Maelstrom (ride)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Maelstrom

Sign at the entrance of the ride
Epcot
Land	World Showcase (Norway)
Attraction type	Flume Ride
Theme	The history of mythological Norway
Opening date	July 5, 1998
Vehicle type	4 seat Viking boats
Vehicle capacity	8 to 12
Cars per vehicle	1
Ride duration	4:47 minutes
Length	964 ft (293.8 m)
Number of lifts	1
Movie Length	5:00 minutes
Capacity	1920 per hour

Maelstrom is a dark ride located in the Norway pavilion of the World Showcase at the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Visitors ride boats which are patterned after Viking ships and pass through various scenes with audio-animatronic figures.

1 The ride
2 Concept and design
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] The ride

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The ride first takes visitors back to a mythological version of Norway's Viking days. The boats get stuck in troll infested swamps and are forced backwards by angry trolls. The boats then pass through scenes of polar bears. The boats come to a stop and teeter on the edge of a waterfall before plunging forward into the North Sea. The boats pass under an oil rig. The ride comes to an end in a calm harbor. Guests disembark from the boats and are urged to watch a film of Norway in the 80s.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Concept and design

The Maelstrom attraction was always conceived to be a boat ride, with a section that went backwards. The ride's plotline was originally going to be entirely centered around trolls, but the Norwegian sponsors wanted a ride that included other aspects of Norway. ^[1]

[edit] Trivia

Once you disembark from the boat, you have the choice of waiting for the theater doors to open to watch the film or exit. You can walk out of the theater if you do not want to watch the movie, but you may have to wait five minutes outside of the film theater for the previous showing to end.
Other than Test Track, Maelstrom is the only ride in Epcot to include a drop.
Maelstrom is the only attraction in World Showcase to offer Disney's FASTPASS.
There is a hidden Mickey in the painting which decorates the loading area. One of the Viking's helmets has Mickey Mouse ears.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Mouse Planet. "The sponsors liked the boat ride concept but they made it clear that they were not interested in a troll ride representing their country. They wanted more of a travelogue showing all the different things that make Norway unique." http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg050302pt.htm