Disney World upgrades EPCOT’s Frozen Ever After with new tech, faces

BAY LAKE, Fla. - Disney World is giving the Frozen Ever After ride at EPCOT a tech upgrade with the Anna, Elsa and Kristoff figures getting new lifelike faces. 

The "Frozen"-themed dark ride will reopen Feb. 12 with the updated animatronics. 

The figures have been upgraded with advanced technology that makes their faces more expressive than they were before, according to Walt Disney Imagineers. 

"We’re always looking for new technology to improve our attractions and improve the guest experience," said Ken Ricci, Walt Disney Imagineering executive creative development. 

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The previous Frozen Ever After figures were Disney’s first all-electric animatronics and featured faces that were generated using rear projection mapping. While groundbreaking at the time, the technology began to show its age, prompting Walt Disney Imagineering to make a change. 

"We have a history of taking new innovation and technology and investing it back into our attractions," Ricci said. "And we saw an opportunity to do that here with Frozen."

Frozen Ever After at EPCOT is getting updated animatronic figures. (Courtesy of Disney)

Disney Imagineers looked to technology used for animatronics in the Frozen Ever After attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland’s World of Frozen as inspiration for the Frozen Ever After upgrade. 

Anna, Elsa and Kristoff’s new looks more closely match their appearances in the "Frozen" movie, and the figures are more articulated. 

"They have multi-functions," Ricci said. "They perform like a human would perform, with eye blink and eyebrows that move. And they can get more expression that you can read on the skin."

Frozen Ever After at EPCOT is getting updated animatronic figures. (Courtesy of Disney)

The story and overall ride experience are the same, but visitors might notice other small changes. Disney Imagineers took advantage of the ride’s downtime to make other enhancements throughout the attraction.

"We did touch up the snow with black lights and paint," Ricci said. "We did touch up some lighting. The projection technology used black lighting for the faces. We did have to transition that to white lighting."

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Anna, Elsa and Kristoff aren’t the only animatronics at Disney World sporting new technology. An advanced Clawhauser figure recently debuted at the new Zootopia: Better Zoogether attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. 

A new animatronic is on the way for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom, which is getting a new character named Buddy when it reopens from its refurbishment. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also getting an animatronic of Scooter when The Muppets take over the ride. 

Frozen Ever After, which opened in the Norway pavilion in 2016, replaced Maelstrom, the long-running boat ride. The ride features scenes from 2013’s "Frozen" along with music and characters such as Olaf and Swen. 

Ricci said Imagineering had been looking to update the attraction, and it came down to planning how they would do that. Imagineers spent a lot of time prepping behind the scenes to make the transition as quick and seamless as possible.

Ricci said the Frozen Ever After upgrade was a passion project for him. He recently rode the attraction to make sure everything was ready to go.

"I got chills seeing Elsa doing her ice magic," he said. " She looks amazing."