Lots of 'Frozen' treats await visitors to Disney

At first, the across-the-board success of Frozen - the film has raked in $400 million to date domestically, almost $1.3 billion globally - perhaps caught Disney executives off-guard. The movie opened Nov. 22, 2013, and there weren't a lot of Frozen-themed tie-ins at Florida's Walt Disney World or California's Disneyland.

Soon enough, park visitors' appetite for Frozen became evident: The wait for meet-and-greets with the Arendelle sisters could often be estimated in hours, not minutes.

Now, however, there should be plenty of Frozen to satisfy Elsa and Anna aficionados.

Meet-and-greet opportunities with the sisters from Arendelle occur inside Princess Fairytale Hall in the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland. The pair also appear in the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade and the "Celebrate the Magic" nighttime projection show at Magic Kingdom.

The Maelstrom ride at the Norway pavilion at Epcot closed last year to get a makeover as a Frozen-themed ride, but that overhaul isn't expected to be complete until early next year.

The Frozen e-ticket attraction is "For the First Time in Forever: a Frozen Sing-Along Celebration" at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Arendelle's royal historians recount the Frozen story, aided by clips from the movie on a big screen. The sing-along also features actors playing some of the film's most popular characters on stage, including Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff.

"For the First Time in Forever" also can be found at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, where it has taken over the Muppet Vision 3D theater as part of the "Frozen Fun" festival in the park's Hollywood Land.

The actors playing Arendelle historians in the sing-along go for laughs by incorporating bits of song lyrics into their dialogue ("There were frozen fractals all around"), and they toss in references to other Disney properties ("Once upon a time, a cute little clownfish . . ." and "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . .").

While the sudsy snow that falls from the theater rafters, and the other lighting and visual effects, may awe some in the audience, just getting to sing the Frozen songs at the top of their lungs may be the primary appeal to many fanatics.

The California parks offer more Frozen tie-ins than Florida, thanks to "Frozen Fun," which runs through May 15 at Disney California Adventure.

The Frozen-themed "Freeze the Night" evening street party at DCA, featuring chain-saw ice sculptors, will revert to the Alice in Wonderland-themed "Mad T Party" in May, but the "For the First Time in Forever" singalong will continue indefinitely.

"Olaf's Snow Fest," which began in January with the advent of "Frozen Fun" at DCA, continues through at least April. Housed in Stage 17, a building usually reserved for special events, "Olaf's Snow Fest" features a field of icy snow for guests to play in, a short sledding hill, and the opportunity to meet Olaf.

Anna and Elsa greet DCA park visitors in the Disney Animation building in Hollywood Land. In the same location, the Animation Academy teaches park guests how to draw animated characters, including Olaf and the Frozen snow monster, Marshmallow.

At Disneyland, a Royal Theatre show in Fantasy Faire features Renaissance Vaudevillians Mr. Smythe and Mr. Jones retelling the Frozen story, dressing up as some of the characters and greeting guest stars Anna and Elsa, who also appear on a float that precedes the afternoon "Mickey's Soundsational Parade."  

For ticket information on Frozen attractions at Disney's Florida locations: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tickets

For California locations: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/tickets

EndText