Frozen Ever After

[Tobias]

Well if this statement is 100% accurate, Then that's the end of WS.

While I don't think the conversation was like that, there is this little blog post which shows at the end that Norway itself hasn't been involved with the pavilion for quite some time. We're talking they haven't put money in the pavilion since 2002.

"The government in Norway supported the pavilion with 200.000 USD for a 5 year term from 1992-1997, but in 2002 the government stopped the contribution and the pavilion is now 100% operated by Disney. The Norwegian government is not interested in funding or supporting the pavilion in any way, and the pavilion state is sadly descending and still shows a movie thats been there for 25 years now…"

Norway pavilion 25 years! | The Norway Pavilion Epcot

Honestly, Frozen itself coming into WS is not the end of it. I'd argue that it's the start of actually doing something with the pavilions besides Food & Wine. Let's face it, Epcot's old formula for WS with having the countries support a pavilion DID. NOT. WORK. After all way back there were planned attractions for WS that were shelved around opening and they hoped they'd be "Phase 2" additions with the countries funding them...and surprise surprise they didn't happen. Hell the Italy pavilion itself was technically incomplete for years and years until someone from Italy put in Via Napoli.

Disney has to do something with the WS pavilions, relying on the countries to fund new additions ends up with not much happening.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Honestly, Frozen itself coming into WS is not the end of it. I'd argue that it's the start of actually doing something with the pavilions besides Food & Wine. Let's face it, Epcot's old formula for WS with having the countries support a pavilion DID. NOT. WORK. After all way back there were planned attractions for WS that were shelved around opening and they hoped they'd be "Phase 2" additions with the countries funding them...and surprise surprise they didn't happen. Hell the Italy pavilion itself was technically incomplete for years and years until someone from Italy put in Via Napoli.

Disney has to do something with the WS pavilions, relying on the countries to fund new additions ends up with not much happening.

I disagree, the plan worked but Disney has changed. I have no doubt that Disney could create new attractions that reflect the culture and heritage of a country besides "American story with foreign cultural paint".

I don't know where the common idea of Epcot the original concept being a failure comes from. What Disney built attracted people, Esiner didn't enjoy the park, and changes were made. Frozen is a fundamental change of EPCOT. If this is the direction, then change the dedication and refocus the park.

 

[kimlovesfl]

The last couple times I went to EPCOT I was so disappointed. Nothing really new to see, food was over priced (even for theme parks) and lines were some of the longest I have seen. I'm ok with characters invading the WS, but it is the lack of any innovation for years that has turned me off. I fully believe the main reason anyone visits EPCOT anymore is because Disney makes the 4-5 multi day pass such a bargain. You get a 5 day for $325 or a 2 day for $205. So for $120 more you can 3 extra days. I know there are still some out there that love EPCOT (I wish I still could), but the reason EPCOT and AK gets a large part of its attendance is great Marketing/Pricing, not innovation.

Couldn't you say the same for DHS? That park has almost NOTHING to offer, and things have closed since the last time I went there about 3 years ago. There's Great Movie Ride, Rockin' Roller Coaster, Star Tours, and Tower of Terror.
OK, so DAK only has a couple of attractions, but it has animals, and was built as a zoo (despite the "notazoo" ad campaign from several years back), and for an animal lover like me, I don't need attractions. It's a mighty expensive zoo, but a zoo nonetheless.

Epcot has Spaceship Earth, Nemo, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Soarin' and Living with the Land, Mission Space, Test Track, American Adventure, Impressions de France and the movies in Canada and China (which need updating, but are interesting anyway). Imagination doesn't count as an attraction anymore, and what, ALL of Innoventions is closed? Is there nothing in the former Communicore area?

With WoL and Innoventions or part of it gone, that leaves 2 gaping buildings closed, and Imagination almost counts as a closed building, IMO.

What amazes me is that DHS gets more visitors per year than USF or IOA, and that HAS to be because of multi-day passes.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

What amazes me is that DHS gets more visitors per year than USF or IOA, and that HAS to be because of multi-day passes.

TEA reports higher first clicks at DHS. In the real world it's not true and not even close.

 

[kimlovesfl]

TEA reports higher first clicks at DHS. In the real world it's not true and not even close.

I don't know what you mean by "first clicks"? Are you saying that in fact UOR gets more visitors than DHS?

 

[Brian G.]

I don't know what you mean by "first clicks"? Are you saying that in fact UOR gets more visitors than DHS?

First click = First time ticket was scanned/used.

i.e. If I start the day at Epcot, skip over to DHS and end the day at Magic Kingdom; Epcot would get the first click.

 

[Mad Dog]

Any guesses on what he true attendances of USO, IOA, DHS & AK are. Myself, I find the numbers are almost impossible to believe, especially considering capacity of the various parks. I read that the owner of TP said TEA numbers are inaccurate, and TP's software is pretty sophisticated from what I've read.

 

[JungleSkip]

Any guesses on what he true attendances of USO, IOA, DHS & AK are. Myself, I find the numbers are almost impossible to believe, especially considering capacity of the various parks. I read that the owner of TP said TEA numbers are inaccurate, and TP's software is pretty sophisticated from what I've read.

I don't want to get into it deeply, but IoA and USF get quite a few more guests than DHS does.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Are you saying that in fact UOR gets more visitors than DHS?

Yes, not even close.

 

[grizzlybarely]

Photoshop is fun.

 

[shiekra38]

While I don't think the conversation was like that, there is this little blog post which shows at the end that Norway itself hasn't been involved with the pavilion for quite some time. We're talking they haven't put money in the pavilion since 2002.

"The government in Norway supported the pavilion with 200.000 USD for a 5 year term from 1992-1997, but in 2002 the government stopped the contribution and the pavilion is now 100% operated by Disney. The Norwegian government is not interested in funding or supporting the pavilion in any way, and the pavilion state is sadly descending and still shows a movie thats been there for 25 years now…"

Norway pavilion 25 years! | The Norway Pavilion Epcot

Honestly, Frozen itself coming into WS is not the end of it. I'd argue that it's the start of actually doing something with the pavilions besides Food & Wine. Let's face it, Epcot's old formula for WS with having the countries support a pavilion DID. NOT. WORK. After all way back there were planned attractions for WS that were shelved around opening and they hoped they'd be "Phase 2" additions with the countries funding them...and surprise surprise they didn't happen. Hell the Italy pavilion itself was technically incomplete for years and years until someone from Italy put in Via Napoli.

Disney has to do something with the WS pavilions, relying on the countries to fund new additions ends up with not much happening.

You mean Disney has to financially support its own rides and attractions? Poor things

 

[WAJAS]

This is the Frozen Sumerhaus (lol spelling) Meet and Greet artists concept:

This is the best resolution I could find. Is it just me or does it look like Lincoln Logs, especially with those red windows.

 

[rioriz]

Honestly it looks better and fits in with the theme of the area than I thought it would....

 

[tielo]

Is it really called Sumerhaus and not Sommerhus (that is actually Norwegian)?
In the end it's a far cry from what Disney is going to build at Disney Sea.

 

[Nick]

Is it really called Sumerhaus and not Sommerhus (that is actually Norwegian)?
In the end it's a far cry from what Disney is going to build at Disney Sea.

I was watching a periscope and they mentioned Tokyo and they did mention the Frozen port... however, they refused to show the concept art for it. You could tell they're embarrassed and know they half-assed it at Epcot.

 

[WAJAS]

Is it really called Sumerhaus and not Sommerhus (that is actually Norwegian)?
In the end it's a far cry from what Disney is going to build at Disney Sea.

I may have not looked up how they actually spelled it. (ie. "lol spelling")

 

[Brian G.]

I was watching a periscope and they mentioned Tokyo and they did mention the Frozen port... however, they refused to show the concept art for it. You could tell they're embarrassed and know they half-assed it at Epcot.

Out of everything announced or discussed yesterday... Frozen got the weakest response. It's almost like they clapped to not be rude.

 

[Cole]

The Reindeer animatronic was pretty cool, but yeah they gave the entire thing 2 minutes lol. Whatever it's so close to coming out that it doesn't matter at this point. Maybe they're not too confident in it idk

 

[Nick]

Out of everything announced or discussed yesterday... Frozen got the weakest response. It's almost like they clapped to not be rude.

Yep, it was a pity clap.

The thing is Disney knows that the fans hate it so they smartly stayed away from it for the most part... plus, everything interesting was released by the WSJ months ago

 

[Tucker]

You think they regret the decision? I have a couple of problems with the attraction, with neither of them the idea of Frozen in the parks at all. I think if this attraction belongs anywhere, it's MGM/DHS/DHA. If the answer to that is the idea that "well, they're building Star Wars & TSPL so it's too much at once" then this should have been scrapped from the beginning. I also think it's a bit strange that Frozen is the only movie to have a sole attraction devoted to it at Epcot. There's The Seas with Nemo and friends, but that has an educational spin on it (which is the main theme of Epcot). This was a desperate attempt to put Frozen anywhere they could, and now the WS is thrown off.

I wonder if they will change the name of the park as well, being that it doesn't apply. The whole point of the World Showcase is to educate people on other countries/cultures.. Way to go WDI..