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| Manufacturer | Intamin AG | ||||||||||||
| Product | Shoot The Chute | ||||||||||||
| Designer / calculations | Walt Disney Imagineering | ||||||||||||
| Capacity | 32 Viking boats seating 16 passengers each | ||||||||||||
| Hourly capacity | 1000 | ||||||||||||
| Drop | 28 feet | ||||||||||||
| Speed | 15 mph | ||||||||||||
| Track length | 964 feet | ||||||||||||
| Animatronics | 8 | ||||||||||||
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Frozen Ever after is a Shoot The Chute Dark Ride located at Epcot in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA. Opening as a replacement to the former Maelstrom ride, the ride has guests following a retelling of the 2013 film of the same name, with animatronics, special effects and a thrilling finale at the end. The ride is located in the Norway pavilion of the World showcase area of the park.
History
After Epcot’s phase 2 expansion, a new pavilion for the World Showcase area was drafted up. It was to be about the country of Norway and its legends. Imagineer Joe Rhode was brought onboard to help design the pavilion. After designing was completed, the pavilion started construction in 1986.
On July 5, 1988, the pavilion opened up, with a boat ride named Maelstrom. The ride took guests on a fantastical journey through Norwegian legends, splashing guests down at the end. The ride was opened by the Norwegian government. The ride received little to no changes other the name SeaVenture being scrapped, and the oil rig’s effects being toned down. The pavilion would operate for many more years to come, and it made its mark by being Epcot’s first ride with a thrill element.
After the incredible success of Frozen, Disney was looking for a way to somehow incorporate the movie into the parks. One of the ways was to replace Maelstrom with an attraction based on Frozen. This idea was considered but was promptly made the main concept after the movie's worldwide success at the box office.
On September 14, 2014, Disney officials announced that Maelstrom would be leaving the park in favor of Frozen ever after, and the ride would promptly do so on October 5. The ride would reuse the entirety of the layout of the previous ride, barring the station and the removal of the Spirit of Norway theater in order to expand the queue line.
After a year and a half of construction, Frozen Ever After opened to guests on June 21, 2016. The ride was the second World Showcase retheming, after Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros, in 2007. The ride has a Switch track during the middle of the ride, and during the final drop, that allows the guests' boats to go forwards and backwards. The ride has remained the same, with zero changes after opening.
