During the World of Frozen media event at Hong Kong Disneyland this past week, we were given the incredible opportunity to take a walking tour of the new land alongside two Imagineers. They were Michel Den Dulk (executive creative director, Walt Disney Imagineering) and Amanda Chiu (senior producer at Walt Disney Imagineering Asia). Together, Michel and Amanda shared many incredible details and fun facts about the creation of the world’s first Frozen-themed land.
Our tour began in the Village side of Arendelle, which is home to the area’s main shops and dining establishment, as well as the Frozen Ever After attraction. While many Disney experiences have often tried to hide the outside world, World of Frozen did something quite different by factoring in the looming Lantau mountains behind the park into the design of the new area. They spoke about how the mountains were worked into some of the initial 3D renderings during the design process.
Moving into Frozen Ever After, we learned how the Hong Kong version of the attraction differs from the EPCOT original, and what they were able to improve on. Scenes were fleshed out, the human animatronics used a more traditional face design, and new things were also implemented. Michel had wanted to incorporate ice blocks from Kristoff’s ice business into the queue at EPCOT, but there wasn’t enough space. Here in Hong Kong, that was not an issue, so the ice blocks are in!
After that, we made our way over to the Forest side of Arendelle, which is home to Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs and Playhouse in the Woods. The Sliding Sleighs coaster filled a need at Hong Kong Disneyland for an introductory coaster for young thrill seekers – something akin to The Barnstormer at Magic Kingdom. We learned that the structure for both the coaster and the Playhouse in the Woods show experience are intertwined into one building, with a coaster support in the queue for the attraction doubling as a Troll totem pole.
Over the course of 40 minutes or so, we learned a lot more about World of Frozen than we ever could have without Michel and Amanda’s help. You can see most of the tour for yourself in the video below!
Follow our World of Frozen tag for much more still to come from the grand opening event of Hong Kong Disneyland’s newest land!