While it’s not the arrival of a certain walking, talking snowman – something Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland will receive later in 2026 – Disney World Epcot’s flagship Frozen attraction is getting a major upgrade of its own after a brief refurbishment.
The doors reopen on February 12, 2026 – for the first time in what feels like forever for fans of the attraction – and when guests see Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff on Frozen Ever After, Ken Ricci, Executive Creative Development at Walt Disney Imagineering, told TechRadar, it will feel “as if they hopped off the screen themselves.”
“We wanted to enhance the look of Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff to be more true to their movie,” Ricci said. “So their movements are still the same, they’re still part of that same show, that same story, but now they have more expression and likeness in their face that just adds that extra dimension to telling that same story.”
Frozen Ever After originally opened at Epcot on June 21, 2016, premiering with then state-of-the-art figures that combined 3D-printed faces with projection-based animation layered over motors. It was a breakthrough at the time – blending physical movement with digitally animated expressions in a way few attractions had before, all while matching the movements, specifically Elsa’s, to moments from the animated film.
Nearly a decade later, the technology has evolved. In 2023, next-generation Frozen animatronic figures debuted at Hong Kong Disneyland. While Epcot’s version still routinely commands some of the longest wait times in the park, Imagineering saw an opportunity to make the experience even better.
The visible change is sculpted faces and enhanced expressions, which make these characters in real life look more in line with the film visuals. The less visible – and equally as significant – update is the infrastructure beneath them.
Ricci explained that Imagineering updated Epcot’s control systems and refined the figures’ kinematics to match those in Hong Kong.
“So, these heads are actually a lift of the Hong Kong design,” Ricci said. “We’re always mindful of ‘How can we do this quickly to get the attraction back open to guests?’ So we did some behind-the-scenes control system updates and further updates to the figures to match what we call kinematics – the mechanical vibrations – of the Hong Kong figures…”
By aligning those mechanical behaviors with the attraction’s control architecture, Imagineering could reuse existing performance data rather than rebuild the show animation from scratch, thereby reducing the necessary downtime for this refurbishment.
The choreography hasn’t changed, and the music remains intact, but the precision, fluidity, and facial fidelity of the figures have been modernized. More importantly, it’ll make the ride feel even more immersive.
Ricci emphasized that this type of cross-park upgrade strategy is part of a long-standing Imagineering philosophy.
“We’re always looking to leverage new technology that comes from our newer capital projects and insert that into our older attractions to enhance that guest experience,” he said.
Frozen Ever After’s refresh arrives amid a broader wave of animatronic innovation happening across Disney Experiences at its parks and on cruise ships. In 2025, Disneyland Park debuted a Walt Disney audio-animatronic timed to the park’s 70th anniversary, while Disney World received an animatronic Parrot inside the totally immersive Beak and Barrel lounge and one for Clawhauser in Zootopia: Better Zoogether.
And in 2026, Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris are set to debut an incredibly lifelike roaming Olaf figure – further signaling Disney’s continued investment in advanced character technology.
Ultimately, the success of the upgrade won’t be measured on the technical side; it’ll be in the experience of riding it. Ricci rode the refreshed attraction shortly before our conversation and shared:
“I just rode this morning as a test to give notes, and I tell you: in front of Elsa doing her ice magic, I got chills. It’s like she’s standing there in front of you and just stepped off the screen.”
It’s an exciting upgrade – one designed to make returning guests feel at home while giving the attraction a heightened sense of immersion. And for first-time riders, it raises the bar for what a character-driven park ride can feel like in 2026.
Frozen Ever After is still the same musical journey through Arendelle. It’s simply more immersive now, with modernized animatronics that sharpen the visuals without overpowering them – technology in service of story, not the other way around, which is certainly marching to Disney’s drumbeat.
You can, of course, stream Frozen and Frozen 2 on Disney+, one of the best streaming services.
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jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
