By: Jordan Achilles
In anticipation for the Blu-ray and DVD release of Frozen, Kidzworld traveled to Quebec City, Canada to “Follow in the Footsteps of the Filmmakers” with Disney. We toured the Hôtel de Glace, went dogsledding, visited a Maple Syrup factory (pretty Canadian, eh?), and went snowmobiling. All of which was inspiration for the fun, adventurous filled film!
Entrance at the Hotel de Glace
Frozen is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic fairy tale The Snow Queen. Following princess sisters Anna (voiced by Kristin Bell) and Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) in the magical world Arendelle. When Elsa accidentally unleashes an eternal winter upon Arendelle after an emotional outburst at her coronation, she flees the kingdom and Anna sets off in search of her to save Arendelle and her sister.
The characters of Frozen sculpted on the wall at the Ice Hotel
The first stop on our tour was the Hôtel de Glace, in Quebec City. The hotel is the only Ice Hotel in America made entirely of ice and snow. 500 tons of ice and 30,000 tons of snow, and is -5°C at all times! he Hotel is only open two and a half months a year. Each year the hotel takes around 6-8 weeks to build and only about 6 hours to bulldoze down at the end of the season. This is one of the most beautiful and magical places we have ever been.
The entrance to the Frozen room at the Hotel de Glace
Our tour guide Pierre guided us through the different rooms, all of which led us to a special Frozen-themed room. The first room we visited was the chapel, where around 25 weddings are held each season. There are 44 room and theme suites, with beautiful sculptures on the walls. The beds are made of entirely of ice, topped with a wooden board and mattress. One the coolest things is when you touch the ice, it’s not wet - that's because all of the ice is completely pure and almost crystal-like. The Hôtel de Glace was an incredible inspiration for the filmmakers when designing Elsa’s beautiful Ice Palace. It felt like we were there with her!
A bedroom at the hotel
The Frozen-themed room had a snowman Olaf, a huge Marshmallow (fangs included), and a Grand ice slide. We were then lucky enough to interview Michael Giaimo (Art Director), Peter Del Vecho (producer), Chris Buck (Director), and Jennifer Lee (Directed by/Screenplay by).
Olaf and the slide
Marshmallow and Olaf at the Hotel de Glace
After we completed the interview we left the Hôtel de Glace and went dogsledding - this is the first time we have ever done this activity, and we were pretty excited about it. After receiving instructions we headed up to the trail where the dogs were waiting for us. Each sled is powered by 6 dogs, and in the sled there's a spot for the passenger with the driver behind. Kidzworld got to the drive the sled the entire time, and we have to say it was exhilarating and slightly scary all at once. We felt like Kristoff racing his sleigh with Sven to save Anna.
Dogsledding!
The next day we woke up bright and early to head over to The Sugar Shack where we were served a traditional breakfast with pancakes and maple syrup. After breakfast we were given a demonstration of how maple syrup is traditionally made, and afterwards we tried Maple Syrup butter and made maple syrup lollipops - yum!
Sugar Shack
Making maple lollipops
Our final adventure on the trip was Snowmobiling. We raced around on the snow as a group weaving between trees and down the rolling hills. Snowmobiling was the perfect end to our wonderful winter adventure!
The team snowmobiling
Our trek to Quebec City to see the real-life Ice Palace and the wondrous winter activities that followed were a breathtaking adventure for Kidzworld, we had such a whirlwind of fun that the trip whizzed by like a blizzard! After sampling the delights of Quebec City and seeing the scenery that inspired the film, we couldn't be more excited for the release of Frozen on Blu-ray and DVD, and we'll be ready to curl up and watch with some authentic maple syrup treats!
Disney's Frozen - Hotel de Glace
