A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The Royal Sommerhus
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
THE ROYAL SOMMERHUS IN EPCOT’S WORLD SHOWCASE
By Jim Korkis
The Royal Sommerhus in Epcot’s World Showcase refers to a summer house for the royal family of Arendelle to temporarily retreat from the business of the kingdom. It was meant to tie in with the storyline of the Norway pavilion attraction, Frozen Ever After, where Queen Elsa embraces her magical icy powers to create a beautiful “winter-in-summer” day for the entire kingdom, a “Summer Snow Day.”
Queen Elsa and Princess Anna are characters from the popular animated feature film Frozen (2013). The original Snow Queen story originated in Denmark, but the kingdom of Arendelle in the film was, in fact, inspired by Norway, which is why the characters and the new attraction were incorporated into this pavilion.
The wait time to meet these two popular Disney princesses when they first appeared in the pavilion soared to several hours so it was necessary to create a meet-and-greet location to better manage the hoard of guests. The Royal Sommerhus opened June 21, 2016.
(c) Disney
The quaint meet-and-greet location is a combination of rustic wood, ornate paintings and carvings to give the impression of a “homey” inviting residence that would make guests feel comfortable especially with all the authentic details including childhood toys.
Lauren Niederhier, WDI assistant project manager told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper: “So everything in the cabin is really harkening back to when Anna and Elsa were younger. You see family heirlooms, traditional artifacts, Norwegian styles of folk art. The whole house is really filled with all of those types of touches that really kind of show you what their family life was like as young girls.”
The queue through the house is filled with examples of rosemaling, a traditional Norwegian decorative painting where everything became a canvas for ornamentation and flowery designs.
Niederhier told writer Barb Nefer: “We made sure that all of the details are really specific to Norway, but that they also tell the story of Anna and Elsa as young girls.
“The story of the cabin is that this is where they came to be with their families in the summer and this was kind of their relaxation place, so you’ll see that everything about the cabin kind of tells that story and shows their family heritage.
“This character greeting area didn’t go into an already existing structure like the new attraction. This is a completely new area. We created this space to extend the architectural story of Norway so it is a new place for Anna and Elsa but steeped in their family history.
“The cabin is actually based on a real one in Trondheim. The Imagineering creative team traveled to Norway to get a first-hand look at the areas the cabin is based on, to get an idea of folk art styles, the paintings, the architecture and to really bring that to life in Epcot.
“Some of the tapestries we have are very specific to Norway and if you look closely, you’ll see some of them are actually related to Maelstrom, the attraction that was here previously.”
One tapestry depicts the three-headed troll that used to send guests over the falls in the Maelstrom attraction.
Imagineer Wyatt Winter, who is a project manager and show producer, said that the Sommerhus design was inspired by an 1817 cabin that is situated outside of Trondheim, Norway that is a part of the Sarpsborg Open Air Museum.
“When we opened it and we started training our cast members and bringing people in, some of our Norwegian cast came in and said, ‘This is just like my grandparents’ house!’ We even have a couple that are from Trondheim. They’ve been to that house and can vouch for it.”
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Thanks, Jim!
Here’s the scoop on the Royal Sommerhus from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit:
And there’s more on Frozen Ever After here. And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Secret Stories of Disneyland, his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.
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