When Frozen became the massive and unexpected success that it was, Disney Parks were in a mad dash to quickly find a temporary way to bring the film to the parks while more permanent attractions were built. The main way they did this in Walt Disney World was a Frozen Fun festival in Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Operating throughout much of 2014, it quickly brought several great Frozen-themed experiences to the park for a limited time while Frozen Ever After was under construction.
The celebration featured a full day worth of Frozen festivities starting right at the opening of the park each morning. Every day started with a special exclusive show along Hollywood Boulevard.
The day began with a miniature parade starring characters from Frozen traveling up Hollywood Boulevard.
This parade featured a few floats taken from other Disney parades and rethemed to Frozen and featured a series of Frozen characters and dancers, including Princess Anna and Queen Elsa, as well as the more rare character Kristoff.
This was set up for you to follow the parade to a stage set up in front of the Sorcerer's Hat for a stage show welcoming you to the Frozen celebration.
You could then watch a small show featuring Princess Anna and Queen Elsa being welcomed to the park.
The show was only performed once a day, and it featured sing-along elements similar to the bigger Frozen sing-along show performed multiple times a day in a theater in Streets of America.
Frozen fun throughout the rest of the day was separated throughout the park, including the aforementioned sing-along, and a soundstage being taken over with various temporary Frozen festivities.
The former location of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Play It was transformed into a Frozen-themed wilderness filled with winter-themed activities.
The main feature was an ice skating rink which allowed you a chance to rent skates and test your skills on the ice, as well as being the home of a small ice skating show.
There was also a small food cart selling Frozen-themed treats and a small play area with artificial snow in this building.
Many of the treats found in this plaza could also be found at various restaurants throughout the park, allowing you to celebrate the film no matter where you ate.
After a day of celebrating Frozen, you could end the night with a special fireworks spectacular featuring the iconic musical score of the film.
The Frozen Fireworks gave a second major nighttime spectacular to the park in addition to Fantasmic, and was a perfect way to end a day spent enjoying all of the special Frozen offerings throughout the park.
This celebration was the perfect way to bring the megahit of the first Frozen film into Walt Disney World for the first time. People expected to be able to find their favorite new Disney characters in the parks, and it allowed Disney to react faster than they are normally able to in their parks.
Disney rides take years to build, but this celebration brought multiple temporary attractions to the park in months, not years.
This celebration as it was always intended to be, was temporary. Frozen would find a permanent home in 2016 in Epcot with Frozen Ever After, and most of the offerings of this celebration would disappear forever.
The parade ended and since then the park has been left without a daily parade, with the exception of the miniature ones done throughout the COVID19 pandemic.
The stage in the hub of the park would eventually be replaced with a much smaller movable stage that could be used for stage performances, most significantly Star Wars A Galaxy Far Far Away.
The plaza holding the ice skating rink and other Frozen-themed offerings would become the third track for Toy Story Midway Mania, finally providing a permanent attraction for what had been a flex space since the park opened.
Frozen did get a permanent attraction in the park, with the Sing-Along moving to Echo Lake and replacing the American Idol Experience.
Frozen Fun became the first in a series of many Frozen offerings at the Disney Parks, and gave so many people their first experience based on the kingdom of Arendelle in Walt Disney World.
Comments
Post a Comment