Frozen Ever After

[OrlandoGuy]

I think I get what @belloq87 means, in that the new rides, successful as they are, lack the effort of placemaking that would tie more into what differentiates Epcot from the other Disney parks…that I do agree with. Functionally, the story/setting for Guardians/Frozen/Ratatouille could just as easily fit into Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios in ways that even some of the park’s most bare bones just-for-fun rides (Soarin, Mission Space, Figment) don’t.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I'd get crucified if I posted the following on a Disney-based forum...

I love the idea of Epcot (both the actual concept and the original park) but it was arguably flawed from the very start. Realistically, Disney was never going to update Epcot's future-based attractions as consistently as technology involved. It was ambitious, but impractical, from a business perspective. Technology, even at that time, was evolving every few years and the pavilions were designed to last 10 years before being rotated out.

I forgot which Imagineering (unofficial) book mentioned that Epcot's original pavilions should have followed closer to what the original Imagination pavilion did - a blend of "whimsy" with edutainment in the background. It was like cramming for an exam 10 minutes before it starts. Nothing will stick to guests.

The fan love (including myself) for Maelstrom comes from it being a decent dark ride located in Epcot that rarely had a long wait. As the park featured more "exciting" rides like Test Track, Soarin, and Mission Space, Maelstrom was still "traditional" and was always a relatively low wait. And a lot of those new attractions started to become screen heavy.

The only criticism that was loud for Maelstrom/Frozen was shoehorning such a big IP into that itty bitty space.

Frozen is similar to Universal's use of Minions at the Orlando parks, shoehorned and questionable. I'm sure they are regretting not building a Frozen Land at DHS.

I think I get what @belloq87 means, in that the new rides, successful as they are, lack the effort of placemaking that would tie more into what differentiates Epcot from the other Disney parks…that I do agree with. Functionally, the story/setting for Guardians/Frozen/Ratatouille could just as easily fit into Magic Kingdom or Hollywood Studios in ways that even some of the park’s most bare bones just-for-fun rides (Soarin, Mission Space, Figment) don’t.

While I agree that you can move Frozen over to DHS or MK... I think World Showcase should be seen as a celebration of each countries/region culture... including the films/stories it inspires. GOTG is harder to justify... but it works. It's popular and it loosely fits into Epcot.

 

[Brian G.]

Frozen is similar to Universal's use of Minions at the Orlando parks, shoehorned and questionable. I'm sure they are regretting not building a Frozen Land at DHS.

Sorta. I'd say the big difference is that DM was a modest hit that became a billion-dollar behemoth. Uni didn't know what they had until it was too late.

Frozen was a bona fide smash, and Disney didn't pivot despite knowing what they had.

 

[Mad Dog]

and then Disney basically panicked and hastened to throw together some real poor stuff at DHS to capitalize. Remember the popsicle stick cutouts show etc.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Epcot is my favorite park WDW, hands down.

But if we got a Westcot, do I think it would have more IPS then Epcot? Yes, but its worth the price to have it

Maybe Epcot would be fine with ZERO IPs but Disney has tried this and it hasn't worked in the modern day yet....DCA...Animal Kingdom everyone complained it didn't feel Disney enough for DCA you can argue ts because it got less money then it needed but....AK got buttloads of money and many believe along with Disneyland Paris this is why Westcot didn't come and we got DCA instead. They used money to build things and people didn't come like they should have

We fans are so hardcore compared to normal people making the parks money, people are coming to these parks for nice theming, leave the normal world and turn their brains off. Maelstrom was for me not a better ride then Frozen. If they stuck to a Viking Pirates then who knows maybe then we'd have a real argument but as a ride it self, it was just the best of Norway and it was not that great because of it. It was not the worst ride but from what I've seen of Frozen it looks like a nice ride and with these additions which they did not need to do, it feels like mostly a win for the park

I'm not saying bring GOTG or other IPs to Epcot but sometimes they have to bring things in to keep the crowds up because the sad fact is most people now of days like IPs. People online say they hate the live action remakes then many of them make a billion dollars, we want original rides then DCA turns into an IP park and gets more people

Also Disney if your listening, I will take the deal of IP rides if we got Westcot.....it would really round out the DLR and would be worth it to finally have such a beautiful park next door to Disneyland