struck an "emotional chord". Good storytellers know the importance of building an emotional connection with the audience. There lots of books over the last few years that were phenomenally successful not because they were extremely well written books but because readers connected to them.

But that is really off this topic and much better suited the the Movies board than this one so if you want to talk movies feel free to come on over.

As far as what Walt trying to make his stories appeal to everyone, there is very little that appeals to everyone no matter how hard you try and the movie market is certainly different in 2014 than it was in 1937, but I bet Walt would appreciate a story that made people feel.

So back to the topic at hand. I'll miss Maelstrom. I've always had a soft spot for the trolls though I admit I skipped the movie most of the time. Does Frozen fit? I don't know. I'm assuming they aren't going to make major changes to the exterior which keeps the feels and they do already have the Princess meals next door. I just hope it is a good ride not a lame ride!

[cer]

If the parks were going to be built based off of what I liked most about Disney films at that young of an age, it would have been one massive tribute to Kim Richards with Doc Terminus and Hoagy peddling their snake oil in Passamaquoddy-land.

So true. Did you have the Pete's Dragon record, too?

This is not a bad idea at all! You think we could talk them into an overlay featuring Elliot at American Adventure?

I kid, I kid...