It's official – the Disneyland Resort today will announce details of “Frozen Fun,” an overlay of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot in Disney California Adventure, based on the hit animated feature, Frozen. The promotion is scheduled to begin previews on December 20, just in time to hopefully divert some of the peak holiday crowds from Disneyland, or at least convince visitors to add a extra day or the park hopper option to their tickets. The official debut date is January 7, 2015.
Frozen Fun also provides the resort with something new to promote during the winter and into spring, a time when several major Disneyland attractions are expected to close for lengthy refurbishments in advance of Disneyland's 60th anniversary celebration. Still, it's a stretch to expect the Frozen facades will make up for missing out on Splash Mountain or the Matterhorn.
DCA's version of “Frozen Fun” is based on the wildly popular promotion at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, but with a few tweaks. The biggest change is Olaf's Snow Fest, which appears to be a much larger copy of Florida's popular, but very low-capacity offering. In addition to the snow play area, Olaf's Snow Fest features a snow slide, and an meet-and-greet opportunity with the snowman himself.
Disney California Adventure is slated to get a larger version of the popular snow play area from Walt Disney World's Frozen event. MousePlanet file photo.
Olaf may prove to be stiff competition for Anna and Elsa, who will relocate to a new meet-and-greet area inside the Character Close-Up room of the Disney Animation Building. Scenes from Frozen will be added to the Animation Courtyard display. There is no word whether the new Frozen meet-and-greets will use the virtual queue system currently in place for the Fantasyland location.
“For the First Time in Forever – A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration” takes place inside the Muppet*Vision 3D theater in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, which has been renovated for this new show. This may be the only place to see Kristoff in person, as he joins Anna and Elsa in a retelling of the history of Arendelle. The Florida version of this show uses FastPass, but again, there is no word if DCA will follow suit.
“For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration” is one of the highlights of the Frozen celebration in Walt Disney World, and will be presented as part of the DCA overlay. MousePlanet file photo.
During the Muppet hiatus, Rizzo's Pawn Shop will be converted to Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, offering all of the souvenirs you may have missed at the other 20 stores with dedicated Frozen displays.
The replacement for the Mad T Party is the awkwardly-named “Freeze the Night! A Family Dance Party,” which will offer “dazzling lighting effects, cool photo spots, yummy treats and frosty beverages for all ages.” Disney is clearly pushing the family-friendly theme for this nighttime offering, quite the contrast to the more mature Mad T Party and ElecTRONica events.
The freeze doesn't stop at Disney California Adventure. Olaf's Frozen Ice Rink will remain open in Downtown Disney through February 22, 2015.
Over in Disneyland, the Storybook Land Canal Boats reopen on December 20 with several new miniature scenes from Frozen, including Elsa's icy castle.
Disneyland may be losing the Anna and Elsa meet-and-greet, but the sisters will appear in a new Frozen show at the Royal Theater in the Fantasy Faire area. This new show debuts January 7, the same day “Mickey's Soundsational Parade” featuring the Frozen pre-parade returns to Main Street, U.S.A.
