Maelstrom

Maelstrom is a family-friendly adventure on a troll-tormented Viking ship from modern-day to historic Norway in the World Showcase area at Epcot theme park. Come aboard for a stormy voyage through a Norwegian fjord, a troll-infested swamp and on to the North Sea via a thrilling backward plummet.

After departing a contemporary village, you'll be water-blasted to the past through a unique aquatic landscape. You never know what's around the next bend, you might even encounter polar bears and pirates! Once you've dodged the trickster trolls and other obstacles, disembark in the safety of a calm harbor. Then watch a glorious 5-minute film that captures the remarkable beauty of Norway today. Exploring Norway's heritage isn't going to be smooth sailing, so buck up like a Viking would!

Maelstrom is a mix between a Log chute and a traditional film attraction. Maelstrom uses a 16 passenger Viking-style boat that takes you through a 10th century Viking village and a mythical forest where you'll encounter trolls who cast a curse on the boats. From here, the boat starts going backwards before it reaches a waterfall and again changes course.

The ride first takes visitors back to a mythological version of Norway's Viking days. The boats first pass through scenes of seafarers and Vikings. The boats then enter an enchanted swamp, and are forced backwards down a waterfall by angry trolls. The boats float rapidly past scenes of polar bears and living trees, before coming to a stop on the edge of another waterfall, exposed to the Norway pavilion's main thoroughfare. After again rotating to a forward-facing position, the boats plunge forward into the stormy North Sea. The boats pass dangerously close to an oil rig and the ride comes to an abrupt end in a calm harbor. After the ride, guests disembark and then have the option to watch a 6 minute film highlighting the history and folklore of Norway.

Touring Tips

• It does have FASTPASS but unless you're visiting during a peak time, there's rarely more than a 10 minute wait.

Facts

• Opened July 5, 1988.
• Visitors ride boats that are patterned after Viking ships and pass through various scenes with audio-animatronic figures.
• Each boat hold up to 15 passengers and can move 1920 people per hour.
• The attraction features a brief 28 foot (8.5 meters) drop near the climax of the boat ride.
• 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.
• There is a wide-screen movie (5:52 minutes) that takes you on a tour of Norway and introduces you to its people.

Hidden Mickey

• In the ride's loading area, a large painted mural includes many people and elements from Norway's history. Hidden in this painting is a Viking whose helmet has Mickey Mouse ears, and another figure wearing a Mickey Mouse watch.
• As you stand in the queue line facing the depiction of Norwegian life. In the cloud formations on this same wall, there is Hidden Mickey.
• When the Maelstrom ride begins you go up the ramp. At the top of the ramp there is a wooden building of some type. Right in the middle of the building there is a cross shaped opening of some type (it is lit from behind). As you pass this opening you can see a Mickey inside the opening.
• Just after the ride there is a small movie about Norway. This was the last presentation of the day and the Cast Member told us, very rapidly, to watch carefully to a "blue Hidden Mickey"! I think it's a blue Mickey balloon in the hand of a child when you see a large crowd in the streets of Norway. Other things are "blue" in this movie: the suit and the skis of the skier but no Mickey there.