Alice in Disneyland
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The Alice in Wonderland dark ride opened in 1958. It was originally intended to open with the park but funds ran out and it had to wait three years. Alice in Wonderland stands out from other Disney Fantasyland dark rides in several aspects. It is the only dark ride where the track runs outside the ride building and the only one that is built on two stories. Much of the ride takes place on the second floor above Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

A bird's eye view from Alice in Wonderland

The original Alice in Wonderland dark ride consisted mostly of plywood flats decorated with florescent paints. While there were a few three dimensional sculpted elements, but most of the attraction was in 2 dimensions. Besides recreating the Mad Tea Party and the Singing Flower scenes from the movie, the original ride also had an upside down room (where the guests felt they were traveling on the ceiling) and an oversized room (where the guests felt they had shrunk). At the end of the ride the caterpillar-shaped vehicles burst through a set of doors and onto an elevated outside track. The meandered down the winding path to the ground where the guests disembarked.

In the early 1980's Fantasyland received a major renovation. Most of the attractions were torn out shuffled around and rebuilt. The teacups were moved from their central location to a spot right in front of the Alice dark ride. A new Mad Hatter shop, fashioned to look like the White Rabbit's house, was built next door effectively creating a mini Alice in Wonderland area.

The Mad Tea Party

The Mad Tea Party was now slightly sunken and surrounded by a short stone wall. Japanese lanterns hang above the spinning cups and vines climb the lamp posts. The new setting gives the attraction a much quainter, fairytale feel.

The dark ride was now largely in three dimensions. It added scenes with Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the marching playing cards and the Queen's croquet game. For the mad tea party sequence, a new room was added at the base of the exterior track. It gave the attraction an explosive new finale.