Frozen Ever After Coming To Epcot At Walt Disney World

Frozen fever isn’t about to slow down any time soon and Disney are banking on it as they have revealed details of their new attraction, “Frozen Ever After”, which will be replacing Maelstrom at Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park.   The Wall Street Journal has revealed some details on the new attraction which will be opening next year.

Imagineering creative executive Kathy Mangum, showed off storyboards for the attraction and a virtual tour for the attraction.  As with most Disney attractions, “What we try to do is take you back to the movie without retelling that story,” Ms. Mangum said of “Frozen Ever After.” “This is a celebration of the characters, a way for guests who love the film to experience it in a completely different way.”

All the big songs will be included in the attraction, though there are several new lyrics to existing melodies written for “Frozen Ever After” by movie composers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez.

The theme of the attraction is that it is the winter festival that takes place in summer, when residents of Arendelle apparently celebrate their favorite season of the year in the midst of its polar opposite.   The original attraction, Maelstrom, is still what the ride is built upon, but it has been “gutted,” and is currently getting “a whole new overlay with ‘Frozen.’”   While the boats and the path will remain the same, everything you see along the way is being replaced.  The attraction is just 4 minutes long, and will also feature the Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post…”Yoo-Hoo…Big Summer Blow Out!”

During the ride, guests will first see Olaf and Sven, before visiting the Troll Valley, where Grandpappy Troll recaps how Anna and Kristof met, before continuing on to find Olaf again, singing a song while ice skating.  After that, its time of big scene of the ride, Elsa, singing “Let It Go” in her ice castle, which features elaborate effects to create simulated snow crystals soaring around the room.

Also included on the ride are scenes with Marshmallow and Frozen Fever’s Snowgie’s, before ending the attraction with a big fireworks display and a wave from Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Sven and Kristof.

The audio-animatronic characters will feature new technology that includes projectors behind the faces to enable more lifelike animation, which we have already seen used on the recent Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Apparently, the idea for the attraction started before the film even came out, said chief operating officer Tom Staggs, who ran the theme park unit until February.   One of the main reasons they decided to do it as a makeover of Maelstrom, rather than an entirely new attraction was because it would take longer to build and they wanted the attraction open as soon as possible.

Disney are hoping that it will boost Epcot’s attendance and do what Cars Land did for the California Adventure park.   They also defended that Frozen did fit the World Showcase idea since the movie is in fact based significantly on Scandinavian culture, art and mythology.

“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,” he said. “To me it doesn’t seem out-of-character at all.”

What do you think of this new Frozen attraction?  I personally think this sounds very interesting and will keep a whole new generation of fans happy for a long time.