Frozen Ever After set to return at EPCOT next week
It looks like we have a reopening date for Walt Disney World's "Frozen" ride.
Frozen Ever After at EPCOT has been down for refurbishment since January 26. Disney is replacing major Audio Animatronics on the indoor boat ride. The video face projections on characters such as Elsa and Anna are going away in favor of the next-generation practical faces that Disney has introduced on its Frozen rides in Asia.
Disney said when it closed the EPCOT ride that Frozen Ever After would reopen in February. Now, looking at the park's daily refurbishment schedule, the last day that Frozen Ever After is scheduled to be closed is February 11.
That means that Walt Disney World visitors should be able to see the upgraded version of Frozen Ever After starting one week from today. If you would like a preview of what to expect from the ride, here is our POV video from Frozen Ever After at Hong Kong Disneyland's World of Frozen, which uses the updated Audio Animatronics technology that Walt Disney Imagineering is now installing on the EPCOT ride.
A third installation of the upgraded Frozen Ever After is on the way, too. The boat ride will be part of the second installation of the World of Frozen land that opens March 29 at the renamed Disney Adventure World park at Disneyland Paris. I got an invitation-only sneak peek of that new land late last year. You can get all the details here: What to expect in Disney's World of Frozen and Adventure Way.
When Frozen Ever After replaced the old Maelstrom ride in EPCOT's Norway pavilion in 2016, it used what was Disney's new tech at the time - projected faces on Audio Animatronic figures. It was an attempt to make those characters look more lifelike than the mechanical faces that Disney had used on its theme park dark ride characters up until then. But with time and improvements in technology - not to mention the occasional video glitch on the ride - new methods for practical face animation became visibly superior to the video faces.
So now Disney is making that switch at EPCOT. And fans will get to see the results starting February 12.
Replies (2)
It would be nice if Buzz Lightyear returns from refurbishment with a new face-lift as well.
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One wonders if the Seven Dwarfs will get a similar glow-up eventually. The current works great with Dopey’s “diamond eyes” but with others, not so much.