The new Frozen Fun area at Disney California Adventure is now open. I’ve checked it out a couple times and have several tips to help you make the most of your visit.
First of all, if you are a Southern California resident (or live in Northern Baja California) you can get a GREAT deal on multi-day tickets to Disneyland Resort. This Disneyland ticket deal is available for as little as $56/day, which is an amazing price.
If you’ve been looking at a Disney trip and have little ones interested in Frozen, you’re probably aware of the hype and long lines related to the one previous Frozen activity available at the Disneyland Resort – meeting Elsa and Anna. 4-6 hour lines in a small room in Fantasyland were replaced with a FastPass ticket system a few months ago. Now, everything Frozen has been moved to Hollywood Land in Disney California Adventure. More fun, fewer crowds, and a lot of new Frozen-themed activities are available there.
First, meeting the Frozen characters. To meet Elsa and/or Anna, a FastPass is required. These FastPasses are free. You can get them in Hollywood Land outside the Animation Studios building. Insert your active park ticket into the machine and you’ll be given a return ticket with a 20 minute window. Go early in the day, or they may run out of the FastPasses.
Disney Frozen Fun Tip: This is now ONLY available at Disney California Adventure park, not at Disneyland Park.
When you return, go inside the Animation Studios building, and you’ll have to wait up to 10 minutes in line to see Princess Anna or Queen Elsa. You may not get to see both of them. One big improvement this area has over the previous character visit in Disneyland is that there are multiple rooms and many more guests can be accommodated.
FastPasses are also available for the Frozen Sing Along Celebration in the Crown Jewel Theater. Get your pass outside the theater for the next available show time. You can also wait in a standby line.
Disney Frozen Fun Tip: When we went (the first showing), the show was not full and the standby line was easily accommodated.
Ok. You are probably tired of singing along to Frozen songs, but the show was still pretty fun. A pair of Arendelle historians tells the basic plot of the movie with a few movie stills, clips and most of the songs included, with words on screen for singing along. The characters come out and sing as well (Elsa, Anna, and Christoff) and there was even a magical snowfall at the end. Here’s a short video I took. Those are the teenage girls behind us (not me!) you can hear singing!
Also in the Animation building you’ll find the Animation Academy where you can learn to draw a snowman – either Olaf or Marshmallow. The classes are held continuously and last about 15 minutes.
Disney Frozen Fun Tip: If you have a little one who just wants to scribble, make sure they have their own board and ask the Animation Academy cast member for some crayons.
There’s also a mural of Arendelle for posing, and concept art from Frozen, along with other Disney and Disney-Pixar movies.
Frozen fans’ favorite snowman Olaf is also available for warm hugs. To meet Olaf, head to the Olaf ‘s Snow Fest across the street from the Animation Building, next to the Crown Jewel Theater. You can either wait in line just for the snow play, or wait in line to see Olaf and get a buzzer to return to the snow play area at your turn. The line was about 45 minutes when we went.
The snow play area is my least favorite part of the Frozen Fun. My kids still enjoyed it, but I thought it was poorly done. There is a small sled run, and snow to play in. There are wooden pieces to use to build a snowman, but there was a small amount of snow and it was so hard packed, it was difficult to even scoop up a small amount.
Disney Frozen Fun Tip: If you go toward park closing, this place is practically empty.
The area is very nicely decorated as Arendelle town square, which impressed my 7 year old. There is a giant snowflake in the sky, a frozen fountain, flags and more. There are merchandise shops and snack shops around the outside of the snow play area.
There were several other shops and snack stations available outside (including Oaken’s Trading Post – plenty of Frozen merchandise available), but most of the food was inside Olaf’s Snow Fest. Snacks included cotton candy, snowman veggie cup, decorated cookies, twisted pretzels, popcorn and more.
Disney Frozen Fun Tip: We tried the white hot chocolate with homemade minty marshmallows and loved it. The cast member even gave me one extra marshmallow for each of my kids. I also recommend the rice krispy treat.
The other snowman, Marshmallow, is available to meet outside on the east end of the Frozen Fun area.
Disney Frozen Fun Tip: He may look scary but up close he was pretty soft.
If you’re in the Frozen Fun area at night, check out the Frozen dance party. There are two dance areas, cast members dancing with the kids, snacks and drinks (including themed alcoholic beverages) and other fun. This was my kids’ favorite part of the Frozen Fun area.
Overall, the Frozen Fun area at Disney California Adventure is a nice addition to the park. There is plenty to do, lots of fun snacks and drinks, characters to meet, and toys to buy. If you are at Disney California Adventure with a Frozen fan, I recommend checking it out early in your day (maybe after snagging Fast Passes to Radiator Springs Racers).
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