Frozen Ever After

Frozen Ever After
Attraction entrance
Epcot
Area World Showcase, Norway pavilion
Coordinates 28°22′15″N 81°32′47″W
Status Operating
Opening date June 21, 2016
Replaced Maelstrom
Hong Kong Disneyland
Area World of Frozen
Status Operating
Opening date November 20, 2023
Tokyo DisneySea
Name Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey
Area Frozen Kingdom (Fantasy Springs)
Status Under construction
Opening date June 6, 2024 (projected)
Walt Disney Studios Park
Area Kingdom of Arendelle
Status Under construction
Opening date second half of 2025 (projected)
Ride statistics
Attraction type Reversing Shoot the Chute/Dark ride
Manufacturer Intamin
Designer Walt Disney Imagineering
Model Dark Boat Ride
Theme Frozen
Frozen Fever
Music Songs written and composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Drop 28 ft (8.5 m)
Length 964 ft (294 m)
Capacity 1000 riders per hour
Vehicle type Viking Boat
Riders per vehicle 16
Rows 4
Riders per row 4 + lapsitters
Duration 5:00
Lift count 1
Number of drops 1
Disney Genie+ Lightning Lane Available
Disabled access Wheelchair accessible
Must transfer from wheelchair

Frozen Ever After (named Anna and Elsa's Frozen Journey in Tokyo DisneySea) is a musical reversing Shoot the Chute dark ride in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort. Part of the Norway Pavilion of the Epcot's World Showcase section, the attraction features scenes inspired by Disney's animated film Frozen as well as the 2015 animated short Frozen Fever. It opened on June 21, 2016, using the ride vehicles and track layout of the former Maelstrom attraction. A version of the attraction opened at Hong Kong Disneyland on November 20, 2023, as part of The Walt Disney Company's centennial celebration, with two more scheduled to open at Tokyo DisneySea on June 6, 2024 and Walt Disney Studios Park in the second half of 2025.

History

On September 12, 2014, Walt Disney World officials announced that the Maelstrom 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 figures for the attraction feature improvements in facial animation that were first used on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which opened in 2014 at the Magic Kingdom. 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 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. Epcot employees gave out ice cream and water bottles to guests in order to cool off in the hot sun.

Ride experience

A scene from the ride

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 and Sven greeting guests with a rendition of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?". 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", failing comically with the lyrics. Guests soon pass a singing Anna and Kristoff, 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" 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. The boat moves forward as Marshmallow spits out mist, passing through the mist, and down a short drop, at which an on-ride photo is taken. Riders then pass Arendelle Castle with fireworks bursting over top. Lastly, guests reach Anna, Elsa, and Olaf, who are singing "In Summer", as they return to the village and disembark.

Voice Cast

Idina Menzel as Elsa

Kristen Bell as Anna

Jonathan Groff as Kristoff

Josh Gad as Olaf

See also