WDW Release Artwork and Details for Epcot "Frozen Ever After" Ride !

We learn more today about the Epcot Frozen ride as Walt Disney World unveiled a first artwork for the ride and scene-by-scene details for the ride which is officially called "Frozen Ever After", and as i told you below, rumored to open May 2016.

WDW released details exclusively to the Wall Street Journal: "Kathy Mangum, who oversees the Walt Disney World Resort showed off storyboards for the attraction and a virtual tour in a room called the “DISH” that utilizes 3-D images projected on the walls, ceiling and floor to simulate a ride before it is built.

“What we try to do is take you back to the movie without retelling that story,” Ms. Mangum said of “Frozen Ever After.” “This is a celebration of the characters, a way for guests who love the film to experience it in a completely different way.”

While it doesn’t feature any new songs, there are several new lyrics to existing melodies written for “Frozen Ever After” by movie composers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson Lopez.

Maelstrom, on which visitors ride a floating log on a tour through Norwegian mythology, has been “gutted,” Ms. Mangum said, and is currently getting “a whole new overlay with ‘Frozen.’” While the logs and the path will remain the same, everything you see along the way is being replaced.

The setting for “Frozen Ever After” is the winter festival that takes place in summer, when residents of Arendelle apparently celebrate their favorite season of the year in the midst of its polar opposite.

While waiting on line, which is sure to take longer than the four-minute ride, visitors will walk by Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post. The trader with the thick accent will occassionaly clear steam on the windows to utter a hearty “yoo-hoo!” to people walking by. “We consider this scene one,” Ms. Mangum said.

Once they board their logs, “Frozen Ever After” riders will first see goofy snowman Olaf and equally goofy reindeer Sven setting up the Winter Festival premise.

Next is a stop at Troll Valley, where 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.

Visitors will next ride by Marshmallow, the giant, formerly evil snowman from “Frozen” and his miniature Snowgie pals, who show up in the short “Frozen Fever,” which ran in front of March’s “Cinderella.”

Marshmallow himself yells “Let It Go” in time with Elsa’s song before the log travels through a mist cloud and reaches the final scene, which includes fireworks and a wave from Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Sven and Kristof.

The audio-animatronic characters will be cutting edge, Ms. Mangum said, using a new technology that includes projectors behind the faces to enable more lifelike animation. It was first used on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride that opened in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom last year.

Disney executives and designers started discussing a “Frozen” ride before the film even came out, said chief operating officer Tom Staggs, who ran the theme park unit until February. But “our urgency grew as the film really took off,” he said, and “we purposefully set a really audacious goal to get this thing done.” That’s one of the reasons why it’s a makeover of Maelstrom, rather than an entirely new attraction that would take longer to build.

The company is counting on “Frozen Ever After” to boost the popularity of Epcot, where attendance was essentially flat between 2009 and 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, according to the Themed Entertainment Association. “Cars Land” did the same for Disney’s California Adventure theme park, which struggled before an area based on the Pixar movie opened in 2012.

Of course, some may question whether the the fictional world of Arendelle belongs in Epcot’s World Pavilion, which has always been about touring countries that actually exist, like Japan, Mexico, and Norway.

But Mr. Staggs argued that “Frozen Ever After” is sure to draw more visitors to the Norway Pavilion, and Epcot as a whole, and that the movie is in fact based significantly on Scandinavian culture, art and mythology.

“If the goal is to give people a taste of something like Scandinavia with the Norway pavilion, then ‘Frozen’ would only increase the extent to which people would be drawn to it,” he said. “To me it doesn’t seem out-of-character at all.”

Picture: copyright Disney

Text: copyright Wall Street Journal

Will Epcot World Showcase Become "Cartoon Showcase" ?

We saw in D&M yesterday's article that apparently Disney has plans to remove the Norway Pavilion Maelstrom ride and replace it by a Frozen ride. As i explained yesterday, although there is nothing official yet,  there are quite a lot of elements that push in favor of it. But is it really a good idea? For Frozen fans i'm sure it will be, but it seems that someone somewhere is forgetting what World Showcase really is, and why it was created. World Showcase is a place where different countries of the world are presented, introduced to Americans and international guests. A kind of World Expo that will never end. It did the job pretty well until now, even if some of the rides require to be updated. The movie about France, for instance, in the France pavilion always makes me laugh as it shows the "Douce France" of famous song writer Charles Trenet, but a France which no longer exist since a long time.

The problem is that little by little Disney seems to be no longer interested to preserve the original World Showcase concept. There might be another reason - a "money" reason"- why and it's may be because the countries are not willing to pay for new rides, as they did when Epcot opened 31 years ago. Anyway, a few years ago the first cartoon characters - the Three Caballeros - were introduced in the Mexican pavilion ride and now if this Frozen ride rumor is true it's another attraction based on Disney animated characters that will take the place of a ride which was originally totally based on a country history and myths. In the case of the Three Caballeros it was not so problematic as the new version called "Gran Fiesta Tour" still "showcase" the Mexico country itself  (if you've not seen the ride you have the video of it below ). But in the case of Frozen it's something totally different. Although the kingdom and landscape of Arendelle is inspired by Nordic regions it's not supposed to be "Norway". They probably can find a way in the post-show to have a link with Norway but it will be difficult to create a link with Norway in the ride itself...




The question is: if they bring a Frozen ride at World Showcase will they stop here or will they introduce more rides linked to animation characters in World Showcase? Knowing that Epcot is in need of new attractions they could be tempted to bring at the France pavilion the same Ratatouille ride that will open this summer at DLP Walt Disney Studios. After all,
"Impression de France", the France pavilion movie is showing such an idealized vision of France that it's getting old and what could push in favor of bringing the Ratatouille ride is that they won't even have to build a Paris quarter like they currently do at the WDS as it's already built at World Showcase. The Ratatouille ride needs a huge show building but, luckily for Epcot imagineers, they do have the room available backstage to build it as you can see on the Google Earth screen capture below.  The current french restaurant of the France pavilion could easily be transformed in a "Ratatouille" themed restaurant, and there we go!

To be honest, if they were building the Ratatouille ride at World Showcase - and i would be surprised if no one at Disney didn't already think about it - the theme of the ride will be closer to Paris and France cultural aspect - specially cooking - than a Frozen ride would be with Norway.

Still, they have to think about all this with cautious because if they don't, Epcot World Showcase might lose its original concept and quickly become "Cartoon Showcase"...

Will a Frozen Ride Replace Epcot's Maelstrom in World Showcase Norway Pavilion ?

A source of Screamscape informed Lance that "WDI has been given the initial nod to do a little Blue Sky dreaming to determine just how they could transform the Maelstrom ride in the Norway Pavilion into a new Frozen themed attraction concept."

Right now - and of course "IF" the info is right - WDI is only in Blue Sky phase and no mention of the budget the ride could have or even if they will keep the Maelstrom flume ride system or if they will create another kind of ride, so take it only as a rumor. BUT there are some elements which push in favor of it, and here is why:

1) Frozen is a huge success and so far even the biggest one of Walt Disney Animation since The Lion King 20 years ago! And we know that in terms of "Disney synergy" they like to create a ride inspired from a popular movie success.

2) Epcot's World Showcase needs desperately a new attraction! ...as well as WDW to counter attack Universal Florida upcoming projects. Not to mention that the Maelstrom ride didn't aged terribly well, even if it's always fun.

3) A Frozen attraction will fit perfectly with the Norway pavilion theme and the Frozen characters meet and greet at Epcot had currently excellent reactions from the guests.

4) The architecture in the movie of the kingdom of Arendelle has some similarity with the one of the Norway pavilion ( and for good reasons ). Below, a picture from the animated movie and one of the Norway pavilion as well as the WDI rendering.

5) WDI Imagineers will use very probably the facility existing for the Maelstrom ride which means there won't be any cost to build a new building. That saves a pretty lot of money, believe me.

6) If Disney wants something opening quickly they could use the flume ride currently existing and change "only" all the sets. That said, even if WDI was choosing this option, it'll take time to create something new and to do it fine, so don't expect a Frozen ride before two years from now, if not more.

7) WDI has the technology to create in the ride amazing "ice" effects like the one we can see in the movie when Elsa transforms anything in "ice"

8) There are even scenes already existing that obviously could be transformed in a Frozen one. Like the one when the Drakkar boat is going backwards and when guests see the giant polar bear Audio-Animatronic...

Now, imagine that, keeping the same boat backwards movement, instead of the bear they put at its place an Audio-Animatronic of the snow monster below. I know, it's almost too obvious. 

But, as Lance note in his Screamscape post that you can read HERE, if Disney gives to the Imagineers a big enough budget "the entire current ride structure could be demolished to make way for a new trackless ride system concept" and they could use the ice theme of Frozen to have a trackless ride "themed as a sleigh ride through the wilderness, scooting across the frozen landscape". Good idea indeed but this would certainly mean a bigger budget and we know that they have plenty of big projects awaiting the final green light, and even put on hold due to the higher than expected cost of My Magic + 

That said, for all the reasons listed above and although it's so far only a rumor i think you can reasonably put some of your bets on this one. One thing is sure: a Frozen ride would be perfect for the Norway pavilion and World Showcase.And if this is only a rumor with nothing real behind it, well, the Imagineers should think about the idea anyway because it is a good one!

Edited: Just saw on the Moviefone website that Jim Hill also talked recently in a webcast about the Frozen ride coming to Epcot's Norway. And according to Jim an opening is expected in 18 months with also a Frozen ride envisioned for Disneyland later. one more good reasons to place your bets on a Frozen ride!

Pictures: copyright Disney