On September 12, 2014, Walt Disney World officials announced that the Maelstrom attraction would be replaced by an attraction based on Frozen. Maelstrom's final day of operation was October 5, 2014. In June 2015, then-Disney Chief Operating OfficerTom Staggs revealed that plans for a Frozen attraction were discussed prior to the film's release, but were accelerated after the film's worldwide success. On responding to whether converting a portion of the Norway pavilion into an attraction based on a fictional place was appropriate for World Showcase, Staggs stated: "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. To me it doesn’t seem out-of-character at all." Disney also released the first details on the new attraction and revealed its final name, "Frozen Ever After." The attraction uses the same ride vehicles and course that was used for Maelstrom. The Audio-Animatronics figures for the attraction feature improvements in facial animation that were first used on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which opened in 2014 at the Magic Kingdom. The Audio-Animatronics are also the first ever all-electric Audio-Animatronics, with previous Audio-Animatronics using either pneumatics or hydraulics. While there are no new songs in the attraction, some of the original songs from Frozen have revised lyrics written by the original composers. On May 20, 2016, Disney Parks revealed that the attraction would open June 21 that year.
Ride experience
The Frozen Ever After ride commemorates the anniversary of the day Queen Elsa saved her sister, Princess Anna, with an unselfish act of true love, thus thawing a frozen heart and ending the eternal winter. To celebrate the event, Elsa bestowed an Official Summer Snow Day upon the Arendelle citizenry, inspiring the amusement ride. Advertisements promoting the winter festival are visible to guests as they queue for the ride. Guests travel through Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, where they find Oaken in the sauna waving to them. Riders next board a boat and sail off into a winter wonderland, where they encounter Olaf and Sven greeting guests with a rendition of Do You Want to Build a Snowman? Guests then pass Grand Pabbie as he recounts the story of the film to a group of young trolls. Riders next ascend a lift towards Elsa's ice palace. When they reach the top, they find Olaf ice skating and singing For the First Time in Forever, failing comically with the lyrics. Guests soon pass a singing Anna and Kristoff, while Sven sits on the side with his tongue stuck to a pole. Two gates open and guests see Elsa, who is singing Let It Go while conjuring ice. The boats and riders then accelerate backwards down a small dip, passing images of Elsa creating the ice palace. Guests next encounter Marshmallow and the Snowgies from Frozen Fever. The boat moves forward as Marshmallow spits out mist, passing through the mist, and down a short drop. Riders then pass Arendelle Castle with fireworks bursting over top. Lastly, guests reach Anna, Elsa, and Olaf, who are singing In Summer, as they return to the village and disembark.
