Alice in Wonderland (Disneyland attraction)

Alice in Wonderland
Disneyland
Area	Fantasyland
Status	Operating
Opening date	June 14, 1958
General statistics
Attraction type	Dark ride
Manufacturer	Arrow Development
Designer	WED Enterprises
Theme	Alice in Wonderland
Vehicle type	Caterpillars
Duration	3:38
Must transfer from wheelchair

Alice in Wonderland is a dark ride in Fantasyland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Based on the animated Disney adaptation of the same name, the attraction resides next to a second ride, the Mad Tea Party, based on a scene in that same adaptation. The presence of two rides based on the film is unusual in that Walt Disney said he regretted making it because it lacked a connection to the audience's hearts.

Original plans for Disneyland show that there was to be an "Alice in Wonderland" walk-through attraction in 1955, but time and budgetary restrictions forced planners to defer the attraction and the designated space was instead occupied by the Fantasyland Theater (now the location of "Pinocchio's Daring Journey"). Three years later (1958), an "Alice in Wonderland" ride-through opened, with Mouseketeer Karen Pendleton dressed as Alice appearing at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Now located on the north end of the building occupied by "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," "Alice in Wonderland" differed from other Fantasyland dark rides which appeared as openings in flat, faux-stone walls (the extended arms of Sleeping Beauty's Castle) and decorated with colorful banners and canopies made of sheet metal. Instead, "Alice in Wonderland" featured a stylized, oversized garden of towering blades of grass, dandelions and a tall mushroom that served as the attraction's ticket booth. The caterpillar ride vehicles moved gracefully along a winding path of massive leaves, helping create the illusion that guests had shrunk to a tiny size, thus imitating Alice's experiences in Wonderland. This attraction also differed by the vehicles negotiating a path that involved both upward and downward inclines, necessitating three wheels instead of four.

The 1958 version of the ride, with sets adapted from the animated feature by Imagineer Claude Coats, had little in common with Lewis Carroll's source books. Instead it used various environments suggested by the film to create loud, garish, and somewhat nightmarish scenes reminiscent of some of Fantasyland's other dark rides (such as "Pinocchio's Daring Journey", "Snow White's Scary Adventures", and "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride"), and the portable dark rides found in traveling fairs and carnivals. Sets, figures, and effects were considerably less sophisticated than the version that replaced it in 1984. Guests climbed aboard their caterpillar-themed vehicle and plunged down a dark rabbit-hole, into the Upside Down Room (a wholly original scene not found in the film), followed by the Oversize Room, where, as guests approached a doorway painted to look like a huge keyhole, Cheshire Cat figures appeared, laughing maniacally. (These figures were not dimensional but merely painted plywood cutouts.) Then followed the Garden of Live Flowers and Tulgey Wood scenes. Next guests found themselves on the table of the Mad Tea Party, ostensibly shrunk in size as the oversized scenery dwarfed the ride vehicle. Then a series of strobe flashes imitated the fireworks of the film's exploding unbirthday cake, accompanied by harsh yelling voices, and a series of nonsensical signposts which led the guests outside to the winding leaf track that ended the ride. This primitive, unsatisfying version remained open for twenty-five years. Guests climb aboard their caterpillar-themed vehicle and ride in caterpillar vehicles down the rabbit hole. Pieces of furniture, picture frames, and vases swirl around as guests "fall" down the tunnel. As guests enter through the Doorknob, they see the White Rabbit running off with Alice in pursuit. Guests then pass As guests enter through the Doorknob, they see the White Rabbit running off with Alice in pursuit. Guests then pass by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and encounter the White Rabbit, worrying about being late. Then the guests go through the garden of flowers, who sing "All in the Golden Afternoon". Riders then pass the Caterpillar, who blows smoky letters and asks "Who are you?" and a Dandelion, who pops up, roaring, thinking that Alice and the riders are weeds. Next, guests enter the Tulgey Wood, where they and Alice meet the Cheshire Cat, as well as a pencil bird, an accordion owl, an eyeglasses bird, a horn-shaped duck with its ducklings, an umbrella bird, a cage bird, and a pair of hammer birds nailing a sign to a tree. They then go through the hedge maze and past