Epcot | Frozen Ever After | Themed indoor boat ride

[cjbrandy]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Can someone educate me on why the Norwegian government give two sh*ts about what a theme park 5000 miles away does in their Norway section of the park? Why is the government's back up needed? I'd be focusing on the important stuff like the economy and healthcare etc.

If they made a ride that explicitly insulted the country it'd be understandable for the government to take note and be like "oi take that **** down you cheeky ****" but at Disney that's not going to happen so why do Disney need permission/approval?

 

[Dar]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

I think the government pays a sort of sponsorship for the area and uses it as a kind of tourist outreach centre. Or something, I'm sure a more knowledgeable goon will explain better

 

[mouse]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Wikipedia says this, sounds about right:

Major sponsorships for Each participating nation will be asked to provide the capital to cover the cost of designing, developing and constructing its attraction and/or ride and all exhibits, as well as the Pavilion itself. It will also have the responsibility for funding the housing for its employees in the International Village. Its land lease will cover the cost of maintaining the attraction for a minimum of ten years.

I guess Norway also want to ensure they are represented accurately, or at least positively.

 

[gavin]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

I had no idea World Showcase was run like that. What a f**king cheek!

Anyway, the ride:

I'm seeing the same effect used for Mystic Manor's "magic" being used here for Elsa going apes**t. Calling it now.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Frozen Ever After is opening June 21st
source

Also, pictures from inside the attraction have surfaced recently, showing the audio-animatronic Marshmallow next to the drop.

source

Some pics of the exterior

source

 

[Edward M]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Have my FP+ booked for July 9. I have my expectations VERY low. I'm hoping that it ends up being a nice surprise though. I just hate the idea of Frozen at Epcot. It makes the most financial sense, but it ruins one of my favorite areas in DW, World Showcase. I'm afraid that the relaxed vibe there will be much more hectic as hordes of families crowd around Norway. Oh well, maybe it will fit in very well, be a great ride, and help to liven up World Showcase. I hope that is the case.

 

[Lofty]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Hate the idea of Frozen in Epcot, just as everybody else does, but, I am secretly excited about seeing this ride.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Now:

source

What it used to look like:

The tall stone facade that that was the entrance has been improved. But dear God I am NOT here for Mustard Manor next door. Couldn't be more jarring.

 

[Edward M]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Are we sure this is a finished product? It just looks so absolutely awful. It just can't be. Please Disney just do something else, anything else. Ignoring the disgusting yellow wall with a mattress above it, the building looks like a prison. And not ignoring the yellow monstrosity, ewww. Is it just me or did the old facade need barely any work. The town in the movie had the same look as the old Norway pavilion. If you are going to do some work, perhaps add a some ice or give it a more specific "Frozen" feel.

I have a feeling though that the yellow wall is just covering up the hole that was in Maelstrom where the boat sticks out of the building. I'm just hoping the real facade is behind whatever this is.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

I have a feeling though that the yellow wall is just covering up the hole that was in Maelstrom where the boat sticks out of the building. I'm just hoping the real facade is behind whatever this is.

No, the boat used to stick out of the cave with the waterfall to the left. In the "after" pictures, you can see it has been sealed up with rockwork. That yellow facade is definitely a rework of the facade next to the ride entrance. It does represent a traditional Norwegian building style and colour, but facades like that are never used on stone buildings like Akershus Fortress. When I see walls like that, I think "rural train station", and it integrates really badly with the stone castle. I'd rather have kept the old facade, or reworked the entire castle to another style. At least, there's hope for a big sign/logo to fill the mostly empty facade.

That new stone facade above the entrance looks very familiar, though. If I were to guess, it's based on Håkonshallen, which is part of Bergenhus Fortress. It's either fitting or disastrously un-fitting, depending on how you look at it, since the castle in the Norway pavillion is based on Akershus Fortress. Then again, the wooden buildings to the left are based on Bergen. At any rate, the pavillion is a hodgepodge of styles, so in the end this isn't anything new.

EDIT @above: Akershus Fortress did serve as a prison for centuries, so you seem to be right on that account.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

The way it's lodged between two stone structures is just... no

source

 

[Ben]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

What the **** is that.

Why is it, that neither fits the existing architecture or the Frozen brand.

That is hideous.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Oh wow. It has arches in its foundation wall? That architecture is clashing so badly on so many levels.

I mean, that yellow colour and the roof is fine. Plenty of examples to take inspiration from in Norway (and that's just the railway stations).

But integrating it so badly into an existing stone structure... a huge no. Norway has a tradition of building with wood, and another of building with stone, but never the two in the same building (unless the first floor is stone and the second is wood). I can't think of any place where squeezing a wooden wall in between stone walls like that is common practise. It just doesn't look good at all.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

I hold imagineers very highly and I don't know how much influence people 'high up' have on the design choices, but I'm confounded when design flaws like these are made, especially when exterior facades beyond exceptional quality are frequently produced by Disney.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Every time I see these kinds of updates, I get even angrier at Disney. They should be doing things with thought and considering every aspect of the design. Everything they do now is IP based.

My only hope now is that they don't **** up Soarin.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Everything they do now is IP based.

My only hope now is that they don't **** up Soarin.

But yeah there's no essential need for IP and Soarin's popularity proves that. Anna & Elsa meet&greets get huge lines so I wouldn't fault them for making an attraction out of that franchise - it surely would be more popular than Maelstrom ever was - but with a park with such a small line up, I don't like that they forfeited an existing attraction. With a bit of rearranging of back buildings, I guess they wouldn't have had to bother spending a load of money redressing Norway and just spent extra to have a more substantial area in between Mexico and Norway, there's enough room for it to be like Hogsmeade with Arendelle castle at the end housing a modern attraction that wasn't built 30 years ago. (not very original + you'd have to move that big back building the the opposite side of the car park but oh well I like pontificating )

 

[nadroJ]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

I had a little mooch around this area the other day and whilst I think this attraction will give EPCOT a massive boost once it opens I'll be interested to see how they deal with crowd control. At the moment it's bottleneck city!


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[Edward M]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

I had a little mooch around this area the other day and whilst I think this attraction will give EPCOT a massive boost once it opens I'll be interested to see how they deal with crowd control. At the moment it's bottleneck city!


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Yaaaaaa, this has been a big concern for me. None of the World Showcase countries can handle that many crowds in the first place. They are now putting what will likely be the longest line, hardest FP+, and most popular attraction in WDW in a corner in tiny old Norway. Yikes. I have a feeling though that Disney also knows this (how could they not!), so here's to hoping they have a decent solution to the bottleneck situation in the near future (or 20 days).

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Pokemaniac, do you know what this might say? google translation didn't like it...

Is this Norway still or Arendelle or neither?

 

[Pokemaniac]

Re: Epcot | unknown | Frozen themed attraction

Pokemaniac, do you know what this might say? google translation didn't like it...

Only the first word is visible. "Bryggestredet", which means something like "Dock street" or "Wharf street". Could also be "Brewing street", though with the facade taking inspiration from Bergen, my money is on the former. "Strede" isn't really "street" either (although it is literally the same word, with its English and Norse spelling drifting apart over the centuries), it's more like a narrow alley. Bergen is full of "streder", small alleys too steep for wheelchairs and too narrow for cars. It's a very charming fire hazard.

But yeah, "Bryggestredet" translates to something like "Narrow alley near the wharf". Probably alluding to this wharf:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryggen

I asked my cousin, who finished his year-long shift at the Epcot pavillion earlier this week, about the rest of the sign, but the sign wasn't there when he left. He still has connections, though, so I'll see if he can find somebody to check for him.