Disney Imagineers released the information to the Wall Street Journal, which detailed it in a blog post. In it, creative director Kathy Mangum confirmed that the Frozen ride will be a creative overlay of the former Maelstrom ride, retaining its flume path and ride system but replacing all the scenery and characters in the ride.
The ride will feature Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post in the queue, then an on-ride narrative themed to a "Winter Festival." Olaf and Sven introduce the ride, leading into a visit with the trolls.
Grandpappy Troll tells a gathering of children the story of how Anna and Kristof met, before the log goes up a ramp to find Olaf again, singing a song while ice skating, right next to Anna and Kristof, who are singing with their friend Sven.Behind a set of doors is the moment any visitor is sure to be waiting for: Elsa, on a balcony, singing “Let It Go” in her ice castle. It’s the centerpiece of the ride, “the big, big scene,” Ms. Mangum said, and it features elaborate effects to create simulated snow crystals soaring around the room.
Frozen Ever After is expected to open in spring 2016.
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I wonder how long it will be for Disneyland west to get a version. How about using the abandoned Motor Boat cruise tracks. Or swap out the Monsters ride for a Sven sleigh ride.
Bring Mystic Manor. Bring Ratatouille. Bring Journey to the Center of the Earth. Bring the Paris castle with animatronic dragon. Make Epcot a park worth visiting again.
WILL THERE BE A POLAR BEAR?!?!?!?!
It's amazing that a ride could be closed for over a year and a half and the end result will be the addition of a few animatronics and one song blaring over and over and over again until the poor Norwegian college students operating the ride go insane (which I'm wagering will be within the first five hours of operation). The folks down the street east on I4 can put together a whole new show building and ride system in that amount of time.
Like Anon said, it definitely sounds like they will be reversing the queue line and have it come in what was the exit. Considering this ride will probably have a 60+ minute wait time from now on, they'll need the old theater area to create a indoor queue space to accommodate it.
But I think that Disney missed a huge opportunity here. Frozen is such a strong franchise; it deserves an uber dark ride, similar to what Universal did for Harry Potter or what Disney itself created in Hong Kong. Just imagine track less vehicles ‘dancing’ in Elsa’s ice castle while she performs “Let It go.”
This attraction could have been so much more. And therefore, this announcement should be a disappointment for every Disney theme park fan.
As it was, Maelstrom had too long of lines and the ride itself went by way too fast. Hopefully, they can fix this problem and make this at least 6 minutes long. Otherwise, it's just going to be a disappointing ride that won't be able to satisfy the inevitable overwhelming demand.
I visited Diagon Alley last year and was completely blown away just like when i visited hogsmeade for the first time. Transformers blew me away, it got me nostalgic and excited. I did not get that feeling when i went to new fantasyland except for be our guest and gastons tavern areas. New fanatasyland is just a bunch of IPs not tied together, its not like adventure land and frontierland where a constant theme is surrounding you. Avatarland should not of been the big project to get people to disney green lighted after they saw hogsmeade. A different IP should've been selected.
This announcement just highlights the difference between the two parks and the directions they are going into.
They know what they are doing and it's going to be huge and 99% of all visitors won't care about the sort of things you are complaining about above. They'll just get on and ride it and love it. We can all complain as much as we like but to my eyes this looks like a sure-fire hit for Disney.
This franchise deserves a better dedicated attraction in Hollywood studios.
End of story.
Y'know, it's come to my attention that, no matter what Disney does we're gonna criticize them. For a while we've complained that Disney doesn't build new rides. Well, they finally are, and now more complaints. The only one I agree with is that it doesn't fit in World Showcase. As for the others?
-"It's not an E-ticket ride!" Umm...why does it have to be? It's a ride meant for little ones. Little ones can't go on E-ticket rides.
-"It uses the same ride system as Maelstrom!" Transformers uses the same ride system as Spider-Man, and I believe it recently appeared on this website's top 10 Universal attractions (which it didn't deserve, quite frankly).
-"It's short!" See above.
Look, people, I think we are asking too much from Disney. I've said this a bajillion times, but I'll say it again.
Disney doesn't need to be making announcements about a thrilling new ride every other Thursday because they already have such a rich, wonderful treasure trove of great rides. The reason why Universal does this is because they're trying to build a reputation (and attendance numbers) as big as Disney. I was going to write a full paragraph ranting about how the only great new attraction at Universal was Gringotts and the rest range from 5-7 on a scale of 1 to 10, but I think I need to shut up now.
This attraction could very well be an afterthought. which would make it something of a windfall. Those who criticize Disney for developing attractions at what they perceive to be a slow pace should consider the possibility that the company is being methodical and its incremental approach to attraction development is meant to be strategic.
It's possible this is ride number one based only on the first movie, and maybe they have some other plan for Hollywood studios/Disneyland based on the first and/or second Frozen movie. I think sometimes they do think about theme park rides even before movies come out because Pete Doctor said they talked to the parks and resort people about Inside Out quite a while ago (he mentioned EPCOT specifically in case anyone is interested) and he probably was telling the truth about that.
I think one of the other reasons Staggs doesn't mention is that they are probably also working on building pretty involved Star Wars areas along with Pandora, and maybe also Marvel attractions in California. I'm wondering if Mark Eades was correct when he wrote that post for Inside the Magic wondering if Disneyland's Tomorrowland was going to turn into a Marvel area. We now know that Tomorrowland the movie is struggling to not be a write down for Disney. I'm guessing Disney will not invest in remaking Tomorrowland and Future World at EPCOT after this.
To a other Comment about animatronic dragon: I remember their was one, just not sure it was in Anaheim or Orlando. I never been in Paris, so it was not that one I remember. (but I go Paris June 29)
Disney does not hold merchandise rights over Japan, China or Morroco. Disney also has limited merchandise rights in some pavilions dealing with specific merchandise such as liquor, perfume, and other select products.
Norway's perfume vendor for instance is an outside vendor, but Disney owns the rest of the pavilion, providing employees, merchandise, and all improvements and maintenance of the pavilion. The corporate sponsor when I was working there I believe was Scandinavian Airlines Systems if I remember correctly. They however were just a sponsor and had no real say on how the pavilion was operated.
Why not refurbish Splash Mountain with a Frozen overlay? Make it into an Ice Mountain, and have the queue be Arrendale. I know Splash Mountain is a classic and all, but who even knows what movie that ride is from anymore?
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