Frozen Ever After is a musical reversing
Shoot the Chute
Shoot the Chute is an amusement ride consisting of a flat-bottomed boat that slides down a ramp or inside a flume into a lagoon. Unlike a log flume or super flume, which generally seats up to eight passengers, a modern-day Shoot the Chute ride ge ...
dark ride in
Epcot
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
at the
Walt Disney World Resort
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando ...
and soon-to-be at
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...
,
Tokyo DisneySea
is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual proper ...
, and
Walt Disney Studios Park
Walt Disney Studios Park ( French: ''Parc Walt Disney Studios'') is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, which opened on 16 March 2002. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through ...
. Part of the
Norway Pavilion of the Epcot's
World Showcase
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Disney Parks, Experiences and ...
section and
Fantasyland
Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale films. Each Fantasyland has a castle, as well as several gentle ri ...
at Hong Kong Disneyland, the attraction features scenes inspired by
Disney's
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
animated film ''
Frozen'' as well as the 2015 animated short ''
Frozen Fever
''Frozen Fever'' is a 2015 American computer-animated musical fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A follow-up to the 2013 feature film '' Frozen'', the short follows Elsa as she at ...
''. It opened on June 21, 2016, using the ride vehicles and track layout of the former
Maelstrom
Maelstrom may refer to:
* Maelstrom (whirlpool), a powerful whirlpool
** originally the Moskstraumen in English
Amusement rides
* Maelstrom (ride), a former log flume dark ride attraction in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in ...
attraction. The attraction is scheduled to open at
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...
in 2023.
History
On September 12, 2014, Walt Disney World officials announced that the
Maelstrom
Maelstrom may refer to:
* Maelstrom (whirlpool), a powerful whirlpool
** originally the Moskstraumen in English
Amusement rides
* Maelstrom (ride), a former log flume dark ride attraction in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort in ...
attraction would be replaced by an attraction based on ''
Frozen''. Maelstrom's final day of operation was October 5, 2014.
In June 2015, then-Disney Chief Operating Officer
Tom Staggs revealed that plans for a ''Frozen'' attraction were discussed prior to the film's release, but were accelerated after the film's worldwide success.
On responding to whether converting a portion of the Norway pavilion into an attraction based on a fictional place was appropriate for World Showcase, Staggs stated: "If the goal is to give people a taste of something like Scandinavia with the Norway pavilion, then ''Frozen'' would only increase the extent to which people would be drawn to it. To me it doesn’t seem out-of-character at all."
Disney also released the first details on the new attraction and revealed its final name, "Frozen Ever After."
The attraction uses the same ride vehicles and course that was used for Maelstrom.
The
Audio-Animatronic
Audio-Animatronics (also known as simply Animatronics, and sometimes shortened to AAs) is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequent ...
figures for the attraction feature improvements in facial animation that were first used on the
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located at Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland Park. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster is situated in the Fantasyland sections of both parks. The Magic Kingdom version opened to the pu ...
, which opened in 2014 at the
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...
.
The Audio-Animatronics are also the first ever all-electric Audio-Animatronics, with previous Audio-Animatronics using either pneumatics or hydraulics. While there are no new songs in the attraction, some of the original songs from ''Frozen'' have revised lyrics written by the original composers.
On May 20, 2016,
Disney Parks
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...
revealed that the attraction would open June 21 that year.
On opening day, the wait times were over five hours long, as the lines started in the
China Pavilion
The China pavilion at Expo 2010 () in Pudong, Shanghai, colloquially known as the Oriental Crown (), was the largest national pavilion at the Shanghai Expo and the largest display in the history of the World Expo. It was also the most expensive ...
. Epcot employees gave out ice cream and water bottles to guests in order to cool off in the hot sun.
Ride experience
![Frozen Ever After (27746209702)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Frozen_Ever_After_%2827746209702%29.jpg)
The Frozen Ever After ride commemorates the anniversary of the day
Princess Anna saved her sister,
Queen Elsa, from an attempted assassination with an unselfish act of true love, thus thawing a frozen heart and ending the eternal winter. To celebrate the event, Elsa bestowed an "Official Summer Snow Day" upon the Arendelle citizenry, inspiring the amusement ride.
Advertisements promoting the winter festival are visible to guests as they queue for the ride. Guests travel through Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, where they find Oaken in the sauna waving to them. Riders next board a boat and sail off into a winter wonderland, where they encounter
Olaf
Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" a ...
and
Sven
Sven (in Danish and Norwegian, also Svend and also in Norwegian most commonly Svein) is a Scandinavian first name which is also used in the Low Countries and German-speaking countries. The name itself is Old Norse for "young man" or "young warr ...
greeting guests with a rendition of "
Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
"Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" is a song from the 2013 Disney 3D computer-animated musical feature film '' Frozen'', with music and lyrics composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. , the total sales of the digital track stands at 1 ...
". Guests then pass Grand Pabbie as he recounts the story of the film to a group of young trolls.
Riders next ascend a lift towards Elsa's ice palace. When they reach the top, they find Olaf ice skating and singing "
For the First Time in Forever
"For the First Time in Forever" is a song from Disney's 2013 animated feature film '' Frozen'', with music and lyrics composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. It is reprised later in the musical. Both versions are sung by American act ...
", failing comically with the lyrics. Guests soon pass a singing Anna and
Kristoff Kristoff is a version of Kristopher (Scandinavian, Greek): respelling of Christopher.
People
* Kristoff St. John (1966-2019), American actor.
* Ivan Kristoff (born 1968), aviator, rescue worker, and rope access expert
* Kristoff Raczyñski (born ...
, while Sven sits on the side with his tongue stuck to a pole. Two gates open and guests see Elsa, who is singing "
Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film ''Frozen (2013 film), Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert L ...
" while conjuring ice. The boats and riders then accelerate backwards down a small dip, passing images of Elsa creating the ice palace.
Guests next encounter Marshmallow and the Snowgies from ''
Frozen Fever
''Frozen Fever'' is a 2015 American computer-animated musical fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A follow-up to the 2013 feature film '' Frozen'', the short follows Elsa as she at ...
''. The boat moves forward as Marshmallow spits out mist, passing through the mist, and down a short drop, at which an
on-ride photo
An on-ride camera is a camera mounted alongside the track of a roller coaster, log flume or other thrill ride that automatically photographs all of the riders on each passing vehicle. They are often mounted at the most intense or fastest part of t ...
is taken. Riders then pass Arendelle Castle with fireworks bursting over top. Lastly, guests reach Anna, Elsa, and Olaf, who are singing "
In Summer
"In Summer" is a song from Disney's 2013 animated feature film '' Frozen'', with music and lyrics composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
Synopsis
The song is performed by Olaf (Josh Gad), and is a comedic and ironic ballad in wh ...
", as they return to the village and disembark.
See also
*
List of Epcot attractions
Epcot is a theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The term "attractions" is used by Disney as a catch-all term for rides, shows, and exhibits.
World Celebration
World Celebration attractions
* Spaceship Earth is an eighteen-story- ...
*
Norway Pavilion at Epcot
The Norway Pavilion is a Norwegian-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase, within Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, United States. Its location is between the Mexico and China pavilions.
Layout
The Norway Pavilion is d ...
*
List of Hong Kong Disneyland attractions
Hong Kong Disneyland is a theme park located at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Attractions and entertainment
* Animation Academy
* Art of Animation
* Flights of Fantasy ...
*
List of Tokyo DisneySea attractions
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just outside Tokyo. This is a list of current and past attractions – rides, shows, restaurants, and shops – that have appeared at the park. Character meets and atmosphere entertainme ...
*
List of Walt Disney Studios Park attractions
References
External links
*
*
{{Disney rides
Amusement rides introduced in 2016
Amusement rides introduced in 2023
Amusement rides planned to open in 2024
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions
Frozen (franchise)
Epcot
Hong Kong Disneyland
Tokyo DisneySea
Walt Disney Studios Park
Dark rides
Audio-Animatronic attractions
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts gentle boat rides
Norway in fiction
World Showcase
Arendelle: World of Frozen
Fantasy Springs (Tokyo DisneySea)
2016 establishments in Florida
2023 establishments in Hong Kong