Was there ever a live wicked witch character on Snow White's Scary Adventures?

[candydog]

Just something I was curious about. I remember a friend years ago telling me about a trip to WDW where he met the Wicked Witch with his family. I don't remember the conversation too well as I was only very young at the time but I'm almost sure he said that it was on the Snow White ride itself, like the carriage stopped and there was a live costumed character interacting with them briefly. I also remember reading an unofficial holiday guidebook to WDW and other Orlando theme parks that said that in recent years the ride had been tamed slightly and that the "encounter with the Wicked Witch" had been removed as it was deemed too scary for children.

I have found no mention of a live interaction with a costumed character like this online however, and since I visited WDW for the first time in 2005, if it was actually a part of the ride before, it was gone by the time I rode it myself.

So was there a costumed Wicked Witch character on the ride at one time? Any videos of it if there was?

 

[MansionGoer13z]

Not that I heard of. Perhaps a bus driver fed your friend lies or the bus driver was the actually a costumed witch.Its always been an AA when I rode SWSA.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Not that I heard of. Perhaps a bus driver fed your friend lies or the bus driver was the actually a costumed witch.Its always been an AA when I rode SWSA.

:dazzle:

I seem to remember something about a live witch, but cant say for sure. I generally dont make it a habit to allow bus drivers to feed me anything, so there could be something to candydog's question.

 

[DaGoof00]

I think someone has misguided you. But yes, it was tamed down in recent years due to the "scare factor" for small children.

 

[WondersOfLife]

:dazzle:

I seem to remember something about a live witch, but cant say for sure. I generally dont make it a habit to allow bus drivers to feed me anything, so there could be something to candydog's question.

Perhaps you're remembering a small part in Fantasmic? Or a stage show in front of the castle?



Imagine.. working on The Great Movie ride doing it over and over again, listening to all the teenagers, and children asking what the movies are every ride :hammer:

 

[Hakunamatata]

Perhaps you're remembering a small part in Fantasmic? Or a stage show in front of the castle?



Imagine.. working on The Great Movie ride doing it over and over again, listening to all the teenagers, and children asking what the movies are every ride :hammer:

Most likely, or I am transposing from a parade or something.

 

[Princess_Minnie]

I don't think that there was ever a live witch in the ride, but what might have happened is that Snow White or the Witch RODE the ride. They do that sometimes; last time I rode the Carousel with the Princesses, or Pooh rides his own ride or they stick Goofy on the Barnstormer. If the story is true, that's probably what happened, but I can't be sure. :shrug:

 

[thewhitequeen]

I haven't been on the ride in years. Did they take out the first part where the witch turns around to the car? That's the best part of the ride!

 

[Princess_Minnie]

I haven't been on the ride in years. Did they take out the first part where the witch turns around to the car? That's the best part of the ride!

No, its still there.

 

[calicommando]

Maybe you got the idea from the GMR. There is some interaction with the AA witch from The Wizard of Oz there. :shrug:

 

[tizzo]

Maybe you got the idea from the GMR. There is some interaction with the AA witch from The Wizard of Oz there. :shrug:

I was thinking the same thing. She's actually quite lifelike (much more so than the witch on Snow White), she does interact with the cast member, and she really is the "wicked witch".

 

[Wilt Dasney]

I don't think that there was ever a live witch in the ride, but what might have happened is that Snow White or the Witch RODE the ride. They do that sometimes; last time I rode the Carousel with the Princesses, or Pooh rides his own ride or they stick Goofy on the Barnstormer. If the story is true, that's probably what happened, but I can't be sure. :shrug:

That makes sense.

I know the OP was being serious with the original question, but the chances of a ride being stopped to allow one family to interact with a character (much less every family!) sound close to zero to me. Not only would it be an operational nightmare resulting in huge delays, long lines and safety issues (kids walking around off track in a dark ride building) — but considering that the intent of the original ride was for the Witch to scare the bejeezus out of kids, it would have been a literal nightmare too! :lol:

 

[thewhitequeen]

This actually reminds me of the first time I visited Disneyland. There was a hooded man or woman standing in the corner during a part of the Haunted Mansion ride. I'm not sure now if it was a maintenance type thing and the person was covered up so we wouldn't see him but whatever it was scared the crap out of me! I didn't want to go back on it after that.

 

[wolf359]

This actually reminds me of the first time I visited Disneyland. There was a hooded man or woman standing in the corner during a part of the Haunted Mansion ride. I'm not sure now if it was a maintenance type thing and the person was covered up so we wouldn't see him but whatever it was scared the crap out of me! I didn't want to go back on it after that.

I've ridden Disneyland's Haunted Mansion when the knight in the endless hallway scene was a CM in armor. Was that ever done at the Magic Kingdom?

 

[stratman50th]

Don't think there was ever a live witch in the Snow White ride, but I do remember when Chewbacca used to stand in an alcove in the Star Tours queue. He'd reach out to unsuspecting guests in line. It was really a good thing that the bathrooms were right across the walkway!

 

[MansionGoer13z]

I've ridden Disneyland's Haunted Mansion when the knight in the endless hallway scene was a CM in armor. Was that ever done at the Magic Kingdom?

I remember on doombuggies.com virtual tour of the Haunted Mansion this is discussed by Imagineer

Tony Baxter that at one time Cast members did infact, wear suits of armor and interacted with riders at the DL HM. but but not at the Magic Kingdom HM.

 

[Neverland]

I've ridden Disneyland's Haunted Mansion when the knight in the endless hallway scene was a CM in armor. Was that ever done at the Magic Kingdom?

I don't believe so, and the wandering knight only stuck around for a very short period of time because the idea turned out to be unsafe.

I seriously doubt there was ever a live CM inside SWSA. HM is an omnimover, but SWSA is an old car-on-track system where the track is exposed. The guide rail has an electrified wire attached to it, which is what powers the cars and moves them forward. That wire is electrified unless the ride is fully powered down, and if anyone touched the wire without the ride being fully shut down, they'd get quite a nasty jolt.

In addition to that, because it's not an omnimover, the cars have intervals between them, and it would be very easy for a CM to get hit and/or run over by a car. The cars also move faster than doombuggies. Before a ride like SWSA is turned on, if there are no guests inside, a pre-recorded safety announcement is played on the PA that tells anyone inside that the ride has been activated and the cars are about to start moving. I believe Mansion has the same announcement.

 

[candydog]

Thanks for all the replies! Yeah it sounds like I must be confused. Perhaps my friend met the witch elsewhere in the park and I misunderstood him when he told the story as he was talking about the ride as well. As for the guidebook, I'm still not entirely sure what was meant by the removal of the "encounter with the wicked witch" as she's still in the ride and unless there was a CM in costume there before she was never really encountered and so is still there in animatronic form today.

 

[plutoismyhero]

I've ridden Disneyland's Haunted Mansion when the knight in the endless hallway scene was a CM in armor. Was that ever done at the Magic Kingdom?

This sounds awesome i ride the HM pry at least 10 times and atrip and been there say 30ish times and i have never seen this OMG it would be so awesome!!!

 

[WesternRiverExplorer]

Thanks for all the replies! Yeah it sounds like I must be confused. Perhaps my friend met the witch elsewhere in the park and I misunderstood him when he told the story as he was talking about the ride as well. As for the guidebook, I'm still not entirely sure what was meant by the removal of the "encounter with the wicked witch" as she's still in the ride and unless there was a CM in costume there before she was never really encountered and so is still there in animatronic form today.

I think the guide book may be referring to the fact that in 1994 the ride was significantly altered to tone down how scary/crazy the original ride was. They gave the ride a happy ending and pulled back on the psycho witch a good bit, so yeah. This site details what happened in the original ride thoroughly, no mention of a live character: Walt Disney World 1971-1993 "The Witch on a Rampage"

Personally, I'm a fan of the original. It was one of those times when you wonder what kind of mood enhancing pharmaceuticals the Imagineers were on when they came up with it. I also liked that the diamond mine was much larger, more interesting, and sparkly Hopefully they bring some of that back for the new mine train.