Frozen: A Musical Invitation Review at Disneyland Paris

During a recent visit to Disneyland Paris, my family and I (which included my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and 7 year old niece) attended the 13:30 Saturday showing of Frozen: A Musical Invitation.

We were all excited, especially my niece, as Frozen has always been a favorite Disney movie. This interactive show, housed within a smaller theater in the Walt Disney Studio Park, has a potential to delight fans of the film. However, there are some aspects that may detract from the overall experience.

Here’s my honest review of Frozen: A Musical Invitation at Disneyland Paris.

The Practical Information about the Musical

Before we dive into the review, I want to go over a little bit of practical information.

The musical is held in the Animation Celebration building in Walt Disney Studios Park. The theater is small so there’s a very limited amount of people who can attend. It’s highly recommended to get into the standby line 30-40 minutes before the show start to guarantee a spot.

You can check the DLP app for show times daily and the entire musical runs for about 30 minutes.

My Frozen: A Musical Invitation Honest Review

Before we even get into the meat of this review I’m going to be completely honest. I think this is the worse of all of the Broadway style shows at Disneyland Paris. While I’ll happily go to Mickey and the Magician or the Lion King every DLP visit, I will not be wasting my time with Frozen again.

Queue Experience and Atmosphere

My sister-in-law pre-purchased tickets to guarantee our seats for the musical. My niece is Frozen crazy and this is the only way she’s likely be able to “see” Elsa.

I’m not going to lie, but spending the extra money for the guaranteed access was a good move. The amount of people who can attend each showing is much smaller than the other shows. Plus, we didn’t have to stand in line as long since we were able to roll in about 10 minutes before they opened the door into the lobby.

The two attendants manning the gate and door were super nice. They were also incredibly patient with the kids running around working off all the sugar they’ve probably eaten.

Lobby of the Theater

About 10 minutes before show time they opened the door into the lobby. The lobby remained split for those who had guaranteed access and for normal standby.

There were things to look at in the lobby and about 5 minutes before the theater doors opened there was a little cartoon that had absolutely nothing to do with Frozen.

My highlight for the lobby was a projector on the ceiling that projected stars onto the carpet and they moved around. All of the toddlers, from both queue sides, were kept occupied trying to chase the stars. Honestly, it was kind of like using a laser with a bunch of cats. I highly doubt that this was what DLP intended, but it kept the kids occupied until the doors opened and we could sit.

Seat Comfort and Viewing Angles

The doors for the guests with guaranteed tickets opened up about 2 minutes before standby. This way we could choose whatever seat we wanted. Of course everyone wanted to be up close.

We got seats towards the middle in the 2nd row.

The seats are long, curved wooden benches with really short seat backs. The benches themselves are not deep at all so if you’re tall or have a big bum it’s not comfortable. While the seats in the Lion King are also wooden benches, they’re deep enough to fully sit on and aren’t physically painful. The seats in Frozen? A painful disappointment.

Also, the leg room between rows wasn’t very much. Maybe a little less than you’d get in a premium seat on an airplane but nothing like business or first class (that would be the seats in Mickey and the Magician).

As far as where you can sit, there wasn’t a bad angle or spot. You’re able to see and hear everything clearly. Honestly, sitting one or two more rows back wouldn’t have been a bad thing for photos.

Storyline, Cast Performance, and Audience Interaction

The show is split up into 2 theaters. In the first theater, you’re in Kristoff’s barn along with a huge, life-sized animatronic Sven. Anna comes in speaking mostly in French while Kristoff speaks mostly English. This makes it really easy for non-French speakers to follow the story.

The synopsis is Anna and Sven are planning a surprise for Elsa. They want to get ALL of the people of Arendelle (i.e. the audience) to dance for Elsa. So Anna teaches everyone some dance moves for Let it Go. After learning the dance moves, we all go to Elsa’s Ice Castle by transitioning to the second theater.

The kids were really into doing the dance moves, the adults, not so much. There were some really grumpy looking faces around the theater.

Not a Disney Broadway Show

Don’t think that Frozen at DLP is a “Broadway” style show. It consists of 3 performers, some animatronics and a projection. It’s cute, the performers did well, it just had zero “wow” factor if you’re not 3 or Frozen obsessed.

The Transition Between Theaters

This was THE most disappointing part of the show. While I haven’t exactly been a huge Disney parks fan this past year (due to how they’re treating people with disability in the US parks), normally Disney’s crowd control is spot on. Even at the Paris Park.

However, when the doors to the 2nd theater opened, it was a free for all.

Those that had been sitting in the back half of the theater did a complete bum rush to try to get as close to the stage as they could. In this frenzy, a rather large person knocked straight into my elderly mother-in-law almost pushing her straight over. I was the first one in when this happened, with my niece right behind me so this meant people got in between my sister and mother-in-law. We didn’t even get to sit together.

What this means is the tickets for guaranteed access only guarantees you a spot IN Frozen. It doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to sit in the same row in the 2nd theater or that you will even stay with your party.

Visual Effects, Stage Design, and Sound Quality

I have nothing bad to say about the theater production itself. All of the effects were spot on, the stage (especially in theater 1) was amazing and the sound quality was great.

I do think that Micky and the Magician and the Lion King were a little more “wow” in comparison though.

Takeaway from Frozen: A Musical Invitation at Disneyland Paris

Overall, while the cast and visuals of Frozen: A Musical Invitation were enjoyable, the lack of comfortable seating and organization made it feel less worthwhile (especially paying extra for guaranteed access).

Personally, I won’t be back. Instead I’ll spend my time at other shows that are not only comfortable, but are better organized and have some “wow” factor for a Disney Broadway style show.

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