Review: Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Hi everyone!
Note 8/7: Frozen Summer Fun has been extended through September 28th, with fireworks on the weekends!
The Frozen Summer Fun event has begun at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and lasts until September 1st, 2014. We booked the Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package on opening day, and it provides a premium experience for a reasonable price.
Follow Mousesteps on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest! We also talked in depth about Frozen Summer Fun and the Premium Package on Mousesteps Weekly #107 this week, and have a new article with 150 photos about Frozen Summer Fun.
We knew once the Frozen Summer Fun Package was announced that it would be similar to the Star Wars Weekends Feel the Force Package. It costs $59 for adults and $34 for children (ages 3-9) including tax and gratuity, and guests on the Frozen Summer Fun Package get 3 different experiences included. The first is reserved viewing for Anna & Elsa’s Royal Welcome, which is a procession that runs down Hollywood Blvd (and eventually to the Star Tours area).
We arrived early for check-in, and were the first in line. The procession begins each day at 11:00 a.m., and it lists 10:30 a.m. as the start of the package. We were there an hour earlier than that, just after 9:30 a.m – and they let in about a half hour later. Check-in is near Min & Bill’s.
We chose our time for the second part of our Frozen Summer Fun Package, a reserved spot for the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing Along Celebration.
Usually for special events, wristbands are given out. For the Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package, we received a very nice souvenir lanyard.
Our Take-Along Olaf (or as I call it, Olaf on a stick) wore a lanyard for the photo.
Not only do guests receive viewing for the parade, but Coke products including bottled water are included, along with Mickey Ice Cream Bars and Frozen Lemonade Cups. Guests can enjoy all they want. Water was quite welcome on a hot day.
A Cast Member hands us two Dasani waters.
Our view of the procession was along Hollywood Blvd. Kids have a special seating area on the ground with a view of the Sorcerer Hat stage. Depending on how full the Frozen Premium Package is, guests may not end up with a view on the rope – arrive early if possible.
Anna and Elsa arrive on a horse-drawn sleigh.
Anna blows a kiss to the crowd.
One of most anticipated parts of the Frozen Summer Fun event was Kristoff making his first appearance at a Disney park. He is seen throughout the day, including in the parade and during the fireworks. There are no meet and greets with the Frozen characters in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Here is our video of Kristoff in the procession!
Once the procession reaches the Sorcerers Hat, Anna and Elsa are welcomed in a short stage presentation. Guests on the Frozen Premium Package should follow along with the rest of the crowd to get as close to the stage as they are comfortable (the front of the stage does get crowded). I stayed in the package location with my super zoom camera, and it wasn’t too busy there.
Our video of Elsa and Anna’s official welcome:
We had reserved a spot for the very first showing of “For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration”. There are various times during the day that guests can choose.
There was some confusion at the Premiere Theater as to whether guests on the Frozen Premium Package received VIP seating or had to still get in the regular line. It turned out (as we were originally told), we had our own entrance in a back door. We were let in first, before other guests.
As with everything else, we arrived early for the show. These are the doors we would eventually enter through.
We really appreciate all the wonderful Cast Members! This was the first time we had seen one of these named drink bottles, in this case it was “Buddy”.
We ended up with front row center seats. I thought the show would be mostly just guests singing along to “Frozen” songs, but it is so much more than that. Anna began the show, which eventually was taken over by the “Royal Historians”.
Here is our video of Anna introducing the show.
Guests really got into singing along with the Frozen songs, even the words that didn’t appear on the screen.
The Royal Historians kept the half-hour show moving rapidly, with humor in between songs.
I enjoyed watching the Royal Historians during the songs as much as watching the screen – the actors were very animated.
Projections and effects are used to highlight the film clips.
Kristoff appears a couple of times in the show, and the Royal Historian seems to see something she likes!
Kristoff and Anna are part of the finale.
Elsa appears through the fog effects to sing “Let it Go” with the audience.
Elsa has all the moves down from the film!
Elsa belts it out as the “snow” falls.
Here is our video of Elsa leading the audience in “Let it Go”.
This is a great show, we highly recommend it!
Due to bad weather in the area, the dessert party was moved to the Disney Junior attraction. This was how it worked also during the Star Wars Feel the Force package. While we liked the set-up inside, it does cut the dessert party shorter as guests need to move away from the party to the fireworks viewing before the dessert party officially ends. Not that we needed more dessert, but it is nice to enjoy drinks and desserts at a slower pace throughout the evening.
If the weather looks bad and nobody is at the usual dessert party location at the stated time (or in the half hour before), check Disney Junior. Nobody was manning the dessert party area for a while, and I posted the information on my Instagram/Twitter, which helped point a few guests (and those in line with them) here.
We were let in at 8:30 p.m., the time stated on our card.
Here is our video showing the dessert party inside Disney Junior.
One of the questions we have received the most is about the alcoholic drinks included. There are three of them.
The names of the drinks are Iced Summer, Iced Coffee, and Warm Winter Grog. I am not sure why the name of the last implies it is a warm drink, they all are cold beverages. But we tried the Iced Summer and Warm Winter Grog – several times each, just to make sure we liked them (of course!) There are specialty drinks for kids as well, plus sodas, bottled water, and coffee/tea.
Guests can enjoy chocolate fondue, which Anna sings about in Frozen – or just fill up on the fruit and snack options here without chocolate.
A Cast Member drizzles chocolate onto a plate of fruit.
There is also a yogurt push pop with Anna on it.
I tried Bubble Tea for the first time ever a few days back, and these “bubbles” inside of the push pop reminded me of that.
We expected the popular Olaf cupcake to make an appearance here, but it was full size Anna and Elsa cupcakes. It is rare to see full-size dessert options at a dessert party, and I’m not sure if that will continue – usually the cupcakes are the smaller versions. The Anna cupcakes are chocolate with a delicious (very sweet) frosting, and purple sprinkles – the colors of her dress. * Update July 10th, the cupcakes are now the smaller versions.
The Elsa cupcakes are vanilla with blue icing. Just as at the Feel the Force party, the candy characters would sometimes disappear from the cupcakes (mostly Elsa, not so much Anna). These cupcakes are also for sale in the park, at Wandering Oaken’s Frozen Funland for $5.50 each.
Olaf Marshmallow Pops are another popular item here.
Other items on the dessert buffet include character names, like Elsa’s Key Lime Tarts.
The Brownie Bites didn’t have a character name.
These Rice Krispie Treats are a dessert party standard.
Kristoff’s No Sugar Added Lemon Icebox Cookies.
I never even made it to the Strawberry Shortcake, with snowflake decorated chocolate.
This was a lot of dessert for us – two cupcakes and the marshmallow pop!
Unlike the Star Wars Feel the Force Party, the bar and dessert tables never had much of a wait during the party we attended.
I asked for a very light drizzle of chocolate – but I think next time I will skip that and just enjoy a dish of plain fruit (I think there will be a next time!) There were some very nice fruit choices, including pineapple chunks and strawberries.
Jeff brought back a small plate of desserts, I didn’t try any of these except the brownie bite. Jeff liked the no-sugar cookie.
Guests serve themselves non-alcoholic beverages.
I thought the Olaf pop was just okay, I think the Olaf cupcake is much tastier – that can be found around the park during Frozen Summer Fun.
If that isn’t enough dessert, guests can also indulge in more choices for ice cream than are available during parade viewing. The Mickey Premium Bar is joined by several other decadent ice cream treats, including the Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich and Chocolate Covered Banana. I didn’t even look at this cart until our way out, I couldn’t think about dessert after we shared the cupcakes!
The cart is designed in a Frozen motif.
There is no seating during the dessert party, but there are tables.
Coffee and tea are off to the side.
They did a nice job with the lighting inside Disney Junior!
Usually, the tables would be set up for viewing the fireworks and show. It does make it easier and more comfortable, having all the package guests spread out. In this case, it felt much more crowded with almost everyone trying to see the stage more. The Frozen Fireworks Spectacular is an intertwined show and fireworks event, instead of each being separate. It is hard to see both the show and fireworks well from one spot.
Anna, Kristoff, Anna and Olaf (on the screen) are part of the finale.
Guests can tag #OlafSummerFun with their Take-Along Olaf photos and try to be part of the finale! Chosen guests have their photos shown on the screen.
The dessert party location is not a prime spot for fireworks. It is great for the show, but either the Sorcerer’s Hat or the trees block quite a bit of the pyrotechnics. This is as good as it gets from here – but I was also very far back from the show.
The cast of Frozen takes to the stage one last time.
Guests can call 407-939-1939 to reserve the Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package.
We really enjoyed the Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package! Everyone we spoke with on the package was very impressed by it, and one mother said she thought it was the best value for a ticketed event that she’s attended. We thought that $59 for three separate components including a dessert party with alcoholic specialty drinks was a very fair price (and maybe just a little underpriced). The Star Wars Feel the Force Party was the same way, but with two components, no show seating. That said, Frozen Summer Fun itself is a free event – there is a fee for ice skating at Wandering Oaken’s Summer Funland, but the parade, fireworks, and sing-along have no cost. The Frozen Summer Fun Premium Package just makes it a lot easier, with some nice desserts and drinks included. It is a VIP style experience without a high VIP price.