New Frozen ride

So, the Norway pavilion has degraded culturally into nothing more than a place to get Norwegian food (if you don't mind princesses), and a gift shop, which I'm certain will be at least halfway devoted to Frozen merchandise now that the ride is open.

No need to even stop there anymore.

Considering the 5 hour wait throughout the day I would say the public is very happy with the switch!

To follow up on my first post...

I watched the ride-thru video of this earlier today and was struck by a couple of things:

1. The ride is well done, with great animatronics, and will press all the buttons for Frozen fans (I'm obviously not one).

2. It has absolutely no tie-in to Norway, its people, or its culture. (My biggest complaint)

Personally, I wish they would have left things the way they were, and put this attraction where it would've been better suited - in MK or DHS.

5 hour waits? Get used to it folks, it's gonna be that way for a loooong while.

brad192;2486660 wrote: To follow up on my first post...

I watched the ride-thru video of this earlier today and was struck by a couple of things:

1. The ride is well done, with great animatronics, and will press all the buttons for Frozen fans (I'm obviously not one).

2. It has absolutely no tie-in to Norway, its people, or its culture. (My biggest complaint)

Personally, I wish they would have left things the way they were, and put this attraction where it would've been better suited - in MK or DHS.

5 hour waits? Get used to it folks, it's gonna be that way for a loooong while.

Well Said!

From what I know it have seen, there was no soft opening. I was there last Friday and the walls were still up. There was a soft opening for the Anna and Elsa meet and greet. I was there for opening day. They did open the rideat 9am instead of 11am. The Mexico pavilion was also op en at 9am.

I was not there Saturday, Sunday or Monday. I have no idea if there was a soft opening on those days.

Despite the ride being down, I waited until it was reopened. I was not disappointed. It was done very well. I will always miss Maelstrom though.

I liked Frozen well enough (I thought that Tangled was a far better movie, though), and I look forward to riding the new ride in September. Though there is no way i'll wait five hours for it. Or even one hour. So maybe I won't be riding it in September. We'll see.

However, regarding the Norway pavilion not having much actual ties back to Norway anymore...isn't it true that the country doesn't actually sponsor the pavilion anymore? I had heard rumors of LEGO trying to get a Scandinavian consortium to sponsor the pavilion, but since there isn't a shred of LEGO branding anywhere, I'm assuming that never happened. And while it is part of the World Showcase, and you would want it to represent that part of the world, if those countries aren't interested in sponsoring it, then Disney has no responsibility to represent them or consult them. Do they?

azcavalier;2486686 wrote: ...However, regarding the Norway pavilion not having much actual ties back to Norway anymore...isn't it true that the country doesn't actually sponsor the pavilion anymore? I had heard rumors of LEGO trying to get a Scandinavian consortium to sponsor the pavilion, but since there isn't a shred of LEGO branding anywhere, I'm assuming that never happened. And while it is part of the World Showcase, and you would want it to represent that part of the world, if those countries aren't interested in sponsoring it, then Disney has no responsibility to represent them or consult them. Do they?

I believe they do.. My point is while technically/legally they might not have a responsibility for representing that particular country, proper ethics and plain common sense says that they should. After all, it is the NORWAY pavilion, and should reflect the land, people, and culture of that country, not be a showcase for a fantasy cartoon with singing princesses and a talking snowman. If that's the case, just go ahead and rename it Frozenland, or something.

I will repeat myself - the whole Frozen thing would be better suited to MK or DHS.

Ok here are my thoughts (I'm sure everyone is relieved)...
1. I hated losing Maelstrom and the lesson it taught (however simple).
2. Frozen Ever After actually looks pretty good. At least they did a good job on the overlay.
3. It should be at a different park.
4. If they wanted to draw people into the World Showcase, a new ride at one of the other countries would have done it nicely while leaving Norway alone.
5. I will rate this as a "mild misstep" in the overall scheme of things. It could have been worse. Heck, it still could get worse.
6. The huge lines for a C ticket attraction show how hungry people are for new things at Disney.
7. Adding more new things instead of changing existing attractions is much smarter.
8. Disney is about a decade behind in this area.
There ya go!

DonaldDuck1117;2486652 wrote: Considering the 5 hour wait throughout the day I would say the public is very happy with the switch!

Not necessarily. Whenever a new ride opens or has been extensively refurbished, curiosity probably fuels the length of the lines more than anything else. That's what I find so ironic--that people will wait for hours for a 5-10 minute attraction and then complain that it wasn't worth the wait. :shake:

brad192;2486640 wrote: So, the Norway pavilion has degraded culturally into nothing more than a place to get Norwegian food (if you don't mind princesses), and a gift shop, which I'm certain will be at least halfway devoted to Frozen merchandise now that the ride is open.

No need to even stop there anymore.

Cool, one less person i have to wait for. :mickey:

I agree with you. I just don't think Epcot is the right place for Frozen. It really makes me sad to see Disney forgetting what Walt had planned for Epcot. They now worship the mighty dollar.

Daisy'sMom;2486712 wrote: It really makes me sad to see Disney forgetting what Walt had planned for Epcot. They now worship the mighty dollar.

EPCOT never was anything like what Walt envisioned. His plan was for a self sufficient city and not a theme park, but at least what we got was somewhat educational.

"You are not the first to pass this way, nor will you be the last..."
Just watched ride video with family and have to say that we were disappointed. The animatronics are undeniably incredible but too much wasted space (ala spaceship earth) in the area that is just screens after visiting Elsa's castle. Even my 11 year old daughter just said,"As much as I love Frozen, Maelstorm was better." And for the record, I am also a major fan of Frozen. We really enjoyed the former ride a lot and appreciated the culture/educational components of the pavilion. Now this has turned into a princess pavilion hawking merchandise. I get that they need to attract the 4-7 year old set to Epcot but think there could have been better ways than to desicrate a beloved (by my family) attraction. "Norway, it's spirit is in its people."

azcavalier;2486686 wrote: I liked Frozen well enough (I thought that Tangled was a far better movie, though), and I look forward to riding the new ride in September. Though there is no way i'll wait five hours for it. Or even one hour. So maybe I won't be riding it in September. We'll see.

However, regarding the Norway pavilion not having much actual ties back to Norway anymore...isn't it true that the country doesn't actually sponsor the pavilion anymore? I had heard rumors of LEGO trying to get a Scandinavian consortium to sponsor the pavilion, but since there isn't a shred of LEGO branding anywhere, I'm assuming that never happened. And while it is part of the World Showcase, and you would want it to represent that part of the world, if those countries aren't interested in sponsoring it, then Disney has no responsibility to represent them or consult them. Do they?

We LOVE Tangled. And UP.:joy: