Frozen Ever After

Big news out of Disney Parks today -- a first look at the new Frozen ride in the Norway Pavilion at EPCOT.

Photo Credit: Disney Parks Blog

According to Disney Parks Blog, 

Guests will be transported to the Winter in Summer Celebration where Queen Elsa embraces her magical powers and creates a winter-in-summer day for the entire kingdom. They will also visit Elsa’s Ice Palace and the ice-blue world of the North Mountain along with other locations before returning to the Bay of Arendelle. Of course, favorite “Frozen” characters, including the Snowgies from the animated short “Frozen Fever,” will be part of this new attraction, along with the spectacular sights inspired by the film.

Now. As a long-time Disney fan -- and especially as one who remembers a time when the Maelstrom (the ride whose place Frozen Ever After notoriously usurped) was one of the only "fun" things to do at EPCOT -- this is a bit confusing for me.

On the one hand, I loved Maelstrom. While I was never under the impression (and thus never disappointed by the fact) that it was a "Viking Mickey Adventure," it was still a crucial piece of my childhood.

There's also the fact that the very intrusion (and I don't use that word lightly) of the movie and the characters into the Norway Pavilion in such a blatant way is problematic. After all, the Pavilions are supposed to be "culturally authentic," given the existence of the Cultural Representative Program, which allows for (mostly young and attractive) citizens of each country to work at their respective pavilion.

When you allow the Disney-fied, animated cultural representation to overtake the actual culture...it's a bit problematic for me. Yes, the World Showcase countries have always been connected with relevant animated films (e.g. Snow White hangs out in Germany, Belle and Aurora in France, Mulan in China, etc.), but it's never been to the extent that Frozen is currently reaching. There are no other animated movie rides (those are in the Magic Kingdom, appropriately enough) and most of the characters don't have designated internal meeting spots. (Most of the princesses/characters hang out outside, and only come out once every 1-2 hours.) Anna and Elsa, however, will have their own, presumably air-conditioned, meeting spot indoors -- most likely at the expense of one of the cultural shops.

BUT. (Because there's always a But.)

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit excited about the ride. (I'm a sucker for a new attraction at Disney Parks.) Right now, we can only speculate about the ride, but the artist rendering (I'm assuming) looks interesting:

• First--it seems as if the old Maelstrom Viking-Inspired Boats will still be in use. (Or, if they're new, they at least pay homage to the old ships.) 
• Second--it's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but it's unclear whether the Frozen ride will keep the log-flume track from Maelstrom or go more the way of the trackless ride that SeaWorld's Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin utilizes. The picture above would almost seem to  imply the latter (or maybe that's just my wishful thinking) as it looks more like a floor than water. 
• The blog does report that, in addition to "fantastic Disney storytelling" and "favorite moments and music from the film" (re: "Let It Go"), the ride will also use "new technology" -- a nice, vague term if ever there was one. Do they mean ride technology (like the trackless ride)? Do they mean animatronic technology? I suppose it could be like the technology they used over at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in both Escape from Gringotts and the Hogwarts ride where the actors are holograms and "interact" with you, although Disney's characters are animated. 

A bittersweet time, to be sure. While I am definitely excited for the new ride (and will almost surely use it as an excuse to return in 2016), there will be a rather large part of me that misses the Maelstrom. And I sincerely hope that this isn't a new trend for Disney -- and that most of the Pavilions in the World Showcase stay devoted to cultural authenticity (or, at least as much authenticity as the miniature Disney version has ever managed to package in a few gift shops and restaurants).