Walt Disney World has announced that the Frozen Ever After Audio-Animatronics at EPCOT will be updated to remove the unpopular rear-projected faces. The new Audio-Animatronics will take inspiration from the new figures in Hong Kong Disneyland. The update will take place in early 2026. Here’s the announcement!
Frozen Ever After Audio-Animatronics to Receive Upgrades, Removing Rear Projected Faces
In the heart of the Norway pavilion at EPCOT, Frozen fanatics have been sailing through the story of Princess Anna and Queen Elsa on Frozen Ever After since it debuted in 2016. It is full of Audio-Animatronics figures – from Sven and Kristoff, an ice-skating Olaf, Marshmellow and a whole herd of Snowgies, and of course, Anna and Elsa.
Many of these figures were groundbreaking in the world of Audio-Animatronics – not just as part of the first Frozen attraction, but also as the first attraction to have all electric Audio-Animatronics figures, and the first to combine electric motors and 3D printing. That’s a lot of firsts!
To build the attraction and make it feel like the enchanted Frozen story, it all came down to one wrist. Elsa is known for her magical, ice-forming hand gestures; for her Audio-Animatronics figure to handle the fluid movements just like Elsa does on screen, Imagineers needed enough space to run cables and motors down her arms and hands. They figured out how big Elsa’s wrist needed to be and scaled everything else in the attraction to match.
Since then, Walt Disney Imagineering couldn’t “let it go” and has built upon that very technology of all-electric motors, 3D printing, and scaling for every figure they produce – from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, to Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival at Tokyo DisneySea, and World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
