10 Behind the Scenes Details About EPCOT’s Frozen Ever After

Frozen Ever After is a musical journey through ice-encrusted willow branches to the top of the North Mountain, where Elsa awaits guests in her enchanted frozen palace. Fans of the films and shorts will love seeing the characters and hearing familiar songs, while those who enjoy mild thrills will appreciate sliding backward down the mountain and plunging over a short waterfall. It's a crowd-pleaser!

As such, this ride boasts some lengthy lines at times. Despite the charming Scandinavian buildings and hanging lanterns, snaking around chained posts in the same crowded courtyard for an hour can really take a toll on your mood—and your feet. Hit this one early in the day or late in the evening, if possible. If you time it right, Frozen Ever After can set an exceptionally cheery tone for the rest of your day in the park.

With only three rides at EPCOT's World Showcase, chances are “the Frozen ride” is on your radar. Whether “Into the Unknown” is your car-karaoke jam, you've got a Frozen-loving little, or you're just stopping in Norway for Vikings and school bread, you're probably going to be floating through Arendelle on a Nordic boat at some point during your EPCOT visit. Here are ten fun facts and secrets about this popular attraction.

It Replaced One of the Oldest Rides at EPCOT

If you visited Disney World prior to 2014, you likely remember a much different ride experience at EPCOT's Norway pavilion. Frozen Ever After's previous incarnation was a seafaring expedition into Norway's mythological history, featuring Vikings, polar bears, and angry trolls. Maelstrom opened in 1988, a month after the rest of the Norway pavilion. The folkloric adventure was quite popular for a long time, and even after its traffic began to wane, it retained a cult following (including yours truly).

In 2014, Disney closed Maelstrom for a Frozen re-theme, using the same boats and track structure. In addition to an entirely new story featuring Frozen characters and locations from the film, Imagineers altered one memorable element from the original. On Maelstrom, guests briefly saw the light of day through an opening in the attraction's exterior rockwork. Frozen Ever After removes that element to facilitate the inclusion of a scene featuring Elsa's snow monster, Marshmallow, and the Snowgies introduced in Frozen Fever.

As a long-time Disney World patron, I was extra sad to see Maelstrom go. It was weird and wonderful in that special Disney way, and I still miss it. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Frozen Ever After the first time I rode it, and while I'm still not convinced World Showcase is the best place for it, I'm glad it exists.

Imagineers Worked with the Original Animation Team

Because some of Frozen Ever After's youngest and most enthusiastic riders will have likely seen the source material more times than their parents can count, they're definitely going to notice if Audio-Animatronic Anna, Elsa, or Olaf doesn't move or express the way they're used to seeing on-screen. So, it was important for these figures to act and appear the same way they do in the films. To keep the characters in the ride consistent with those that Frozen fans have come to know and love, the ride design team worked closely with the same team that animated the movies.

The Wintery Ride Takes Place in Summer

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Despite all the ice and snow you'll find on the ride, it's not actually set during the winter! The premise of the attraction is an “Official Summer Snow Day Celebration” in Arendelle, commemorating the anniversary of the day Anna saved Elsa's life with a selfless act of true love. The festivities include Olaf singing new lyrics to “Do You Want to Build a Snowman,” Grand Pabbie Troll telling the story behind the special day to a group of little trolls, Elsa working her wintry magic as she sings “Let It Go,” and finally, fireworks exploding in the sky above Anna, Elsa, and Olaf as they serenade guests with a performance of “In Summer.”

It Was the First Attraction To Use All-Electric Animatronics

Until Frozen Ever After, Disney Imagineers always used air (pneumatics) or water (hydraulics) to power the movements of Audio-Animatronics. The popular World Showcase attraction made history for being the first to use all-electric animatronic characters. Called “A1000 Advance Robotics,” this new technology allows Imagineers to give Audio-Animatronics a more natural range of motion that appears extraordinarily fluid, compared to the robotic figures Disney has used in the past.

Imagineers combined this with digital projection mapping —which guests can also see on the faces of the dwarfs on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train—to create more expressive characters than ever before. As life-like as this technique can make the characters seem, it can also make them look pretty ridiculous when it maps incorrectly, which unfortunately does happen from time to time.

Disney Paid Big Bucks To Bring Back the Original Cast

Disney attractions haven't always featured the voice actors from their respective films. The obvious difference in Peter Pan and Captain Hook's voices on Peter Pan's Flight comes to mind. However, given the tremendous impact Frozen has had on an entire generation of kids, building a ride based on the films without the recognizable voices of Kristen Bell (Anna), Idina Menzel (Elsa), Josh Gad (Olaf), and Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) would have been near-unthinkable. So, Disney brought back all our favorites to perform the songs and dialogue for the ride.

It Represents a Break From the World Showcase Ideal

Traditionally, all the attractions and pavilions in EPCOT's World Showcase have been based on real places, like Mexico, Japan, and France. Even the mythological elements in the Norway pavilion are based on the historical beliefs that informed Viking culture. In contrast, while it borrows folklore, aesthetics, geography, and customs from real towns in Austria and Norway, the kingdom of Arendelle is a fictional one (sorry to be the bearer of bad news).

The inclusion of Frozen Ever After in World Showcase marks the first break from the original concept for World Showcase. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure is now another attraction at the EPCOT celebration of nations with fictional components. However, it's set in Paris, France, which is, of course, a real place.

The Stand-by Line Contains an Exclusive Scene

If you find that a wait for Frozen Ever After is unavoidable on your day at EPCOT, take heart! Only those who wind through the standby line will get the opportunity to view an exclusive scene in the queue area. “Oaken's Tokens” is an Imagineer-designed shop run by the cheery proprietor of Wandering Oaken's Trading Post (and Sauna) from Frozen. In the Frozen Fever short, Oaken has opened a little sales cart called “Oaken's Cloaken's,” from which he peddles “a cold remedy of my own invention” to Anna and Elsa to help relieve Elsa's sniffing and sneezing. With this third shop in the Frozen Ever After queue, he has become a franchise owner.

Like Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, Oaken's Tokens is another general store, selling blankets, climbing gear, produce, and other supplies. It also has a sauna, and you can hear Oaken inside the door, humming or talking to his family. If you watch the window closely, you'll see him wipe the steam from the glass and peer out or draw pictures in the steam. You may even catch a glimpse of his family inside.

Neighboring Royal Sommerhus Inspired by a Real Building in Norway

Next door to Frozen Ever After, guests can meet Anna and Elsa at their summer vacation home, Royal Sommerhus. Inspired by an 1817 cabin at the Sarpsborg Open Air Museum outside Trondheim, Norway, its design is so authentic, cast members from Norway have remarked that it looks just like their grandparents' house. The quaint character meet and greet location features traditional Norwegian architecture and crafts.

There Was No Photo-Op in the Original Ride

On-ride photos are a fun feature on many Disney attractions, but Norway's Maelstrom wasn't one of them. Due to the popularity of Frozen and likely its family-friendly nature, Disney made the decision to add a PhotoPass shot to the attraction for the re-theme. The photo will forever preserve your expression during the exciting moment on the ride when your boat plunges down a short waterfall. Some of the kids in ours above don't look too sure about this little drop!

There Are Maelstrom References Hidden Throughout the Pavilion

I may still miss Maelstrom from time to time, but Disney left several small tributes to this classic EPCOT attraction throughout the Norway pavilion and elsewhere on property. You'll find the first one in the queue for Frozen Ever After, on an information board warning of a maelstrom that has formed in the southeastern bay of Arendelle. Also in the queue, there's a small polar bear carving above the sauna inside Oaken's Tokens, commemorating Maelstrom's iconic polar bear animatronic.

On Frozen Ever After, keep an eye out after the last drop for the same puffin figures used on its predecessor. Royal Sommerhus is the site of a Maelstrom Easter Egg as well: a three-headed troll and a rock ogre on a tapestry in the queue for meeting Elsa and Anna. Finally, outside the parks at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto, you can find a life preserver labeled, “Vesta Gruppen,” from the ride's village sequence on the wall.

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