We all knew this was coming. The rumors trace back to last December. Epcot’s Maelstrom attraction is being replaced by a Frozen attraction. While the rumor has existed for months, it  became real on Friday. Two Twitter hashtags have emerged to #SaveMaelstrom and #SaveWorldShowcase. Fans are upset, but we are often upset. This time it’s different, this time it’s personal.

First, let’s go back to a simpler time: August 28, 2014. Back then, the only hashtag campaign was #SaveOffKilter. News spread quickly that Off Kilter as well as three other entertainment offerings in World Showcase were being replaced. The entertainment announcement read like political spin. It informed us that popular long time acts were being replaced by the unknown. Fortunately, these unknown acts seemed like they would be culturally relevant.

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Since the entertainment announcement was made, speculation on the motivation has persisted. The easiest answer was that the new acts were likely cheaper than acts like Off Kilter that have played for well over a decade. In the interest of full disclosure, the question was not asked of Disney as to why these changes were made, but I sincerely doubt they would ever admit to what amounts to be minor budget cuts.

For me, the entertainment changes are a different issue than Frozen. I enjoy Off Kilter and will have the chance to enjoy them once more before they depart. I appreciate the World Showcase Players and the Fife & Drum Corps. I often stop to “appreciate” the belly dancer at Mo’Rockin. These are all things that I know. These are all things that I understand. I don’t know what a Berber music presentation might bring, or whether I would be entertained by a Lumberjack show or a flag waving demonstration. I don’t know if the new Celtic music in the United Kingdom Pavilion will interest me. What I do know is that the limited amount of information on these entertainment changes still points to them maintaining the essence of World Showcase. I’m upset to see favorites leave, but these changes are nowhere near as impactful as Frozen’s permanent placement in Norway.

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The actual acronym of EPCOT was irrelevant back when the 21st century began (October 1, 1982 if you’re keeping track at home). EPCOT never was the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow that Walt Disney envisioned. The name EPCOT came to represent something wholly different, something that us as fans romanticize. EPCOT Center was a celebration of the idealized versions of various cultures as well as a permanent world’s fair. The pavilions entertained, as well as educated. Having said that, the park needs to evolve. After all, it was Walt Disney himself who said the following:

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

I understand the desire to utilize characters to tell a different story than the one fans know. The issue is that character infusion is the laziest form of Imagineering. More accurately, it’s the laziest form of creativity. It prays on our familiarity with the characters and uses them in a way they were never intended. It is often fueled by an executive demand to bring a successful franchise into the parks as quickly as possible. When characters are infused into existing attractions, ride systems, or buildings, the results have been lateral at best. Previous examples include Stitch’s Great Escape, Gran Fiesta Tour and The Seas With Nemo and Friends. Collectively, most fans appreciate all three properties and would welcome original concepts around any of them. Similarly, most fans would welcome a properly executed Frozen attraction or land.

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This brings us back to the unknown. Tom Staggs put a timeline of early 2016 for the opening of the Frozen attraction. The last available Fastpass+ reservation for Maelstrom is October 5th, and rumored timetables have been 18 months. Assuming no changes to that time table, we have reason to believe that the changes will be more than a couple of static figures put into the existing attraction framework. I have no expectations that this will be a cheap overlay. Consider the following time frames for significant attraction changes shoehorned into existing areas:

  • Star Tours (September 2010) to Star Tours: The Adventures Continue (May 2011)
  • Test Track (April 2012) to Test Track 2.0 (December 2012)
  • El Rio Del Tiempo (January 2007) to Gran Fiesta Tour (April 2007)
  • Alien Encounter (October 2003) to Stitch’s Great Escape (November 2004)
  • Who Wants to be a Millionaire Play it (August 2006) to Toy Story Mania (May 2008)

It is more than reasonable to expect the Frozen attraction to be a quality attraction. Given the popularity of the movie, it is also reasonable to expect it to be among the most popular attractions in all of Walt Disney World. Building a Frozen attraction is truly a no-brainer.

The issue has never been with Frozen as a property. The issue has always been its placement as a permanent addition to World Showcase. World Showcase is a romanticized version of these cultures with an acknowledgement of their history and folklore. There is certainly an element of fantasy involved in Maelstrom, but that fantasy is more grounded in Norway’s cultural history than Frozen ever will be.

The Walt Disney World theme parks all have their own individual identities. When a fairytale property moves into an area that’s somewhat grounded in reality, those individual park identities begin to deteriorate. When the park identities deteriorate the logic of theming and placemaking become irrelevant.

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The objection to Frozen replacing Maelstrom has never been because Maelstrom was a beloved attraction. Yes, it had it’s fair share of supporters but by no means is it untouchable. I’m sure many Disney fans would welcome a culturally relevant upgrade to the attraction.

Back at the 2011 D23 Expo, John Lasseter was asked if any content from Tangled would be included in New Fantasyland. His response was simply that the property was so new it’s unknown what role it would or could play.

While I am by no means the target demographic for Frozen or Tangled, I recognize the relative popularity of both franchises, as well as the merchandise opportunities that are not currently being optimized.

This brings me to some armchair Imagineering. Frozen, Tangled, and presumably other future franchises need more logical homes. I believe that a common thread for placement in Fantasyland should be defined. Should that common thread be any Disney Animation property? Any Fairytale property? Any hand drawn property? If a line is defined that allows CGI properties to exist in Hollywood Studios in a “Fantasyland South” concept, I would be on board. However, my preference would be to keep all fairytale properties in Fantasyland regardless of the CGI or hand drawn medium. Fantasyland is the heart and soul of Disney World. While the New Fantasyland expansion has its detractors it is a beautiful addition to the land. I would like to see that continue with the additions of a Frozen area as well as an extension of the Tangled area.

My suggestion is unrealistic. My suggestion will never happen. My suggestion costs more money than Disney would be willing to spend. But my suggestion is the most logical solution to this problem.

I would move “it’s a small world” to Showcase Plaza in Epcot.

I have been making this suggestion repeatedly for months after I saw the suggestion made in the fan community (apologies as I do not recall the original mention of the idea). “it’s a small world” debuted at the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. It showcases the children of the world in a romanticized way. It is unquestionably the perfect attraction to bridge Future World and World Showcase.

I criticized putting characters in World Showcase because I feel they belong largely in Fantasyland. Why is the opposite not also true? Why is it that non-character based attractions exist in Fantasyland?

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When Marty Sklar and John Hench pushed together the two halves of Epcot in 1976 they defined the park. But even these great Imagineers failed to realize what tied those two lands together. “it’s a small world” is an integral piece to the EPCOT Center puzzle.

To bring this full circle, the removal of “it’s a small world” from Fantasyland opens up an area that has been a traffic bottleneck in the Magic Kingdom. More importantly, it opens up a significant area of land to expand Frozen, Tangled and potentially additional franchises in thematically relevant areas.

The Walt Disney World theme parks became popular because they had defined identities that were well executed. We’ve seen what happens when the identity of a park is weak or non-existent. The last time this mistake was made it resulted in a $1.2 billion fix for Disney California Adventure. Short sighted decisions lead to these types of “fixes” down the road. If things are done correctly the first time, the decisions can benefit both the short term and long term, which should be the ultimate goal.

Frozen made over $1.2 billion in the worldwide box office and it deserves a great themed area in Walt Disney World. It does not deserve the shoehorn treatment, the franchise is too important.

What are your thoughts? Is it OK for Disney to abandon the theme of World Showcase by inserting character driven attractions? If not, where would you like to see a Frozen attraction built?

Tim Grassey
Three months before being born, Tim enjoyed his first trip to Disney World. Ever since, frequent trips to Disney World and Disneyland have helped feed the obsession. Tim currently co-owns the Disney World Rumors and news site, WDWThemeParks.com. You can follow the site on Twitter @wdwthemeparks. In addition to contributing articles to MiceChat.com, Tim is also a co-host on the E-Ticket Report Podcast. The E-Ticket Report (@ETicketReport on Twitter) is a member of the Mice Pod podcasting network, and Tim along with fellow co-hosts Derek Burgan and Chris Wakefield discuss what pleases or displeases them about theme parks.