Maelstrom (ride)

Maelstrom
Entrance of the ride
Epcot Area World Showcase, Norway pavilion Coordinates 28°22′15″N 81°32′47″W / 28.37083°N 81.54639°W / 28.37083; -81.54639Coordinates: 28°22′15″N 81°32′47″W / 28.37083°N 81.54639°W / 28.37083; -81.54639 Status Closed Opening date July 5, 1988 Closing date October 5, 2014 Replaced by Frozen attraction
General statistics
Attraction type	Flume/Boat Voyage
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering
Theme	History of mythological of Norway now going to be a (Frozen themed ride where you will go through the magic fantasy kingdom of arendelle.)
Drop	28[1] ft (8.5 m)
Length	964 ft (294 m)
Capacity	1000 riders per hour
Riders per vehicle	16
Rows	4
Riders per row	4
Duration	4:27
Lift count	1
Movie Length	5:52 minutes
Fastpass available
Assistive listening available

Maelstrom was a dark ride attraction located in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the ride opened on July 5, 1988, in the Norway pavilion of the World Showcase section of the park. It was a mix between a log chute and a traditional film attraction. Visitors rode boats patterned after Viking ships that passed through various scenes that featured audio-animatronic figures.

On September 12, 2014, it was announced that the ride would be replaced by an attraction based on Disney's animated film Frozen, scheduled to open in late 2017 or early 2016.^[2][3][4] Maelstrom's final day of operation was October 5, 2014.^[5]

The ride

Riders departed from a dock traveling by boat, which turned a corner into a dark tunnel and up the flume's lift hill. A voice told riders that those who seek the spirit of Norway find adventure and peril. Arriving at the top of the hill, a lit face of the Germanic god Odin hovered above. Riders passed through scenes of seafarers and maritime villages depicting a mythological version of Norway's Viking days. Entering a marsh, the boat would come face to face with audio-animatronic depictions of Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar from Norse mythology. The trolls, angered by the trespassing boat, cast a spell onto riders as the vehicle began to move backward rapidly, accelerated by hidden conveyor belts underneath the water's surface. The boats floated briskly past scenes of polar bears and living trees, before coming to a stop on the edge of another waterfall, exposing the Norway pavilion's main thoroughfare. The backwards edge of the boat peeked out through the facade as the track pivoted to let the vehicle travel forward again. Correctly oriented, the boats plunged forward down a 28-foot (8.5 m) flume into a stormy depiction of the North Sea. After passing very close to an oil rig, the ride came to an abrupt end in a calm harbor of a small village, where the narrator announced, "Norway's spirit will always be adventure." As guests exited the ride, they had the option of watching a 6-minute tourism film, "The Spirit of Norway", which highlighted various attractions in Norway including skiing, hiking, and Kjerag mountain.

Hidden Mickeys on the ride included:

• In the ride's loading area, a large painted mural included many people and elements from Norway's history. Hidden in this painting was a Viking whose helmet had Mickey Mouse ears, and another figure wearing a Mickey Mouse watch.
• Inside the stave church, King Olaf II had a small Mickey embroidered on his tunic, near his right thigh.^[6]

See also

• Epcot attraction and entertainment history
• Norway pavilion at Epcot

References