Some of you follow on Twitter, but many do not and may not have heard, and it takes more than 140 characters to do it justice. To clarify: What happened with Epcot, Norway, Maelstrom, and Frozen? If youve read the namesake book of this Facebook page then you know that Norway was originally a Scandinavian pavilion during initial planning. The other countries dropped out and Norway paid the money to have an exclusive pavilion. A large part of why this happened is because those countries which make up Scandinavia to the rest of the world actually dont much enjoy being lumped together. There are many points where they flat out despise each other in terribly racist/nationalistic ways even. Not everyone is like that of course, but enough are that the talks have fallen apart both when Epcot tried to get the Scandinavian pavilion created and more recently in various contracts. So, Norway was built and along with it came Maelstrom. Oblivious to the general lack of funding around the rest of World Showcase, Norway paid in to keep their pavilion a headliner for several years. Getting wind of the fact that most of the other Showcase countries were largely unfunded Norway made the fiscal decision to walk away in, I think, 2002. However, Norwegians continued to staff the pavilion and it remained Norway with Disney shouldering the costs. Disney cut corners. Show scenes and effects fell into disrepair and the ride isnt much of what it used to be. Merchandise chugged along paying for itself, but the dining venue, Akershush, became a princess meal to make up for poor attendance. Disney refused to update or change anything in the pavilion, when pressed by Norway (in particular over the film after the ride) they would always offer a price tag and refuse any sort of gift of new media/film/etc.. from the country to just drop into place. Disney would make something and it would cost Norway money. Norway always refused, but continued to fume about how its presentation was becoming more and more outdated. Fast forward to this year, and Disney approached Norway with their plans for the future of the pavilion. Disney intended to make a Frozen ride, possibly retheme the pavilion to Scandinavia (the original intent) and subjugate Norway to being one-of-many nations represented by the pavilion and the Scandinavian-inspired film Frozen. Remember the outburst on the internet about Norway losing the pavilion? The entire area becoming Arendelle? A fictional land in an area meant to be realistic? All before Disney announced the change? This is social media warfare. Disney quickly learned that Norway as a pavilion had to remain Norway, because the change to Scandinavia or Arendelle would be harshly rejected by even the most casual guest as a sort of insult to poor poor Norway. With a gleam in its eye and in the heart of fans as the victim, Norway tells Disney theyre not getting the $9m theyve requested and that Disney can do what they want with the pavilion. Feedback already sas it has to stay Norway if only in name, and financial studies have shown that Frozen has had a major positive effect on Norwegian tourism. Norway as a country gets everything it wants for exactly $0. And thats how it has played out - the country is thrilled to get a new ride with a brand that has proven to be beneficial to its tourism. Disney is stuck unable to punish Norway by making it the Arendelle or Scandinavia pavilion because of guest sentiment. Norway doesnt get much of a representation in the ride or pavilion itself really - outside of a small merchandise space reserved for it - and the country doesnt care. Theyre getting what is going to be the most popular ride in the park featuring the most popular film that they have solid financials showing increases their tourism dollars. The vague Norwegian ties of the film to reality mean absolutely nothing to the Norwegians. The film could be about Tiki gods that come to life and save baby zebras and Norway would be fine with it because of how it looks on paper. And then Disney makes their announcement. And the fans want more Norway representation and the design/implementation team urges Guest Communications to tell guests that the soft parts of the attraction design - the script, scenes, etc.. - are not finalized and that they are taking it into consideration. Norway gets even more Norway than was even intended, and Norway doesnt pay a dime. Norway is thrilled. Disney is coping with fan backlash (ever on the side of poor picked on Norway). The design team is making some last minute changes. That ride closes after Oct 5th. And thats what happened.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 00:30:15 +0000
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