Welcome, World Travelers! Frozen Ever After Getting New Animatronics
by James Coulter
For the first time in forever, the nearly decade-old Frozen Ever After attraction is set to appear brand new with new animatronic figures and other refurbishments.
Located at the Norway Pavilion in Disney’s EPCOT Center, Frozen Ever After has been enchanting guests since its debut in 2016. Now, the attraction is set to close for much-needed refurbishments in early 2026.
The biggest change will be the animatronic characters, which currently use rear projection mapping for the characters’ facial expressions. However, while initially innovative for the time, these features have experienced “technical difficulties” over the years.
As That Park Place reports:
“Over time, guests and observers have reported problems with the projection system. For instance, faces have gone dark (displaying blank or black screens) during portions of the show, making the heads appear empty. Some observers have also remarked on alignment issues.
Additionally, lighting conditions and visual contrast between projected faces and mechanical bodies can create an unnatural effect. Guests have noted a certain uncanny valley effect, even when the animatronics are working as designed.”
The figures are planned to be upgraded with sculpted, physical faces, like the animatronic figures used within Frozen attractions at Hong Kong and Tokyo Disneyland.
These figures will utilize new technology, like all-electric motors, 3D printing, that has been developed by Disney Imagineering since the attractions first opened nearly ten years ago.
A lot has changed since then, but even when the attraction was new, many of its features proved innovative at the time, specifically for the Elsa animatronic character.
As Mallory Heinz Ledet, Public Relations Manager, wrote on Disney Parks Blog:
“To build the attraction and make it feel like the enchanted Frozen story, it all came down to one wrist. Elsa is known for her magical, ice-forming hand gestures; for her Audio-Animatronics figure to handle the fluid movements just like Elsa does on screen, Imagineers needed enough space to run cables and motors down her arms and hands. They figured out how big Elsa’s wrist needed to be and scaled everything else in the attraction to match.”
Frozen Ever After can still be enjoyed in its current iteration from now until early next year at Disney’s EPCOT Center.
