Earlier this week, Disney World announced that Frozen Ever After in Epcot would be undergoing changes to their Audio-Animatronic figures. Since opening in 2016, these figures have been a subject of much debate due to their projected faces. That debate has only deepened as other Frozen attractions have opened around the globe with fantastic, state-of-the-art A-1000 Audio Animatronics. Disney World has now decided to change Frozen Ever After’s figures to match the ones around the globe. In this post, we’ll share the news before adding our commentary. Let’s get to the details via Disney.

For more than seven decades, Walt Disney Imagineering has brought beloved stories and characters off the screen and into reality through the revolutionary innovations of Audio-Animatronics figures. From classic attractions to brand-new adventures, these incredible creations are part of the fabric of iconic Disney storytelling that keeps guests coming back year after year. There’s always something new to inspire. 

In the heart of the Norway pavilion at EPCOT, Frozen fanatics have been sailing through the story of Princess Anna and Queen Elsa on Frozen Ever After since it debuted in 2016. It is full of Audio-Animatronics figures – from Sven and Kristoff, an ice-skating Olaf, Marshmallow and a whole herd of Snowgies, and of course, Anna and Elsa. 

Many of these figures were groundbreaking in the world of Audio-Animatronics – not just as part of the first Frozen attraction, but also as the first attraction to have all electric Audio-Animatronics figures, and the first to combine electric motors and 3D printing. That’s a lot of firsts! 

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. 

Since then, Walt Disney Imagineering couldn’t “let it go” and has built upon that very technology of all-electric motors, 3D printing, and scaling for every figure they produce – from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, to Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival at Tokyo DisneySea, and World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland. 

And, in a full circle moment of innovation, the Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff Audio-Animatronics figures will soon receive new updates after ten years of delighting fans in Frozen Ever After. Taking inspiration from the advancements seen in figures at World of Frozen in Hong Kong Disneyland, the Frozen Ever After figures will face the future of Audio-Animatronics. 

Early next year, this investment will bring a more true-to-film look for these beloved characters. While no dates have been given for this change, I would expect Frozen Ever After to close sometime in January and be down for roughly a month. Give or take a few weeks. Once an actual timeframe is given, we will update this post.

Commentary

Knowing that this week would see ticket price increases also meant that some unexpected good news was probably coming to offset the bad press. That started with the Tangled Tower coming to Disneyland’s Storybook Land Canal Boats and now the momentum moves over to the east coast with a great surprise! Changing the Audio Animatronic figures will make Frozen Ever After a much better ride.

Maybe some don’t see this as a big surprise. Those people may have more optimism than me when it comes to refreshes at Disney World. As we’ve seen Anna & Elsa figures throughout Tokyo and Hong Kong, and soon to be Paris, the difference in quality from the OG Frozen Ever After was stark. Even throwing out the incredibly ambitious DisneySea ride since it’s different from Frozen Ever After, it’s hard to overstate how much better the technology of the animatronics looks in Hong Kong compared to Florida.

In that vein, maybe a move was inevitable. But Disney World has often settled instead of upgrading when it comes to a worse version of a ride. That sounds harsh but the truth is that there is minimal financial gain to be seen from changing out animatronic figures on a ride. It will make fans like me happy and should extend the longevity of a ride but immediate gains aren’t typically felt.

Maybe that’s changing with the reinvention of Test Track and the popularity since that ride reopened. That’s a bit of an apples to oranges comparison, as Test Track changed dramatically in terms of story and concept. Frozen Ever After can only change so much and most of that will be cosmetic. I think that’s enough to see a large upgrade and am hoping for a slightly longer refurbishment period so that they can add a few other details to dark areas of the ride, along with the animatronic swap.

With that upgrade comes the inevitability that is the Frozen machine. This is the tentpole Disney franchise in the 21st century and simply being able to market ‘we made good changes to a Frozen thing’ should sell itself. That’s in contrast to what I said a few paragraphs ago but I think that’s the company’s hope and some of the reasoning for this change.

Whatever the cause for this change, I’m happy that it’s happening. I’ve never loved Frozen Ever After because of its placement and not looking quite up to par. This change should take care of one of those issues! Epcot will be better for it and seeing some of the marquee rides getting meaningful upgrades is encouraging.

Are you excited for the new changes coming to Frozen Ever After? Let us know in the comments, along with any questions you have! If you are planning a trip to Disney World, then check out our planning guide. This site has discount tickets to Walt Disney World. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!