how long before Maelstrom becomes 'Frozen'

[DonaldDuck1117]

Just more rumors but I saw a report saying Disney went to the government and basically said pony up some $$ to do a refurb or they were going with Frozen. Is it true? I sure hope so. Because we either get a major refurb to the ride, or we get a new Frozen attraction.

I know a lot of you worry about characters in World Showcase and how the focus should be on the countries and not Disney characters. I get that. The original message of Epcot was learning of the future and our fellow man. But it has been a long time since that's been the case. Maybe since 1994-ish? Started with World of Motion turning into Test Track then Horizons turning into Mission Space, then Nemo taking over The Seas.

Is it sad to see the change? Absolutely. But visons change and evolve over time. Walt spoke about this with his parks as well-now maybe not this big of a change, but still.

Let's see what's Disney produces before we say it's bad. It might be a great attraction-Redone Norway...or Frozen incorporated.

[Capt_redshirt]

I know a lot of you worry about characters in World Showcase and how the focus should be on the countries and not Disney characters. I get that. The original message of Epcot was learning of the future and our fellow man. But it has been a long time since that's been the case. Maybe since 1994-ish? Started with World of Motion turning into Test Track then Horizons turning into Mission Space, then Nemo taking over The Seas.

But there is the difference the original point of Future world was to constantly change to handle new technology the point of world showcase was to treat it as a representation of the country. taking characters in is kind of expected and will keep the children complacent.

[Terra]

I'm not going to lie. the vision of Olaf running from the Polar Bears in the Arctic Scene make me chuckle.

[drosenbe]

Well, for once Disney listened to me!!

Actually, I'm surprised that it will take over a year to do the redo, but I am excited, because that implies that they're not just going to shove overlays over everything. They'll probably use the same ride system, but it would be great if they updated everything else. Perhaps, even extend the ride into what is now the theater area (though that's really asking for it)

[Tekneek]

Now, want to say the way they represent the characters do not fit? Ok, I'll agree... it is more about finding Donald then showcasing Mexico... They could have done to the attraction what is done in the movie... Take the guests on a site seeing tour of Mexico, showing the riders Mexican culture... instead of trying to follow Donald's escapades...

This has helped me realize what I dislike about that attraction. I love The Three Caballeros a lot. It is one of my favorite Disney releases of all time. I wanted to like this because of that. However, they just seemed to be a distraction from the attraction. I imagine it to be like if they had taken Captain Jack Sparrow and had him running through every scene of Pirates. It ceases to improve anything and only serves to destroy the attraction experience.

It's not a Gran Fiesta Tour. It's "Watch The Three Caballeros Get Shoe-Horned Into An Existing Attraction And Make It All About Them Until It Is Finally Over."

As someone who bought into the EPCOT Center concept, anything that promotes external characters (anything from outside EPCOT) in the attractions is a drag and seems like a cop out. Sadly, the golden age for EPCOT was the early 90s and they aren't even trying to get it back. I feel like the park has never been better than it was then.