Maelstrom (ride)
| Maelstrom | |
|---|---|
| Park | EPCOT |
| Land / area | Norway Pavilion (World Showcase) |
| Type | Boat ride / dark ride |
| Opened | July 5, 1988 |
| Closed | October 5, 2014 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering
|
| Status | Closed |
Maelstrom was a boat ride in the Norway Pavilion of World Showcase at EPCOT at Walt Disney World in Florida. Billed as "a high seas Norwegian adventure", it carried guests from a Viking-era village through a troll-haunted spirit world to a storm in the North Sea and a modern offshore oil rig, followed by a short film about Norway. Maelstrom opened on July 5, 1988, and closed on October 5, 2014. It was replaced by Frozen Ever After, which reuses its ride layout and boats.
History
Norway was the last nation added to World Showcase in EPCOT's early years, joining the nine opening-day pavilions and Morocco, which had followed in 1984. The pavilion was developed with Norwegian sponsors and presented Norway as a country shaped by the sea: Vikings, fjords, fishing and offshore oil. Its centrepiece was always intended to be a boat ride, developed under the name SeaVenture before being renamed Maelstrom — after the famous tidal whirlpool off Norway's coast — to promise something wilder than a gentle travelogue.
The pavilion opened in stages in spring 1988 and was formally dedicated on June 3, 1988, in the presence of Crown Prince Harald and Crown Princess Sonja, but the ride was not ready. Maelstrom opened a month later, on July 5, 1988. It ran for 26 years with few changes, and developed a devoted following out of proportion to its modest size — guests quoted its trolls' warning, "You are not the first to pass this way, nor shall you be the last", and its closing narration promising that Norway's spirit would live on in those who had sailed it.
Experience
Guests boarded Viking-style longboats beneath a mural of Norwegian history and climbed into a darkened, mythic past. The boat passed a Viking village and sailed toward a waterfall, where three trolls — appearing as a single three-headed figure — took offence at the intrusion, cast a spell and sent the boat tumbling backwards into the spirit world. The backward plunge dropped it into a scene of polar bears and puffins, then turned it forward again for the finale: a stormy North Sea crossing ending in the calm beside a towering offshore oil rig, symbol of modern Norway's oil industry.
Guests then disembarked into a small Norwegian fishing village and were ushered, at least in the ride's earlier years, into a theatre for The Spirit of Norway, a film of about five minutes presenting the country's landscapes, sports and daily life. Many guests famously walked straight through the theatre to the exit, and in later years the film was effectively optional.
Closure
Disney's animated film Frozen (2013), set in a fictional kingdom inspired by Norway, became one of the studio's biggest successes, and pressure grew to give it a permanent place in the parks. On September 12, 2014, Disney announced that Maelstrom would close to make way for a Frozen attraction. The news drew protests from EPCOT traditionalists, who argued the pavilion should remain about Norway itself, but the decision stood. Maelstrom sailed for the last time on October 5, 2014, with long lines of guests making farewell rides.
Legacy
Frozen Ever After opened in the same building on June 21, 2016. Imagineers kept Maelstrom's track layout, its forward-and-backward boat movements and even its boats, dressing the same course in the world of Arendelle — so a ride on Frozen Ever After still follows the shape of the trolls' spell and the North Sea plunge. Maelstrom remains a touchstone in arguments about World Showcase's direction: the clearest example of the pavilions' original mission — a real country, presented through its own history and folklore — giving way to fictional settings.