#save maelstrom

you:

alright, as your resident lover of all things scandinavian, i just had to share my thoughts on the recent announcement by disney to close the maelstrom and change it into a frozen-themed ride. 

first of all, i love disney. second of all, i love scandinavia. and i really, really love the two together. especially because walking through norway and the other world showcase countries really helped ease my reverse culture shock last summer after i returned from a semester abroad in denmark. 

that being said, yes, i totally agree that norway/the maelstrom is in desperate need of a refurb. i thought that the country of norway would jump at the chance to improve their pavilion based on the success of frozen, which was indeed inspired by norway/scandinavia. however, from what i can tell from this announcement, clearly norway wanted nothing to do with the pavilion, so disney took over. 

i should also note that yes, i love frozen. it is a beautiful animated feature with great characters and wonderful songs. and yes, i loved the frozen summer fun party at hollywood studios because i feel like the studios needed something more. i love meeting anna and elsa at magic kingdom. and i do love the idea of a frozen attraction.

HOWEVER, the frozen attraction should be in fantasyland in the magic kingdom, NOT in the world showcase in the experimental prototype community of tomorrow (EPCOT for you newbies).

the purpose of the world showcase is to let families get a glimpse of different cultures through the attractions, cast members from the respective countries, decor, shops, and restaurants- for people to LEARN about these countries that they may never actually get to visit in their lifetime. to broaden their horizons (hey, that used to be an EPCOT ride...) and open their minds to these cultures. 

by replacing the maelstrom with a frozen ride, people lose that cultural experience, as the ride does showcase several factors of norwegian culture from vikings, to trolls, to offshore drilling, to the norse gods. frozen is inspired by norway, sure, but it takes place in a fictional land and if you wanna get technical, the story was based on a hans christian andersen fairytale entitled "the snow queen". HCA is Danish....so obviously disney should just add denmark to the world showcase (that's a blog post for another time). 

again, after riding the maelstrom upon my return from a semester in scandinavia, i thought disney could have showcased the country a bit better because honestly, i'd rather see more vikings or be immersed in a recreation of their BREATHTAKING landscapes than see...offshore drilling and be awkwardly dropped off in a half-hearted attempt at the creation of a norwegian seatown with an out of date film that everyone walks through.

but frozen is not the proper answer because it does not fulfill the vision of the world showcase. i understand why disney made the decision (money makes the world go round, as they say), but i am not pleased because i expected more from them. especially since EPCOT was such a huge vision of Walt Disney's and because he was so passionate about educating the masses through new and innovative experiences. frozen will be a fun little voyage- i'm picturing something along the lines of "it's a small world" with "let it go" on repeat...but no one will be learning anything about norway. 

and that makes me sad, because it's a beautiful country with so many amazing things happening there...but so many people will never know that because they'll never get to travel there. they would have a higher chance of going to EPCOT and riding on a refurbed maelstrom that told a story of the rich culture of norway...and who knows, maybe they'd be inspired to visit the actual country someday to learn more. 

i know that when i first learned i'd be studying abroad in denmark, i though i was pretty clueless about the culture...until i remembered that norway was right above it. so i remembered my many voyages on the maelstrom (which has always been one of my favorite WDW rides) and got more excited about experiencing the fascinating culture first hand and learning more about the history of scandinavia.