Since last year, I’ve written about the many different versions of Snow White’s Enchanted Wish (formerly known as Snow White’s Scary Adventures), as well as the many changes Peter Pan’s Flight has seen in Disneyland California. The Fantasyland dark rides have all gotten upgrades in the last decade, but they all have secured the charm that they possessed when they originally opened. One Fantasyland dark ride, which is one of my favourites, has seen changes but also remained true to the original vision.

Alice in Wonderland Walk-Through in Disneyland

One of Walt’s most prized possessed films that he worked on in his lifetime was Alice in Wonderland. It was originally meant to be his 4th feature-length animated film until it was pushed due to Paramount releasing their version in 1933. Walt has carried the character of Alice since the days of Laugh-O-Gram studios, his very first animation studio with friend and partner Ub Iwerks. The whole studio and its legacy has Alice to thank for the successes they continued to accomplish.

When Walt pitched the idea of Disneyland to his team and his older brother Roy, he had a vision for what it would become, and what he wanted featured in it. He had a plot of land next to the Snow White ride that him and the Imagineers thought would be perfect for an immersive walk-through experience of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. In a promo recording from Walt himself, he uses the words “wander with Alice” when describing the attraction.

The walk-through would have included elements that we don’t currently see in the dark ride, like a revolving floor around Dodo Rock, a hedge maze, and rotating playing cards. After deliberation and thought, they figured having guests in a moving vehicle would be more efficient to shuffle them through. The ride also wasn’t budget friendly once it was decided it should also be a dark ride alongside Snow White and Her Adventures and Peter Pan’s Flight. Much to the dismay of the original plans, the Alice in Wonderland ride was put on hold to revisit at a later date.

To combat this disappointment, they created the Mad Tea Party, which was ready to go when the park opened in July 1955. The plot of land that was going to be meant for the Alice in Wonderland ride was used for the Fantasyland Theatre, which housed The Mickey Mouse Club showings and cartoons.

The Mad Tea Party in Fantasyland. Image from: http://www.imagineeringdisney.com/blog/2012/6/21/new-fantasyland-1983.html

The Exterior of the Alice in Wonderland Dark Ride (1958)

In 1957, Claude Coats was given the task of redesigning and executing the new Alice dark ride that had been put on hold for 2 years. The idea was dusted off after the more recent successes of the movie after re-airing it on television. The chosen land for the ride would sit right next to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, where it could still be a part of the main grounds of Fantasyland, but have a connection to the Mad Tea Party as well. The exterior didn’t have the Renaissance fair look that the other dark rides did, but rather had an overgrown garden as it still is today. In some of the original plans for it, the ride was meant to have a “rabbit hole” exterior, giving the illusion that you really were going to fall into it like Alice. Just outside the ride stood the mushroom ticket booth where you could purchase your “C” park ticket for $0.40 to get access to the ride and a few others. In 1971, the ride was downgraded to a $0.25 “B” ticket. The big yellow mushroom still stands there today. The 3-wheel caterpillar vehicles have remained the same, though originally an idea was thrown around that they could be giant playing cards.

Tackling this attraction was different than any of the others, because it was the very first Disneyland attraction to be 2 floors. The second floor lays on top of the Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride building. However, the plans for the interior came organically, as each room mimicked a scene directly from the movie. The all-new Fantasyland attraction opened on June 14th, 1958. A traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony took place with Walt, a “white rabbit” and Karen Pendleton as Alice. All 3 of them hopped into a caterpillar to take one of the very first public rides.

“Join Alice in the wonderland, the whimsical adventures that beckon inside the Rabbit Hole, Meet all the astounding characters... the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, even the Oversize Chamber and the Upside Down Room... it’s all here to delight and thrill you in this outstanding NEW attraction.”

— Alice in Wonderland Disneyland promo

The Interior of the Alice in Wonderland Dark Ride (1958)

Alice’s words were still heard just the same as they are today, having Kathryn Beaumont reprise her role to record the opening lines to the attraction as you entered into the rabbit hole.

“My adventures in Wonderland began when I followed a white rabbit down a rabbit hole. All of a sudden, I fell! Down, down, down...”

— Kathryn Beaumont

In the next scene, you were met face to face with yourself… upside down! A mirror showing guests reflections that hung upside down on the ceiling was there, indicating you were now in the “Upside Down Room”. This was also meant to represent the White Rabbit’s home, with tables, chairs, photo frames, and vases hanging upside down. You could see him blowing a trumpet through a doorway. You could hear the White Rabbit sing his “I’m Late!” song.

The next room was the Oversize Room, where you felt like you had shrunk to 3 inches tall. Your vehicle would ride through the legs of a foot rest, where a large 2-dimensional Cheshire Cat laid above. You would continue through the keyhole of the door knob.

The Flower Room was the next scene, where you would ride through an overgrown garden of flowers where the “All in the Golden Afternoon” song would play. The Dandy-Lion flower would roar at you on your way out.

Red eyes greeted you in the next room as you entered into The Tulgey Wood. Beady eyes of many various types of Wonderland-esque birds would stare back at you. This was the section of the ride where you would start to go on a slight incline. It was a short trip to the next scene, where a sign would say “Mad Hatter”.

Mad Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland. Image from: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/original-alice-in-wonderland-ride.864119/

Similarly to the Oversize Room, you would be shrunk down again to the size of a tea cup, where you would ride along the table of the Mad Hatter’s tea party. Large tea cups would be stacked up next to you, with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare sitting at the table. The next door was a large teapot, where you would enter into the crash room. You’d hear Alice exclaiming “Oh dear! How do I get out?”. You would twist through dark rooms with the “this way, that way” arrows, then crash through 4 doors to the sounds of Goofy’s screams to get to the outside portion. Unlike the ride today, the outside portion was the end of the ride, as you made your way back down to the loading area.

The ending wasn’t popular with guests, as it had no real conclusion outside of the crashing doors, and didn’t mimic the true story of the Alice film at all. The Queen of Hearts, Tweedles, and Caterpillar were also nowhere to be found in the original ride.

The ride didn’t see many changes within the next few decades, outside of some of the characters being redesigned and remade in the 1960s to be less scary and intimidating, like the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.

New Fantasyland and New Alice in Wonderland Ride (1984)

In 1982, a lot of elements of Fantasyland were gutted, including Snow White’s Scary Adventures and the Peter Pan’s Flight queue. Part of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was also removed to make room for a new ending scene for the refurbishment of the Alice in Wonderland ride. The dark rides were all finished in time to unveil the new European storybook themed land in 1983, aside from the Alice ride, which opened again in April 1984. A lot of the ideas from the walk-through that were scrapped were brought back to this re-envisioned attraction, like the Queen’s courtyard. Kathryn Beaumont returned to rerecord some of the narrations for the ride.

To the Queen’s Courtyard. Image from: https://www.tripsavvy.com/alice-in-wonderland-ride-4090033

The major changes that the ride went through was the removal of the Upside Down Room and the Oversize Room. Both didn’t contribute anything to the overall story of the ride, and weren’t exactly from the film either. Instead, the ride began with the animatronic doorknob and an encounter with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. The Flower Room and Tulgey Wood remained fairly similar to the original, with the additions of the Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat, and a mannequin of Alice.

The opening sequence. Image by: Loren Javier. Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3939052472/in/dateposted/

Instead of the tea party room, the Queen’s courtyard was added with the Queen herself playing croquet, and the cards becoming the crash doors. One of Goofy’s screams stayed as a tribute to the original ending. With the new space from Toad’s ride available, it became the Mad Tea Party, where animatronics of the Mad Hatter and March Hare were, as well as a large Cheshire Cat face and White Rabbit with an exploding “Merry Unbirthday” cake.

The Cheshire Cat rotating head. Image by: Loren Javier. Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3938280761/in/dateposted/

Second Floor Railings (2010)

In 2010, California’s department of occupational safety and health shut down the ride due to the lack of railings on the second level of the attraction and deemed it unsafe. To combat this issue, Disney put in temporary railings along the edges, though they were a bit of an eye sore for a long time. In 2014, the ride closed and reopened with an upgraded look, making the railings blend into the attraction more with the additional of more colourful “leaves” and flowers on the outside.

Alice in Wonderland railing construction. Image from: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/alice-in-wonderland-updates.884697/page-3

Interior Upgrades to Alice in Wonderland (2014)

Along with the upgrades to the outside, the progression of technology in the 2010s made it possible to add even more detail and interactive elements to the inside of the ride. In the first room, projections of floating objects rotating above you made “falling down” more believable. A scene from the actual movie of Alice chasing the White Rabbit was also projected onto the wall before meeting the Tweedles. More animated flowers were added to the Flower Room to give it more character. A full size Alice figure was added to the Tulgey Wood sequence. An animation of a hedgehog rolling through the trees was added to a wall in the Queen’s courtyard room.

New opening sequence. Image by: Albert Lam. Image from: http://www.disneyphotoblography.com/2014/07/alices-new-wonderland.html

New Alice animatronic. Image by: Albert Lam. Image from: http://www.disneyphotoblography.com/2014/07/alices-new-wonderland.html

One major change was 2 animated playing cards “threaten” you before leaving through the crash doors, which are no longer playing cards. It is simply just a wooden door and then one more door with a purple swirly design on it. Goofy’s yell can still be heard even today as you enter the outside. The entire opening section to the last part of the ride was redone, removing the Cheshire Cats rotating head, and replacing it with animated tea pots and cups welcoming you to the party. Another animatronic of Alice was added to the dining table.

New Mad Tea Party sequence. Image by: Albert Lam. Image from: http://www.disneyphotoblography.com/2014/07/alices-new-wonderland.html

The ride has not seen any other changes since 2014, as the projections and animated sequences really brought the quality up. This attraction is still a staple for guests today, and in my opinion, is one of the best classic Fantasyland dark rides.

Reference list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBajaMr1s0w

https://web.archive.org/web/20001217220700/http://www2.aros.net/~pov/issue03/rabbithole.html

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_(attraction)

https://allears.net/disneyland/dlr-planning/alice-in-wonderland-fantasyland-disneyland/

https://stacker.com/stories/100/oldest-disneyland-rides-1955-today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2enkazUsE0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZOOAN0GolQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMVMKAsHUrM

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/rides-attractions/Alice-in-Wonderland/

https://www.yesterland.com/abcde.html