I agree with @bswan26. The countries around the WS should be about the actual countries and their respective cultures.
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Some things I find odd…Has Norway been funding the pavilion ? When it originally opened, wasn’t there a large tourism info/sales area occupying most of the retail space ? I assumed that left when Norway’s contract ran out. Also, if Norway took it seriously, I think the movie would have been updated long ago. Finally, there’s no need for cross-promotion. Maelstrom was busy before Frozen and Frozen doesn’t need a ride to sell DVDs or tickets to Frozen 2.
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I love Frozen. A lot. And I wouldn’t hate seeing Anna and Elsa meet here (after all, if Marie and Belle can meet in France and Aladdin and Jasmine in Morocco, why can’t Anna and Elsa be here?). But please, please, please leave Maelstrom alone. Please.
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Guess I’m an outlier here. I’m not a big Frozen fan at all but would love to see a Maelstrom reboot. I love that WDW is constantly changing.
Updating Maelstrom would be great. Messing with the concept of the World Showcase to the point of another princess ride in a place that was never intended to have something like that is bad.
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“Rumor” has it that Maelstrom was originally supposed to be almost twice it’s current length, but it was cut do to cost. I’m all for an extensive refurb, but it needs to remain relevant to the country of Norway, not to a movie.
And for the record, El Rio del Tiempo in its original incarnation was MUCH better than the Donald Duck overlay (and I’m a big time DD fan…).
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@bswan26 I agree I like a lot of the original Epcot Rides. I am not over fond of Donald in El Rio del Tiempo, I miss the original rides of Figment (Dreamfinder), Horizons, World of Motion. I understand some needed to be spruced up, but I am not over fond of their replacements.
I have no problems with characters having a greeting spot in Epcot, but it is not a showcase for Disney character, but that country.
And I have to admit I agree with @Sam2071, I am sorry I just don’t get the Frozen craze, it was okay. Ducking now.
Agree! I still sing the El Rio del Tiempo song and would much rather watch the actual cliff divers than Donald falling off a cliff!
It just goes along with the theme that everything done to Epcot Center over the years is pretty much for the worse… lol Including killing its name.
Just watched a YouTube ride through of El Rio. Thanks for the reminder. Guess I can see it both ways but the Disney (3 Caballeros) version is more my speed. If Maelstrom goes the way of Frozen, there’s clearly precedence. Again, thanks for the reminder!
May be an outlier here but agreed somewhat including the new TT overlay. But, disagree somewhat when I think about some changes including the addition of Food and Wine.
There is a VERY long discussion thread about this on wdwmagic Frozen ride replacing Maelstrom? | WDWMAGIC - Unofficial Walt Disney World discussion forums At over 3,000 posts spread over 177 pages, it’s kind of tedious to read through. A few “highlights” from this RUMOR mill:
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Disney is in negotiations with Norway to come up with $9M for refurb and operations. Most likely would be with a private company sponsor, and not the government.
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Norway is not keen on a Frozen makeover.; the $9M would be used to keep it just as it is, with some minor improvements.
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If the deal with Norway falls through, some level of Frozen retheming will be coming.
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Some of the possible “changes” being “considered”
a. Doing a Frozen overlay of Maelstrom (likely)
b. Changing Akershus to an “Anna and Elsa Coronation Feast”, removing the other princesses (easy to do and a very inexpensive change to make).
c. Retheming the outside of the Maelstrom ride to be more specific to Arendelle (probable if the ride overlay is done).
d. Building a “background” Ice Palace, similar to the Eifel Tower in France (a stretch)
e. Completely retheming the whole area and changing the name from Norway to Arendelle (this one has very little traction).
Keep in mind that these are all RUMORS. WDWMagic has a number of posters who DO have inside info, so I typically rate the info there as being slightly more reliable than a standard FB feed, but on this topic, even amongst the “insiders” there is no concensus… It will be interesting to see how this all pans out…
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From another thread:
“It is not an option for my Sept 29th thru Oct 7th trip. I tried to get a FP for it.”
Given the repeated reports of no fpps for Maelstrom from Sept 28 onward, something will be going on.
As a Mexican I liked the current Donald-ified ride better. The original Rio del Tiempo focused only on Acapulco and we have so much more to show off than that. As a Donald fan I liked the current version obviously. But as an impartial Disney fan, I always thought Rio del Tiempo was a cute IASW wannabe. It did me proud.
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Definitely interesting to hear an opinion on El Rio from a Mexican perspective, quicha! I hadn’t even considered the difference in locales between the two versions.
Just had to comment… 
As a Norwegian I can tell you right now that there is absolutely no official discussion (that I know of, and I would I say I am above average interested in anything Disney… 
) on this matter. The interview is based solely on this one guys opinion (he obviously worked at the Norwegian pavillion once), and the government refused to give a comment. I would love for it to be a discussion here though. Since my first visit in 2005 I have been hoping that Maelstrom would be updated, and especially the movie, but as far as I know it’s not something our government is considering funding.
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I agree. If this change over ‘works’ then why isn’t Morroco Alladin ville, or why isn’t there a talking tea pot in France?
I do like the Akershus change to Anna & Elsa Coronation Feast idea.
Agree to a point. Alladin is no Frozen though in many respects. Again, I’m not big on Frozen but many are and so I get it.