Changes coming to Norway Pavillion

[Wizzard419]

As of last week Norway remains with ride and movie still being shown, only difference is the huge queue to see the frozen princesses. Shortest line time we saw was 2 and a half hours most days it was over 4hours.

I can't even imagine waiting in a queue that long for anything at the parks, much less a meet and greet!

Even at DLR, on a slow day (at least according to the mousewait app) the wait times for the single character meet and greets (as opposed to the ones where they can have multiples of each character to churn through the crowds faster) can easily pass 2 hours.

[fancyfeet]

If adding elements of Frozen will help people/kids want to check out the Norway pavilion, seems like the idea is a plus. Sometimes a hook is a good idea get people in. I always check out each country either way, but I'll be interested to see how this new aspect will make Norway look.

[ImagineerWannabe]

If adding elements of Frozen will help people/kids want to check out the Norway pavilion, seems like the idea is a plus. Sometimes a hook is a good idea get people in. I always check out each country either way, but I'll be interested to see how this new aspect will make Norway look.

I agree that hooks can be a good thing. More changes are coming to Norway though. It was announced recently that the Frozen princesses are moving to the Magic Kingdom.

[cy1229]

After we watched "Frozen," hubby asked me how I would feel if Maelstrom was removed and replaced with a Frozen ride.

I gave that a lot of thought. I can honestly say I think changing Maelstrom for Frozen would be a good thing, and would help the WS be more attractive to families with young kids. I think WS and Epcot in general don't offer enough for the under-10 crowd. My niece got pretty bored there.

So here's what I would like: Leave the Stave Church as it was, a quiet place that could contain rotating exhibits of relics, history, etc. of Norway in general and the Vikings in particular. Maybe change it up once a year. That would give us a glimpse into the lifestyle, culture, history, etc. of this place that I still hope to visit. Change Maelstrom to be more about Frozen rather than Norway in general, and then change the movie at the end to feature a film about the myths and legends of the Scandinavian countries. Thor and other Norse gods, trolls, etc. would be fun, especially if they had 3 or 4 different stories to tell. Little animated films coupled with live action telling where the stories came from would be fun. And whatever they do, DON'T GET RID OF THE REALLY COOL CHAIRS IN THE THEATER.

[Amy]

After we watched "Frozen," hubby asked me how I would feel if Maelstrom was removed and replaced with a Frozen ride.

I gave that a lot of thought. I can honestly say I think changing Maelstrom for Frozen would be a good thing, and would help the WS be more attractive to families with young kids. I think WS and Epcot in general don't offer enough for the under-10 crowd. My niece got pretty bored there.

So here's what I would like: Leave the Stave Church as it was, a quiet place that could contain rotating exhibits of relics, history, etc. of Norway in general and the Vikings in particular. Maybe change it up once a year. That would give us a glimpse into the lifestyle, culture, history, etc. of this place that I still hope to visit. Change Maelstrom to be more about Frozen rather than Norway in general, and then change the movie at the end to feature a film about the myths and legends of the Scandinavian countries. Thor and other Norse gods, trolls, etc. would be fun, especially if they had 3 or 4 different stories to tell. Little animated films coupled with live action telling where the stories came from would be fun. And whatever they do, DON'T GET RID OF THE REALLY COOL CHAIRS IN THE THEATER.

Interesting ideas ~ I really imagine something more connected to Frozen will be coming to the parks in some fashion at some point. I completely agree on the chairs too ~ love those

[Wyntuck]

Change Maelstrom to be more about Frozen rather than Norway in general, and then change the movie at the end to feature a film about the myths and legends of the Scandinavian countries. Thor and other Norse gods, trolls, etc. would be fun, especially if they had 3 or 4 different stories to tell. Little animated films coupled with live action telling where the stories came from would be fun.


Oooh, I can hear Wizzard's blood boiling at this suggestion!

[Wizzard419]

Considering the film at the end is so dated it can be considered offensive, it wouldn't be any worse.

[cy1229]

It could give context to the trolls and some of the other stuff in Frozen.

[JonathanCC]

Please!!!! No changes to Maelstrom! Granted I thought Frozen was a fantastic movie and I understand how Disney will want to add alot of those elements in the parks but let's keep Epcot the way it is. It's already been tinkered enough with over the years.

[kelpseaweedkelp]

After we went on Maelstrom, by bro-in-law said "That's the weirdest ride I have ever been on".
I must say though, I really love all the maps on the walls while you are waiting in line of where all the Norweigan explorers went before anyone else (that we know of). Totally interesting.

[theBIGyowski]

Maelstrom, while awesome and one of my favorite rides in EPCOT, is a really bad attraction based on Disney standards. First off, the story line is all over the place. You start out with vikings...then trolls show up and send you backwards...where you see trees, penguins, polar bears, and ice...then you almost go over the waterfall...only to go down a little drop...past an oil derrick...and then into a quaint little seaside village. There is no story there at all...just a hodgepodge of stuff. The movie...as dated and cheesy as it is...does a better job telling you about Norway.

So...if they decide to change Maelstrom...there really isn't any way they could make it worse with today's technology and know-how.

[Amy]

Maelstrom, while awesome and one of my favorite rides in EPCOT, is a really bad attraction based on Disney standards. First off, the story line is all over the place. You start out with vikings...then trolls show up and send you backwards...where you see trees, penguins, polar bears, and ice...then you almost go over the waterfall...only to go down a little drop...past an oil derrick...and then into a quaint little seaside village. There is no story there at all...just a hodgepodge of stuff. The movie...as dated and cheesy as it is...does a better job telling you about Norway.

So...if they decide to change Maelstrom...there really isn't any way they could make it worse with today's technology and know-how.

I would agree with this observation. I think they could do better.

[JonathanCC]

After we went on Maelstrom, by bro-in-law said "That's the weirdest ride I have ever been on".
I must say though, I really love all the maps on the walls while you are waiting in line of where all the Norweigan explorers went before anyone else (that we know of). Totally interesting.

Totally agree, one of my favorite queue's as well at Disney.

[Wizzard419]

Maelstrom, while awesome and one of my favorite rides in EPCOT, is a really bad attraction based on Disney standards. First off, the story line is all over the place. You start out with vikings...then trolls show up and send you backwards...where you see trees, penguins, polar bears, and ice...then you almost go over the waterfall...only to go down a little drop...past an oil derrick...and then into a quaint little seaside village. There is no story there at all...just a hodgepodge of stuff. The movie...as dated and cheesy as it is...does a better job telling you about Norway.

So...if they decide to change Maelstrom...there really isn't any way they could make it worse with today's technology and know-how.

I think the ride designers were trying to be witty with hidden references in their theme (such as that oil rig is called "Troll"), but no one really caught on or could be bothered to look for references. The only reason it has a line is that it is one of the only actual rides in WS.

[cy1229]

Maelstrom, while awesome and one of my favorite rides in EPCOT, is a really bad attraction based on Disney standards. First off, the story line is all over the place. You start out with vikings...then trolls show up and send you backwards...where you see trees, penguins, polar bears, and ice...then you almost go over the waterfall...only to go down a little drop...past an oil derrick...and then into a quaint little seaside village. There is no story there at all...just a hodgepodge of stuff. The movie...as dated and cheesy as it is...does a better job telling you about Norway.

So...if they decide to change Maelstrom...there really isn't any way they could make it worse with today's technology and know-how.

I think the ride designers were trying to be witty with hidden references in their theme (such as that oil rig is called "Troll"), but no one really caught on or could be bothered to look for references. The only reason it has a line is that it is one of the only actual rides in WS.

You hit the nail on the head, BIGyowski. No one in our family loses any sleep if we miss Maelstrom.

Wizz you also hit on an important point (to which I added emphasis above), and one I've wondered about a long time. Why on earth is WS so boring for little kids? Does anyone know how the development of WS went? My children are "weird" (I'm their mom so I can say that) because they have an interest in more mature things, like history, travel, other cultures, science, etc. and aren't hung up on pop culture. Thus, when we took them to Epcot as little girls (age 7 and 3 at the time) they enjoyed looking at all the different things, and Meghan, my older daughter, struck up conversations with people from around the world. When Ellie, my younger, was in fifth grade, her class was studying Japan so we spent a lot of time at the Japanese pavilion. Again, my kids aren't typical kids, and I acknowledge that.

My niece, who was 6 the last time we were there in 2012, was bored out of her gourd in Epcot. And do you know what bored six-year-old little girls do? They bug their big brothers, then they whine about being tired and hungry. And they sigh those heavy sighs declaring they're BORED. And so on and so on.

Is there even space to add more young interest in the WS? looking at Google maps I'd say there isn't. Why on earth would Disney ever have allowed something to leave out a very important segment of their attending population this way? It's always puzzled me. And now, going back and retrofitting something into what already is there, is nigh impossible. As an adult I love Epcot, but I do know that no one - I mean NO ONE - was having fun when Kate was bored.