Though it doesn’t official open until January 7th, Disney California Adventure debuted parts of their Frozen Fun promotion of Saturday, December 20th. In addition to Anna and Elsa’s move to the Animation Building from Fantasyland, guests could meet Olaf, draw a snowman at Animation Academy, shop at Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post, and Freeze the Night at DCA’s new themed dance party.
Frozen Fun essentially takes over the Hollywood Land area from the entryway back to the Hyperion Theatre and (“temporarily”) replaces both Muppet*Vision 3D and The Mad T Party. Originally it was expected that all elements of the promotion would be open for the preview, but sing-a-long stage show For the First Time in Forever as well as Olaf’s Snow Fest on Stage 17 were delayed. Rumors put their soft opening dates as next weekend, but Cast Members stick with the official opening date of January 7th when asked just in case.
Another seemingly precautionary measure that Cast Members are taking involves the Anna and Elsa meet and greet. The FastPass-only system implemented for the sisters a few week’s ago carries over to their Character Close-Up location, but Cast Members are now informing guests that they may only get to meet one of the two girls. From what I could gather, it seems that the plan is to usually have both greeting at the same time, but the disclaimer helps avoid any (pardon the impending pun) meltdown that could occur when a young princess enters an Elsa-less meeting room.
The situation surrounding the Olaf meet and greet is also interesting. As his Snow Fest building isn’t quite ready, everyone’s favorite snowman was stationed out front of the stage. When I arrived at rope drop a stand-by line immediately formed. Later in the day Olaf was not out and Cast Members told guests that a stand-by line would be starting a few minutes for when he returned. On top of that there were many reports on Twitter than FastPasses to meet Olaf were being distributed. My guess is that all of this will be straightened out when his semi-permanent location is ready.
Since Anna and Elsa have taken over the Character Close-Up area that used to be the exit for the Animation Academy, that attraction now exits through its entrance with the queue for the next show extending along the main floor. Speaking of Animation Academy, it is now subtitled “Do You Want to Draw A Snowman?” and each session will teach you to draw either Olaf or Marshmallow. Right now the two snowmen alternate, but based on the crowds I saw I wouldn’t be surprised if Olaf takes over more of the slots going forward.
Once the sun went down it was time for Freeze the Night, billed as a family dance party that also just happens to serve alcohol. Aesthetically Freeze the Night’s set pieces look very similar to those of Mad T Party, except painted blue and silver. As for the show, it’s more similar to ElecTRONica. Replacing the arcade element that was present at both of those parties is a Marshmallow meet and greet where the monster snowman’s arms are controlled by puppeteers. On the main stage DJ Chill spins in between dance sets by The Ice Breakers and announcements from the hosts of the evening whose names I don’t remember but you can bet were snow/ice related.
Across from the main stage there are live ice sculptures being created with the use of fire, picks, and even chain saws. I had gone in assuming that the ice sculpting would be its own show with set times. Instead, following a short introduction, the first carver came out to create her piece. The music doesn’t stop for this nor do the dance sets. It’s also not a very quick process. This lead to many somewhat awkward moments between the audience and the carver where the former weren’t quite sure what to pay attention to. Aside from that, the work they did is very impressive and fun to watch… for a while. Perhaps this is just a matter of working out the kinks of the first night.
You’d be foolish to think that Frozen is just contained to DCA, as Arendelle also made its miniature debut in Storybook Land yesterday replacing the Old Mill scene. A new version of the Fantasy Faire show that tells the story of Frozen is also coming soon, but did not perform on Saturday.
Check out our photos from the events below and stay tuned for more info as Frozen Fun continues to roll out.
