Five Things to Know About Frozen Ever After

Frozen Ever After is one of the most popular attractions at EPCOT. Inspired by the classic animated feature “Frozen,” the ride takes you through the icy world of Arendelle. Along the way, you encounter Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and other friends in a recap of the movie’s story (and soundtrack!) Here are five things we think you need to know about Frozen Ever After. But if you want to skip to the essential nuts and bolts, we’ll let it go this time.

1. Queue up to join the celebration!

You enter Arendelle through an elaborate queue that sets up the ride. Frozen Ever After takes place during the “Official Summer Snow Day Celebration” in Arendelle. This day commemorates the anniversary of Anna’s selfless act of true love, saving Elsa’s life.

The Imagineers have done a great job creating an immersive atmosphere that enhances the ride itself. You’ll see posters announcing the celebration and multiple Easter eggs harking back to the movie (more on that below). One highlight in particular: as you pass through Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and Sauna, Oaken waves and talks to you from inside the sauna!

2. You’ll learn what frozen things do “In Summer.”

The real fun begins once you board your boat. An Olaf animatronic sings new lyrics to “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” as you sail by. Next, you’ll sail past the Troll King as he tells a story to a group of little trolls, reminding them of the holiday’s significance. You’ll climb up a waterway toward Elsa’s ice palace, and doors open as your boat sails toward Elsa herself.

As you might expect, she’s singing “Let it Go” and creating ice flurries everywhere. After a short pause to appreciate her artistry, you’ll move backward and pass more vignettes with Frozen characters singing Frozen songs.

Shifting to face forward again, you’ll go down a short drop (be aware that your photo is taken at this point!) and end up back in Arendelle. Fireworks illuminate the sky as Anna, Elsa, and Olaf celebrate by singing “In Summer.”

3. This ride was a bit of a “Fixer Upper.”

Frozen Ever After wasn’t built from scratch, and the ride’s history required some “Letting It Go”. In September 2014, Disney announced that an attraction based on “Frozen” would replace the Maelstrom attraction in the World Showcase’s Norway Pavilion. As you might imagine, this created a bit of a stir.

Maelstrom was one of the older rides in World Showcase, having opened in 1988. The boat ride took guests through a brief introduction to the culture and mythology of Norway. The highlight of the ride was when your boat headed backwards, changed direction, and then went down a 28-foot drop. While not the most popular ride in EPCOT, it developed a devoted following.

Rather than starting over from scratch, the Imagineers revamped the existing attraction. As a nod to Maelstrom, they kept the same boats with their Nordic design. The path the ride follows stayed essentially the same. But everything else was reworked to create a totally new experience.

It took more than a year and a half to complete the transformation. This fun side-by-side comparison of the two rides shows you the similarities and differences between Maelstrom and Frozen Ever After. With all the new technology, new storyline, and new music, it clearly was a Fixer Upper of major proportions! Frozen Ever After opened on June 21, 2016, and more versions have since opened at Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.

4. There were some “First Times in Forever” – and some secrets, too.

⭐ Frozen Ever After featured several firsts for Walt Disney World. Most notably, it was the first attraction to use all-electric animatronics. Other attractions were built with figures whose movements are powered by either air (pneumatics) or water (hydraulics). Here, Elsa, Anna, and Olaf don’t just move—they glide, and gesture with incredible lifelike detail. Especially outstanding are the fluid gestures of Elsa in her ice castle as she creates the snow flurries. And the use of video-screen faces, plus detailed sets augmented with digital projection mapping, helps create a truly immersive experience.

⭐ The ride is a first among attractions in the World Showcase, because it’s not based on a destination that exists in the real world. Disney could have made a separate Frozen attraction somewhere else, but the Norway Pavilion was a pretty natural fit. Even though Arendelle is fictional, it’s based on Norway. Imagineers and the Frozen animation team took research trips to the coastal city of Bergen in 2011 and 2012 to study traditional wooden architecture, the fjords and waterfalls, folk costumes, and rosemaling (decorative painting).

⭐ While the music sounds familiar, it’s a little bit different, too. Composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez revised their original lyrics as necessary to advance the story of the ride. And then Disney re-hired the original cast to re-create their characters and record these new versions! Not a cheap undertaking, to be sure. But no one other than Idina Menzel could do justice to “Let it Go!”

⭐ There are several hidden Mickey’s to watch for here. In the queue, check out the tapestry hanging on the wall near Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post. One of the designs forms a classic Mickey shape in the stitching. During the scene with Kristoff and Sven, look at the rocks behind them to see the Hidden Mickey carved into the stone. And toward the end of the ride, during the fireworks show, one of the bursts is a Mickey. There are a couple others as well; let us know if you’ve spotted them in the comments!

5. The Nuts and Bolts.

Frozen Ever After is located in the Norway Pavilion of the World Showcase in EPCOT. Being an indoor attraction, the weather doesn’t affect its operation. But the queue usually extends well outside the building into the courtyard area, where guests waiting to ride will be exposed to the elements.

The ride vehicles are boats with four rows of hard bench seats with hard backs. Each seat can accommodate three guests comfortably, maybe four if you have a young child. Sit on the right to be closer to many of the audio-animatronics you pass. If you sit on the left side in the first and second rows, you might get a bit wet during the drop!

You must step down to board the boats. Guests must transfer from their wheelchair, motorized scooter or ECV to board the ride vehicle. This attraction does offer rider swap. Handheld Captioning is available. There are no height restrictions or health and safety advisories for Frozen Ever After.

Frozen Ever After is a low-capacity ride, and lines form quickly when the park opens. Your best bet to ride with a shorter wait time is to head for Norway right away, taking advantage of Early Theme Park Entry if you can. (The ride is down a fair portion of the time at park opening; ask a Cast Member if it’s running before you run all the way to Norway.) Frozen Ever After is also open for Extended Evening Theme Park hours. Alternatively, you can purchase a Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Premiere Pass.

The Bottom Line.

Personally, we include Frozen Ever After on every trip to EPCOT. We love the songs, the characters, and the story. But to be honest, we don’t stand in line if the wait is an hour or more. In that case, we just grab some pastries at the Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe, move along to the next pavilion, and let it go! (Sorry, I’ll see myself out now…)

What are your thoughts about Frozen Ever After? Love it or give it the cold shoulder? How long would you be willing to wait to ride? Let us know in the comments.