Mark Hamill And Carrie Fisher Reunite Luke and Leia Skywalker 37 Years Later

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Recently Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were seen in Los Angeles attending a charity dinner for the organization Midnight Mission, a homeless aid charity celebrating its 100th anniversary. Both Hamill and Fisher are reprising their roles as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia for the upcoming sequel Star Wars: Episode VII.

Some fun facts about Star Wars: A New Hope:

  • The original title was The Adventures Of Luke Starkiller, which was later changed to The Star Wars and finally changed to Star Wars.
  • Originally the story had Anakin Skywalker as a Jedi Knight teaching his son the ways of the Force but later they replaced Anakin with Obi-Wan Kenobi.
  • Harrison Ford was paid $10,000 for his performance in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
  • The sound of the TIE Fighter engines is actually the sound of an elephant call mixed with the sounds of a car driving on wet pavement.
  • The sound of the light sabre was made by accident. Sound effects supremo Ben Burtt couldn’t find a suitably sci-fi sound effect for the iconic lightsabres, until he accidentally walked past a muted TV while holding a microphone. He mixed the resulting low hum with the sound of a film projector motor and the rest was history.
  • Luke and his family were originally imagined as dwarves.
  • Han Solo who was meant to be a green skinned monster who had a set of gills and no nose.
  • Alec Guiness hated Star Wars. Alec Guinness didn’t have high hopes for George Lucas’ space opera when he signed on; in fact, he downright hated it and had no idea what a smash it would become. Guinness begged Lucas to kill off Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he eventually relented. “What I didn’t tell him,” Guinness later revealed, “was that I just couldn’t go on speaking those bloody awful, banal lines. I’d had enough of the mumbo jumbo.”
  • Harrison Ford wasn’t in the running to play Han Solo. Burt Reynolds was among the top contenders to play Han Solo, along with Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson and Christopher Walken. Ford agreed to read Solo’s lines during screen tests for other actors, and Lucas realised his perfect Solo was right under his nose.
  • The opening scroll was written by Brian De Palma. The scrolling words that open each Star Wars film were intended as a homage to the Flash Gordon serials of the thirties, which started in a similar way. Lucas was helped by Brian De Palma, director of crime classic Scarface, who saw the first, endless draft and said, “You’re out of your mind… Let me write this for you”. Editing it right down, De Palma played a key role in introducing Star Wars to millions across the world.
  • Chewbacca was based on George Lucas’ dog, Indiana. His dog is also the inspiration for the name Indiana Jones.

Some more photos from the Midnight Mission event:

The “Dude” abides:

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That’s not a hand rail:

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Got this from Club Cool:

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Star Wars: Episode VII is the first chapter of a new trilogy that takes place 30 years after Return Of The Jedi. The movie is being directed by J. J. Abrams and will reunite the original cast as well as new cast members to continue the Star Wars saga. Episode VII is currently being filmed in locations such as Abu Dhabi, Iceland and various locations in the UK. Star Wars Episode VII is scheduled to be released domestically on December 18th, 2015.

Celebrate WDW’s 43rd Anniversary with Timeline Trivia, This Week (10/02/14) on WDWNT: The Radio Show

radio_show_post_logoThis week, on WDWNT: The Radio show, we celebrate the 43rd anniversary of Walt Disney World with a new game called Timeline Trivia. We have 43 trivia questions, one related to each year WDW has been in existence. The premise is simple, as long as you keep answering questions correctly, you keep playing. At the end of the night, the caller who correctly answered the most questions wins the grand prize from Theme Park Connection. Everyone who answers at least 1 question correctly, gets a prize.

Listen in and share your memories of 43 years of Walt Disney World. We will also talk about farewell performances of the Epcot entertainment, the closing of the Studios Backlot Tour and of course, Frozen.

Hosted by radio veterans and life-long Disney fans Tom Corless and Nick LoCicero, the live radio talk show on AM 1520 WBZW in Orlando focuses on the latest news and current trending topics at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. WDW News Today: The Radio Show can also be streamed live at www.1520wbzw.com. WDW News Today the Radio Show debuted in August of 2013 as a 1 hour broadcast on Saturday evenings and has grown into a 2-hour program by popular demand.

To interact with the hosts during the show, listeners can call in at (407) 774-8255, tweet @WDWNT using #WDWNTRadio, or use the new LIVE chat that will be available at Radio.WDWNT.com.

The show begins at 8PM EDT Thursday night, don’t miss it!

VIDEO: Take One Last Ride on the Studio Backlot Tour at Walt Disney World, See What It Looks Like Now

If you weren’t able to say goodbye to the Studio Backlot Tour at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Saturday (you were only given 8 days from the announcement of the closure to actually do so), we have a special treat for you. Enjoy a full ride-through, including the pre-show in its entirety, of the Studio Backlot Tour on its very last day of operation after 26 years:

By Sunday, September 28th, the former entrance to the attraction looked like this:

The news of the Studio Backlot Tour closing was broken by WDWNT.com on Friday, September 19th, 2014. Rumors persist that the area may be used for small scale Toy Story attractions, a smaller version of Cars Land from Disney California Adventure, or possibly even a Star Wars-themed land. No official announcement for the replacement project has been announced by Disney at this time.

RUMOR: Is A Puerto Rico Pavilion Coming to World Showcase at Epcot?

Puerto Rico’s presence was expanded this year at the 2014 Epcot Food and Wine Festival bringing not only many different flavors from the island to guests at Epcot, but also a bit of heritage and a look at the history of Puerto Rico. In a recent article published by Puerto Rican newspaper, Metro, details were divulged of the partnership that they’ve created with Disney. The island of Puerto Rico has signed a 3 year contract to bring the flavors of the island to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, as well as the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival beginning in 2015 and running through 2016. For the Food and Wine 2015 display, they’ve already begun working on a design based on “El Yunque“, the second tallest mountain on the island and the only Tropical Rain Forest located within the United States National Forest System.

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Old San Juan in Puerto Rico (the inspiration of the 2014 booth design)

Various different companies from Puerto Rico including CC1, Yaucono, Club Caribbean, and Pan American Grain have invested over $700,000 to bring Puerto Rico to the Epcot festivals.

Also mentioned in the article is that Disney and Puerto Rico are currently in talks to bring a permanent addition of Puerto Rico to Epcot’s World Showcase. The addition of Puerto Rico to World Showcase would reportedly cost over $100 million that would be split over the course of 10 years (2017 – 2027) through a contract between Disney and the private companies involved.

We’ve seen in the past many attempts to add a new country to World Showcase, and all of them since Norway in 1988 have never made it off of the drawing board. A few years ago, a similar story about Brazil was posted on this very site. Of course, there is always the possibility that a Puerto Rico pavilion would never end up being built at Epcot, but the possibility is still there if the proper corporations actually come through on funding the project.

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Castillo San Felipe del Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico

As the resident WDWNT Puerto Rican, I would be very excited to see my home island as a World Showcase pavilion. The heritage and architecture of Puerto Rico would make for a fantastic pavilion. For those familiar with Puerto Rico, El Morro would be an excellent choice to represent the Old San Juan area of the island in the pavilion.

What are your thoughts if Puerto Rico were to join the other countries at Epcot? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

VIDEO: Teaser Trailer For PIXAR’s “Inside Out” Released

The Walt Disney Studios released a new teaser trailer for the upcoming Pixar film Inside Out.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t0A_tZGrYw]

From an adventurous balloon ride above the clouds to a monster-filled metropolis, Academy Award®-winning director Pete Docter has taken audiences to unique and imaginative places. In Disney•Pixar’s original movie Inside Out, he will take us to the most extraordinary location of all—inside the mind.

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

Inside Out will release on June 19, 2015.

Flamingo Crossings Construction Finally Begins With 2 New Hotels As WDW Prepares for Massive Expansion

After having been delayed for 5 years already, construction will finally begin on Flamingo Crossings on October 16th. Flamingo Crossings was announced in 2007, but was shelved as the economic downturn began.

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The project will begin with two new Marriott hotels: TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites. The two hotels combining for 500 suites are slated to open in January 2016. The hotels will feature most modern conveniences you would expect from a Disney-area resort, including transportation shuttles.

When completed 8-10 years from now, Disney believes there will be 5000 hotel rooms/time-share units, and 500,000 square feet of retail space.

You may be asking why Disney would need outside companies to construct more hotel rooms and retail so close to Walt Disney World. There are several reasons why this project has been put into motion:

  • Hotel occupancy throughout Orlando is increasing
  • The offerings on the opposite side of Disney property along I-4 (including the highway itself) are overloaded during the busy months while Florida State Road 429, which runs past Flamingo Crossings, remains traffic-free almost every day of the year.
  • This project would help shift some guests to the other side of Walt Disney World and possibly alleviate the demand on the I-4 Disney exits, as well as restaurants and such near Lake Buena Vista
  • Walt Disney World is clearly in a state of rapid expansion and will need more nearby hotel rooms (and likely very soon more Disney-owned hotels on-property) to handle the amount of guests who will be visiting Disney Springs, AVATAR & Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom, the Frozen attraction at Epcot, the imminent expansion at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and other offerings that should be constructed in this timeframe leading up to the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World

Disney owns the land on which Flamingo Crossings is being constructed, but Disney is selling the land to developers for the project.

Interestingly enough, the original website for the project developed by Walt Disney Imagineering is still operating. One would have to imagine this will soon be updated to reflect the start of the project…

10/7/14 Marvel News Mash-Up

Iron Man’s War Machine Helmet Spotted On Avengers: Age Of Ultron Set

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During the premiere of Star Wars Rebels: The Movie on the Disney Channel, there was Behind The Scenes featurette for the upcoming movie Avengers: Age Of Ulton. And in this short preview, Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Facebook page was able to spot the helmet of War Machine from the Iron Man movies (see below). Although not officially confirmed, War Machine will be in Age Of Ultron. I have seen a photo of Don Cheadel, who plays Rhodey/War Machine/Iron Patriot, in official photos released by Marvel with the cast of the Age Of Ultron. Defeating Ultron and his minions will not be an easy task, so I can see the Avengers seeking aide from their closest allies. I expect even more heroes to be part of the battle.

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Robert Downey Jr. Will Do Iron Man 4 If Mel Gibson Directs

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Robert Downey Jr. has said in the past that after Avengers 3, he is done with Iron Man. While sitting down with Deadline.com, Downey was asked if anything would make him come back for Iron Man 4. The reporter brought up the idea of Mel Gibson directing and Downey said that would do it.

In the last few years, Mel Gibson’s star quality has fallen but one person that has always stood by his side has been his friend, Robert Downey Jr. They first met while filming Air America and have been good friends ever since. When Downey was dealing with his own demons, Gibson was there for him and stood by him. When Downey was released from prison and tried to restart his career, Gibson was there and pushed to others that Downey be given a second chance. During the worst moments of Gibson’s recent problems, Downey asked us all to pray for his friend, not to condemn him. So it’s really not surprising that Downey will come back to do Iron Man 4 only if his friend Mel Gibson directs.

If you need proof of their friendship, just watch this video of Downey asking Hollywood to forgive his friend Gibson back in 2011:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAJuynxnTQ]

To read the actual interview with Robert Downey Jr., visit Deadline.com.

Exclusive Look At Avenger’s: Age Of Ultron Will Be On The Guardians Of The Galaxy Blu-ray

Tgx65B7As reported last week, the rumored December 9th domestic release date for Guardians Of The Galaxy on Blu-ray and DVD has been confirmed by Marvel and Disney. Also in the press release was one of the extras that will be found on the disc. There will be an Exclusive Look At Avengers Age Of Ultron. This will probably be a 5-10 minute behind the scenes featurette informing people of the plot of the movie as well as interviews with the cast and some footage.

Avengers Age Of Ultron Trailer To Be Attached To Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar

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Currently label this as a rumor but a story has been floating around that the first trailer for Avengers: Age Of Ultron will be attached to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which will be released on November 7th. Keep in mind that on this day, Big Hero 6 will also be released, so it is possible that it could be attached to Big Hero 6 or maybe even both.

Avengers 3 To Be Split Into 2 Films?

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This story hit the net recently and it does sound like it could be more than just a rumor. The two next likely story lines for the next Avengers movie after Avengers: Age Of Ultron could be either the Infinity Gauntlet or Civil War. Every Marvel movie in the last few years has been revealing Infinity Gems. At last count, 3 Infinity Gems have been found and Thanos, the villain in The Avengers and Guardians Of The Galaxy, needs 6 of them to make up the Infinity Gauntlet and to control the Universe. Both of these storylines have a lot of material that could be difficult to put into one 2 hour movie. It does sound like Avengers 3 will be the last movie with Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man and Chris Evans as Captain America. If the storyline is split into two movies, they would have to renegotiate the contracts for all of the actors but I am sure the profit would far outweigh the cost by a huge margin. Warner Brothers split the last Harry Potter movie into two movies and that worked out very well for them.

Joaquin Phoenix No Longer In Talks To Play Doctor Strange

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I was really looking forward to seeing Joaquin Phoenix play Doctor Strange but unfortunately it’s not going to happen. Probably the biggest issue was a multi-picture deal that Disney now wants to lock their actors into for future Marvel movie sequels. The good news is that this means that my favorite choice, Benedict Cumberbatch, is still in the running. Other potential candidates are Jared Leto, Tom Hardy and Ethan Hawke.

First Look At Variant Cover For Upcoming Star Wars #1

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In the beginning of this year, Disney and Marvel announced that starting in 2015, they would be the soul producer of all Star Wars comics and graphic novels. Previously Dark Horse Comics had the license but with Disney’s acquisition of both Marvel and Star Wars franchises this was the obvious direction they were heading to. Marvel Comics was granted the very first license for Star Wars comics starting with with Star Wars #1 back in 1977. This variant cover was created by Marvel’s Chief Creative Officer, Joe Queseda. Back in the 90’s, Queseda was an artist for Marvel as well as DC and other independent comic book companies. Queseda was one of my favorite artists and it’s nice to see his work again and especially that this is the first Star Wars art he has ever done. Star Wars #1 will be released in January 2015.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Figure Available For Pre-order At SideShow Collectibles

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Sideshow Collectables will be releasing a Captain America: Winter Soldier premium collectable figure in November. It’s definitely a bit pricey at $339.99.  I’m always amazed at the attention to detail that Hot Toys is able to achieve with their incredible work.

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Marvel’s Avengers Assemble Brings Back Writers From Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

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This was one of those news stories that made me, as well as many fans of the original series, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, very happy. Last year Marvel cancelled it’s popular animated series Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and replaced it with their own Avengers Assemble. This did not go over well with the Marvel fan community who loved the original series. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes was an excellent series which followed some of the best know stories found in the original comic books. Avengers Assembly changed the focus to have the Avengers follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From the episodes that I have seen from Season One of Avengers Assemble, the episodes have been hit or miss and most usually miss. Disney and Marvel must have listened to the fans and have brought back some of the original writers of the series. The first episode aired this Sunday, October 5th, and was much better than anything I had seen in Season One. Here’s hoping that this is the start of something good. Avengers Assemble airs on Disney XD.

Fantastic Four Comic To Be Cancelled In 2015 Just Prior To Fox’s Fantastic Four Reboot

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BleedingCool.com reported this week that the Fantastic Four comic book will be cancelled in 2015 with issue #215. By doing this, Disney will not be providing free promotion for Fox’s upcoming Fantastic Four movie. To some this is not a big deal, but if you know the history between Disney, Marvel and Fox, it is basically another chapter in their soap opera. There is definite bad blood between Disney and Fox especially since Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise. Lucasfilm and Fox have produced and distributed all of the Star Wars films since 1977 and I am sure Fox was not happy to learn that Lucas sold all of the franchise to Disney, meaning that Fox would lose a ton of potential future revenue. Last year Josh Whedon announced that the characters Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch would be in the sequel to the Avengers. Not to long after that, the script for X-Men Days Of Future Past was changed to have Quicksilver (and Scarlet Witch) replace a character from the original script, Juggernaut. In the comics, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are the son and daughter of X-Men’s main villain, Magneto. They have also been members of The Avengers in the comics. So this is one of those grey areas where both Disney and Fox own the movie rights to both of the characters.

This new Fantastic Four movie sounds like a disaster. It goes against what the Fantastic Four have always been about in the comics. I also learned this week that the director, Josh Trank, held no auditions for any of the main four roles. I find it hard to believe that the best actors were chosen to represent each character if there were no screen tests and the majority of these actors, most people have never heard of. The majority of the Marvel fan community wants the Fantastic Four to go back to Disney and Marvel because they have been very successful with all of their adaptions of comic book heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Out of all of the Marvel movie rights that Disney does not own, I honestly would like to see the Fantastic Four go back to Disney and Marvel. The Fantastic Four could join up with the Avengers or battle the Avengers, bring in the Silver Surfer and plus the Marvel Cinematic Universe would get something its lacking, villains. Villains like Dr. Doom, Galactus and the Super Skrull. And I would love to see a battle between the Thing and the Hulk probably more so than Batman vs Superman. Only time will tell.

The Fantastic Four will return to comics but only after Fox has released the Fantastic Four movie to home video.

That’s it for this week!

BREAKING: Guests Can Only Ride Toy Story Mania Via FastPass+ This Week

In a strange test, Walt Disney World guests visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios now through Friday will need a FastPass + to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. Walt Disney World is attempting to offer enough FastPass+ throughout the day to fill the attraction to capacity, not allowing any guests to use a standby queue or use the Disability Access Service (DAS) to ride. Disney will not even allow guest relations cast members the ability to offer access to the attraction to appease any disgruntled guests during this period.

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The reasoning for this test is to see if attractions offered by reservation-only can be successful, eliminating long lines by only taking on the amount of guests the attraction can handle at one given time. Similar tests and policies have been applied at attractions and meet-and-greets over the last several months, but this is the first time that absolutely no attraction access will granted via a method other than FastPass+.

With Disney making more than the usual allotment of FastPass+ reservations available, guests can still obtain a FastPass+ for Toy Story Mania through Friday as of right now. In short, guests visiting this week without a FastPass+ reservation are not out of luck just yet.

It is unknown if this test is somehow related to rumors that a third track for Toy Story Mania will be constructed, including rumblings that the new track maybe be used only for guests with FastPass+ reservations, or just a test to see the feasibility of offering attractions via FastPass+ only.

Get Star Wars Rebels Episode 3, “Droids In Distress”, Free On iTunes

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Disney recently announced a $30 Season Pass for the full season of Star Wars Rebels, which is available on iTunes. iTunes is currently offering the third episode, called Droids In Distress, as a free download. Since the first two episodes were combined to make Star Wars Rebels: The Movie, iTunes must consider episode 3 as the first official episode of the series. So iTunes is providing a free sample for those interested in the series.

What makes this even more interesting is that this episode has not yet aired on the Disney Channel or Disney XD and wont for a few more weeks.

Special thanks for the site FuriousFanboys.com for the heads up!

Click on this link for the free iTunes download.

Here is a description of the episode:

Droids In Distress – The rebels intercept a shipment of weapons intended for the Empire and accidentally end up hosting a pair of droids.

Star Wars Rebels is an animated TV series set between the events of Episode III and IV. The series will begin five years before Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, fourteen years into the reign of the Galactic Empire. The general premise is described as follows: “It is a dark time in the galaxy, as the evil Galactic Empire tightens its grip of power from world to world. As the series begins, Imperial forces have occupied a remote planet, ruling with an iron fist and ruining the lives of its people. But there are a select few who are brave enough to stand up against the endless Stormtroopers and TIE fighters of the Empire: the clever and motley crew of the starship Ghost. Together, this ragtag group will face threatening new villains, have thrilling adventures, and become heroes.”

 

PHOTOS, VIDEO, REVIEW: Experience the Final Moments of Norway’s Maelstrom at Epcot

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Goodbye viking, cruise director, and scary fish-gutting boy…

I have attended some emotional farewells in my time visiting the Disney Parks, but last night was certainly one of the most memorable. I can’t recall the amount of crying, anger, joy, and excitement for the farewell of Main Street Electrical Parade (circa 2001), Snow White’s Scary Adventures, or the Studio Backlot Tour reaching the levels they were at for the closure of Maelstrom at Epcot on Sunday, October 5th. Last week’s Off Kilter final performance was certainly rowdy and over-crowded, but the crowd of fans for the 26-year-old Norwegian boat ride were every bit as electrifying and probably way more emotionally overwhelmed.

Long lines for the attraction were a constant through all of the day. The very back of the line at 11:00AM when the attraction opened was about a 45 minute wait, and wait times continued to soar to around 85 minutes by the mid-afternoon. In the attraction’s final hour, the stand-by wait time sign read 130 minutes. I’m fairly certain that in all of the time Maelstrom has had an electronic wait time system, those numbers had never flipped so high.

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85 minute wait, but the amount of FastPass+ being used certainly slowed down the stand-by queue

Before I talk about the final hour-or-so of the attraction, I want to first commend the wonderful Norwegian cast members who have gone out of their way the last few weeks since the closure was announced to make sure every guest got a proper final farewell. While I can’t get into many specifics as I’m afraid I might get someone in trouble, I saw many excited guests get to do some out-of-the-ordinary things both yesterday and over the last few weeks. Nothing illegal or unsafe, just things that some manager at Walt Disney World might frown upon. Regardless, these young people represented their country and the Disney company in a way that restores a lot of my faith in front-of-the-line cast members. I think some of these cast members were among the finest to ever wear the Disney name tag.

So, on to the final moments of the attraction… While the wait time was posted at 130 minutes, I don’t believe anyone actually waited that long. By 9:30, the final boat was making its way through the attraction, so at most, I think some guests towards the end may have waited a little over an hour. Many guests waited outside of the queue until just before 9:00PM, just so they could be in the very last or near the last boat of the night. To the best of my knowledge, there was no fighting between guests as to who would be last, which was somewhat surprising given how rowdy the crowd had gotten at that point. In the end, rumor had it that some group of guests had demanded by mid-day that they be the last guests, and for some reason, they were appeased and given the right to be last. If it were a less emotional evening, I’m sure someone would have argued with those who felt they were more entitled than the rest of us, but everyone decided it best to just enjoy their final moments in the attraction. It may have been some low-level park manager and their family from why I could deduce, but I figure no one in Norway wanted to get in trouble for denying them the last boat.

If you were in the queue by 9:00PM, you were treated to a special announcement from a Norway cast member, something that had been a joke made by most fans of the attraction leading up to the final days:

At the time of our final ride at 9:25PM, we ended up being in the 5th-to-last boat of the night. I know it may make me sound like a bit of a fanboy, but being able to ride so close to the end of this attraction that I grew up with was an honor and really made my day.

The ride it self was the same as always, but I certainly took time to soak in all of my favorite sights one last time (mostly the three headed troll and one last opportunity to yell “back, back, over the falls!”). When we reached the unload area, the pandemonium began. As we started clapping for Maelstrom as we reached the Norwegian fishing village, a dock filled with hundreds of guests who had just completed their final rides began to cheer as well. This continued for every boat after us as well. Eventually, once boats filled with cast members started to emerge, all of the guests were pushed into the theater for the final showing of “The Spirit of Norway”.

For the first time, a packed theater of guests sat and watched the 5-minute film, rather than racing past it to get to another Epcot attraction or a dining reservation. The crowd was captivated, knowing these would be the final moments they would have inside of the attraction. When the film ended, the applause was thunderous and there was even some chanting. Finally, managers started to politely wrangle guests toward the doors and out of the building. When the doors closed, a small crowd remained behind and took pictures with the shuttered facade and said their final goodbyes. Yes, many were caught in the moments and shed tears for the loss of Maelstrom. This may seem trivial to some, but I also found myself overcome a few times while watching boats dock at the unloading area.

If you could not be there to live the final night of Maelstrom, we invite you to watch our video of the events which includes 17 minutes of highlights including our last ride on the attraction and the very last showing ever of “The Spirit of Norway”:

Last night was definitely one of those special evenings at Epcot I’ll never forget, which is fitting, because I don’t think any of us will ever forget Maelstrom. It wasn’t exactly a great attraction, but was so unique, strange, and irreverent that you just couldn’t help but like it. For 26 years, guests were confused yet entertained by this short boat ride and ran through the theater to exit the building, but it was an important part of the fabric of the park that we will certainly remember for the rest of our lives.

“Norway’s spirit has always been, will always be… ADVENTURE!”
-Maelstrom, 1988-2014

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Photo taken right after the doors had closed and the final guests were loading onto the ride