Frozen Ever After

**Frozen Ever After** is a log flume/dark ride hybrid located at EPCOT at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and soon to be located at Tokyo DisneySea in Japan, Walt Disney Studios Park in France, and Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong. It originally opened at EPCOT on June 21st, 2016, replacing the Norwegian history, mythology, and present-day showcase Maelstrom. Currently, it is planned to open at Hong Kong Disneyland sometime in 2022 and at Tokyo DisneySea and Walt Disney Studios in 2023. At EPCOT, the ride is located in the Norway Pavilion in World Showcase. When it opens at the other parks, it will be in a dedicated Frozen themed land. The upcoming area will be called Arendelle: World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. It will have the slightly different name of Kingdom of Arendelle at Walt Disney Studios. In Hong Kong and Paris, the new area will be a standalone section of the park. At Tokyo, it will be a subsidiary of the upcoming Fantasy Springs area, or "Port of Call," as the park calls them.

## History

Maelstrom originally opened at EPCOT on July 5th, 1988, just a few weeks after the Norway Pavilion, which opened on June 3rd. The ride would be a staple at the park for decades, and was beloved by many guests. However, as the years went on, some people began to find the ride outdated compared to other ride's in the park, such as Soarin' and Test Track, for example. Not only that, but the ride was definitely frightening to some young children, particularly the three-headed troll and Nixie scene, and perhaps the drop at the end. Prior to the release of Frozen, imagineers were considering re-theming Maelstrom to a new experience themed to the film. Plans for this likely expanded greatly when the film became a world-wide success. Despite Maelstrom's fans who would hop in line for a ride each visit to EPCOT, it didn't stop Disney from bringing new life to Norway Pavilion in the form of the Frozen re-theme. Maelstrom's closure was officially announced on September 12th, 2014, and the ride closed for good soon after on October 5th. It didn't take long for Disney to fully re-imagine the ride into Frozen Ever After, as it officially opened on June 21st, 2016.

## Ride Experience

Guests enter the queue in a large fjord-like building in an alcove of the Norway Pavilion. Inside, the queue starts fairly standard, but soon opens up into a large winter bound forest. Throughout the queue, signs inform guests that Queen Elsa will be giving the Kingdom of Arendelle a "Summer Snow Day" in celebration of the 1-year anniversary of Princess Anna's selfless act to save her sister, ending the eternal winter. The queue winds through the surrounding nature, with the stand-by queue eventually entering Wandering Oaken's Trading Post (the Lightning Lane queue does not go inside here). Oaken at first appears to be absent from his shop, but if guests look inside the sauna, they'll see that he's just getting a good steam in. Soon, guests will enter a fjord and prepare to board their viking ship ride vehicles (the same ones used on Maelstrom). Once riders are seated, the boat disembarks into a short dark tunnel before emerging into a frosty forest. The snow covered leaves of trees hang over riders as the boat slowly drifts through the waterway. Soon, Olaf and Sven appear on a platform to the right of riders. Olaf welcomes riders by singing a rendition of "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?," the first musical number from the film. He then informs riders that they will be going to Elsa's Ice Palace to celebrate. Meanwhile, Sven happily watches riders as the boat passes by. Next, the rock trolls (much friendlier than Maelstrom's trolls) are seen watching their leader, Grandpabbie, retell part of the story from the film. He does this by using his magic, making a swirl with actual scenes from the film appear in midair. Afterwards, the boat begins to climb a lift hill, and the Ice Palace can be seen overhead riders, with snow magically floating towards it. At the top, a large snowflake glows brightly as the boat passes by. Olaf then appears again, merrily skating on the ice. Then, riders meet up with Anna, Kristoff, and Sven amidst a starry night sky of snowflake fireworks. Anna and Kristoff sing a rendition of "For the First Time in Forever," with Kristoff playing a guitar as well. Sven doesn't have as much luck, as his tongue is stuck on a piece of ice. After passing by the trio, riders come face-to-face with Elsa herself. She welcomes riders to the Ice Palace and begins to sing the film's signature song "Let it Go," this time being the actual audio from the film. Elsa waves her arms around, creating swirls of ice and snowflakes while the whole room glows. The walls, meanwhile, show scenes of Elsa singing from the film. While all this is going on, the boat is slowly turned onto another track via a hidden turntable. Eventually, Elsa pushes the boat backwards down a very tiny and shallow dip into the next scene. The song continues to play and the walls still display the scenes of the Ice Palace's creation from the film. The boat then exits the Palace through a cloud of mist onto the North Mountain. Here, several Snowgies (mini snowmen) watch riders pass through the waterway. The boat soon comes to a stop onto another hidden turntable. As the boat is turned onto another track, the giant abominable snowman, Marshmallow, appears alongside the Snowgies and watches riders. The boat then continues forwards, and Marshmallow blows another cloud of mist at riders. Right as this happens, the boat travels down a shallow 28 foot drop back down to Arendelle. There, Anna and Elsa's castle towers in the night sky of stars and fireworks. Lastly, the boat makes a right-hand turn and encounters Olaf, Anna, and Elsa one last time, who sing the song "Summer" from the film. Afterwards, the boat re-enters the fjord, where guests disembark into a Frozen-themed gift shop, which leads back into the Norway Pavilion.

## Trivia

* The hole formerly found during the second turnaround in Maelstrom has been sealed ever since the construction of Frozen Ever After.
* The ride uses the same style of animatronics used in Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland.
* Inside the queue, there is a notice board informing the citizens of Arendelle that a maelstrom has formed in the southeastern bay.
* After the drop, there are some puffin animatronics to the right of riders. These puffins were once used during the snow scene in Maelstrom.
* During the Let it Go sequence, the swirl of light on the ceiling is the same one that was used on Maelstrom in the form of the three-headed troll's spell.