Originally Posted By Donny You don't often see international politics come into play in theme parks, but there's an interesting brouhaha brewing between Walt Disney (DIS) and Norway. Search Jobs Search Jobs The back of Disney World's Epcot in Florida is the World Showcase, where select countries host, staff and help finance pavilions that feature restaurants, stores with imported goods and attractions. Norway is one of the only two Showcase countries to feature an actual ride, but the days of the Maelstrom boat journey through Vikings, trolls and polar bears may be numbered. Sources tell industry rumor hotbed Screamscape that Maelstrom will soon close to make way for a ride related to "Frozen." A news report out of Norway details the country's reluctance to continue funding the pavilion, and says that Maelstrom may close as soon as October to make way for the new ride. Read more <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/07/24/frozen-norway-disney-epcot/">http://www.dailyfinance.com/20...y-epcot/</a>
Originally Posted By oc_dean >>but one can sympathize with the aggravation in Norway as it's compelled to help bankroll a pavilion that's doing more to promote an imaginary country than its own rich culture.<< Same can be said for turning Tomorrowlands into "Fantasy"lands. In the end ... real Rich Cultures, Innovation, & Ingenuity are sacrificed. Makes more for a superficial environment that is all "cutsy" on the outside ... and not as "deep" to the more real (tangible) world that World Showcase is mostly about. Or .. SUPPOSE to be about.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Disney can't take the Norway Pavilion over soon enough as far as I'm concerned. Norway has done virtually nothing to maintain Maelstrom over the years - it is the most poorly maintained attraction at Epcot... maybe in all of WDW! And that's not even counting the sadly out of date film at the end.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA 'Frozen' in Norway 'Ratatouille' in France Let the 'toonification' of World Showcase begin!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Disney can't take the Norway Pavilion over soon enough as far as I'm concerned. Norway has done virtually nothing to maintain Maelstrom over the years...<< Disney hasn't done anything to maintain it either. IMO, Disney is more at fault here, since they're ultimately the operator of the theme park. Norway's sponsorship of the pavilion ended about a decade ago, yet Disney has continued to sell merchandise (and top-dollar princess meals) from it since then. How much of that money has gone back into the pavilion for maintenance and refurbishments? Very little; the entire place was a mess the last few times I've seen it >>Let the 'toonification' of World Showcase begin!<< I think that happened many years back when the Three Caballeros moved in to El Rio Del Tiempo and created the "Finding Donald" ride. Heck, you could even say that it began before that, when characters started greeting guests at pavilions that they were tenuously related to (my favorite is the Aladdin characters at Morocco, which is thousands of miles from the Middle East represented in the film) >>In the end ... real Rich Cultures, Innovation, & Ingenuity are sacrificed.<< Disney's been allowing, and even encouraging, this to happen for years. Where "Disney" once meant something of high-quality that appealed to the masses regardless of content, "Disney" now simply means that it's been tied in to some existing character brand/franchise. While there are still pockets of the parks that represent "the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts" that create a truly meaningful experience (and even the "challenge and promise of the future" that stem from them), they've increasingly become a place that appeals only to the most superficial of mindsets. To me, this is the most tragic at Epcot, where the park originally promised so much more than a simple escape from reality, but rather showed the exciting challenges of tomorrow and how we might get to deal with them head-on
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: My sisters and I agree with most of what you had to say, Ferret, although we don't see anything wrong with having characters meeting and greeting in the countries of World Showcase that they represent. At the same time, we agree that it just isn't right to let Disney movies take over the attractions at Epcot. At the Magic Kingdom this works just fine. But Epcot was never intended to be a park about Disney movies. The World Showcase area was supposed to be about the countries that are represented there. What was done to the attraction in Mexico is just awful. We miss the original scenes that used to give guests a history lesson about ancient Mexico. Putting the three Caballeros inside, now, just makes no sense at all. It's sad to think what may become of Norway at this point.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Hopefully this isn't true! I actually really liked riding Maelstrom and Norway was one of my favorite pavilions. Sadly there are probably more people who would be in favour of a new Frozen ride rather than fixing Maelstrom.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Since Frozen has literally had a very positive impact on Norway's tourism industry, Norway itself would probably be in favor of a Frozen attraction over what's there currently.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip ^^^ I agree. And this may just be showing my "old-fartness" but I think the natural curiosity to learn that most of us had as children just doesn't exist any more. If you can't grab their attention with something they relate to they just aren't interested. If it takes toons to get them interested in learning about the world, so be it.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <but I think the natural curiosity to learn that most of us had as children just doesn't exist any more> If that's true than blecchhh - no wonder I'm frustrated with the direction the Parks are going.
Originally Posted By Donny I blame Disney for making Epcot not that much fun to be at.There seems to be a lack of vision.There is an 30 foot firetruck just sitting in the pavilion,how excellent would it be to have a fake fire station with two cast members talking to kids about being a firemen
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>If you can't grab their attention with something they relate to they just aren't interested. If it takes toons to get them interested in learning about the world, so be it.<< If that's the case, it really makes me wonder how school teachers could possibly teach children anything...
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Back in 1990-1992, one of our best friends was a science teacher in Los Angeles and he admitted that he used to hand out treats and other rewards to any student who actually turned in a homework assignment each day. We were surprised to find out that many other teachers, at the time, were doing this same thing. Back in the day, the incentive for handing in one's homework was in order to avoid a severe tongue lashing from teachers who liked to embarrass any student who didn't do the right thing. Now days things have strayed so far afield from how they used to be...
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I am not sure that the country of Norway has anything to do with the pavillion besides a passing interest. Norway was originally sponsored by NorShow which was a grouping of Norwegian based companies. Their logos were all over the exit of Maelstrom. They dropped sponsorship a while ago and the Norway tourism board pulled out after that. At this time I think Disney has complete control over the pavillion.
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn Take note there are no hi-definition videos of World Showcase pavilion openings or expansions. Not even Digital-8. Maybe not even Hi-8.
Originally Posted By ImTempest I would not object to a new "Frozen" themed ride, if it was well done. I loved Maelstrom, especially the backward drop down the waterfall!
Originally Posted By jkayjs Norway has always been & still is one of my favorite pavilions at EPCOT. I always have to get a rice cream. I actually love the film part of the ride but always thought they got it wrong... The film should be first then the ride. I'm sure this isn't a popular thought but I feel it would flow better & maintain some learning potential.
