REVIEW: Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs at Hong Kong Disneyland

Wandering Oaken's Sliding Sleighs Review

Opening with World of Frozen back in November 2023, Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs (WOSS) is one of two attractions in the land and is unique to Hong Kong Disneyland’s World of Frozen. Located in the forest side of World of Frozen, this junior coaster is a fun ride that will have you twisting and turning through the mountains of Arendelle. But how does it stack up against the other coasters in Hong Kong Disneyland? Read my review to find out!

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Background (How a Frozen Coaster Came to Be)

Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs was actually not the first idea Walt Disney Imagineering had for an Oaken-themed attraction. It was originally supposed to be Wandering Oaken’s Dancing Sleighs, which based on the concept art looked similar to Aquatopia in Tokyo DisneySea or Luigi’s Rollickin Roadsters in Disney California Adventure. But during the development process, they changed the concept of the ride into a Frozen-themed coaster.

From the concept art, I initially thought that the attraction was going to be similar to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which had some dark ride-esque show scenes to complement the mild thrills. But after watching on-ride videos following the land’s debut, it became clear that this was just a very elaborately themed junior coaster, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Disney Parks need a mix of attractions, and considering that the other two coasters in the park are geared more towards adults, HKDL really needed a smaller coaster that younger guests could ride and enjoy. So with tempered expectations, I took my first ride on the world’s first and only Frozen coaster in January 2024 during my one-day visit to the park on a stopover from New Zealand.

And it’s safe to say it met my expectations.

The Story of Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs

The story of Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs, just like the rest of the land, revolves around the Summer Snow Day celebration happening in Arendelle. Summer Snow Day is the anniversary of the day Anna saved Elsa with an act of true love that thawed her frozen heart. As part of the occasion, Oaken decides to build a coaster on the mountain located at the back of his shop.

Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs is located in the “forest” side of World of Frozen. This sub-area of World of Frozen is the reason why the land isn’t called “Arendelle” because technically the land extends to the forest on the opposite side of Arendelle, which you can access by walking over King Agnarr Bridge.

To make sure the coaster is a success, Oaken bases the sled design on Kristoff’s sleigh and enlists Olaf and Sven’s help to power the coaster. This story element results in a pretty fun scene at the beginning of the ride, which I will go into in the next section.

But as I said in my Frozen Ever After review, I like that the entire land revolves around this one celebration. It adds a lot of storytelling layers to the land and makes the land feel more alive and purposeful. The separation of Arendelle from the forest also makes the land feel more expansive, which is a total win in my book.

Queue and Ride Vehicle

The queue is very well-themed and is probably on par with Frozen Ever After’s queue. The detail and storytelling in the Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs queue is a lot more intentional than the Frozen Ever After queue. It’s for these reasons that they are tied in my eyes, with both of them being in the top 5 queues of the entire park.

The queue for the Frozen coaster starts in Wandering Oaken’s shop from the movie before it takes you inside the mountain. Inside the mountain you’ll find Oaken’s sauna and, if you time it right, you might see him go up to the window and draw things on the condensation. Afterwards, you enter the load area, where there is a desk that showcases Oaken’s different ideas for how he was going to get the sleds up the mountain. If you look closely, one of the sketches actually made it into the ride.

Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs Ride Experience

You then board your sleigh and, once the ride starts, turn a corner to find Olaf riding on top of Sven. Just like one of the sketches, Olaf has his carrot nose at the end of a stick. He dangles this in front of Sven, who then walks on a treadmill-like contraption, causing the cars to climb up the mountain.

After cresting over the peak, the coaster then begins. After a few twists and turns through different areas of the mountain with gorgeous views of the land, you end up back at the loading station. It’s a thrilling, albeit incredibly short, ride down the mountain on the forest side of World of Frozen.

Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs Thoughts

The queue is probably the most interesting thing about Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs. It’s very detailed and has an amazing sense of place. Like I said, it’s one of the best queues in the park, up there with Iron Man Experience, Frozen Ever After, and Mystic Manor. I like how it starts in Oaken’s shop then transitions to the interior of the mountain. The parts of the queue with his sauna and his workstation do a good job of fleshing out the story of the ride. All in all, it’s a very fun queue with some interesting thematic elements.

The ride itself, while it does offer gorgeous vantage points of the land and looks even better at night, was really just ok. It felt like the shortest coaster ever to me, even compared to things like Chip and Dale’s Gadget Coaster at Disneyland.

But I will also admit that, for its length and for a family coaster, it was more thrilling than it needed to be. The turns were sharp and the speed felt fast, so couple that with the beautiful theming of the mountain and you’ve got a coaster that, as long as you go in with the right and reasonable expectations, should be fun.

It doesn’t pack a lot in the story department. Oaken wants to celebrate Summer Snow Day by building a coaster with sleighs and enlists Olaf and Sven’s help. There isn’t really any tension to the story.

But honestly, as the secondary attraction of the land, it doesn’t really need a complex story. I’m just glad they still themed it to Summer Snow Day. Rides like these are supposed to have simple stories, and what it did have in terms of story was far better than other junior coasters. Integrating a “why” into a coaster will always be better than just building one as is without any explanation.

But this ride does solve a problem HKDL has had for years. The three other “coasters” in the park (if you consider RC Racer a coaster) are all geared towards older guests. HKDL lacked a simple thrill coaster for younger guests. This Frozen coaster makes the park a lot more well-rounded just by existing. Not everything needs to be an explosive E-ticket. Theme parks need smaller attractions like this to offer variety to guests, and this definitely does that.

Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs Tips

This is the second ride you should rope drop after Frozen Ever After. The problem is, most of the people who rope dropped Frozen Ever After will be heading here next. This is why it’s important to be one of the first on Frozen Ever After right as the park opens. The sooner you get off Frozen Ever After, the higher your chances of getting on Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs without a long wait. Sometimes this ride has a higher wait time than Frozen Ever After because of its lower ride capacity, so riding while the line is short is crucial.

Aside from at park opening, another good time to ride this would be after the sun sets. Most people ride this attraction in the daytime, so its wait times goes down significantly once the sun sets. It’s also nice to see this land all lit up at night, and Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs offers the best vantage point to take in the scenery.

It doesn’t really matter where you sit on this attraction, although sitting on the right side will give you a good view of the Sven and Olaf animatronic. Both sides of the coaster get amazing views of the land, so feel free to sit anywhere. There’s no real advantage to sitting in front other than seeing World of Frozen with an unobstructed view, but it goes by so fast and twists and turns so much that sitting anywhere will give you a good view.

Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs Review Conclusion

If you temper your expectations and experience Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs for what it is rather than for what it’s lacking, you’ll have a great experience. It doesn’t rank as high as other attractions in the park, but it’s a welcome addition to the park and its lineup. I would say include it in your HKDL trip if the lines for it aren’t insanely long.

Rating: 5.5/10

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