Today In Disney History ~ May 31st
Snow White’s Scary Adventures is a dark ride at the Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Park (Paris) theme parks, and, formerly, Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Located in Fantasyland, it is one of the few remaining attractions that was operational on Disneyland’s opening day in 1955 (although the present version of the attraction opened in 1983). The ride was also one of the few rides that was operational since opening day in Walt Disney World Resort, until May 31, 2012. The ride’s story is based on Disney’s 1937 film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, their first animated feature film.
Snow White’s Scary Adventures opened on Disneyland’s opening day as Snow White and her Adventures. Imagineers had designed the ride so that guests felt like they were the main character of the story; in this case, guests were Snow White. Few people understood this concept, and some wondered why Snow White was not featured in the ride. During 1983, all of the Fantasyland dark rides were slightly redesigned as part of a large overhaul of Fantasyland. This attraction and the other dark rides were modified to include the main characters of the films they represented. Today, Snow White appears once in the attraction. The present outdoor facade was made to resemble the Evil Queen’s castle from the movie.
When the Witch offered guests the poisoned apple in one scene, guests frequently tried (and sometimes managed) to steal the apple and bring it home as a souvenir. When Fantasyland was reopened in 1983, they solved the problem of the ever-missing poisoned apple by replacing it with an image of an apple projected by means of a parabolic mirror. Guests who reach out to steal the apple now find their hands passing through it.
Walt Disney World’s original version of this ride, like their early version of Peter Pan’s Flight, also put the guests in the role of the story’s main character (Snow White). Around Christmas of 1994, a less frightening version of the ride took its place; an appearance by Snow White was also added. The redesigned ride took some cues from the version at Disneyland Paris, including increasing the ride capacity of each ride vehicle from four to six passengers.
The Walt Disney World version closed on May 31, 2012 to make way for Princess Fairytale Hall, part of Disney’s New Fantasyland Expansion. A new Snow White ride, themed to the mines in which the Seven Dwarfs mine jewels, is one of the main attractions of the expansion and is now open called Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
- Jack Skellington’s Sandy Claws Cookies ~ A Fun Suggestion for Holiday Baking! - December 22, 2024
- 10 Facts About The Nightmare Before Christmas - December 21, 2024
- Lumiere’s Christmas Candle Cupcakes #disneyholidays - December 21, 2024