Cinderella’s Midnight Journey
Appropriately situated underneath the shadow of Cinderella Castle, Cinderella’s Midnight Journey offers us a pastoral voyage through scenes and moments from the 1950 masterpiece. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to see how
Cinderella would be translated in a dark ride form, so this is my chance to see how it would work.
Passing underneath a blue tournament tent, we pass through wooden switchbacks, before arriving at the loading area. Once again, there’s a mural, but there’s something far more detailed about it. Given that this is supposed to be the “beautiful” dark ride, this mural seems to sparkle like a precious diamond.
Our ride vehicles are cleverly designed: half-pumpkins, decorated with ivy, and rolling about on wooden wheels. Basically, it’s a more “rustic” approach to the iconic pumpkin coach from the story.
Anyways, once all are aboard their pumpkin, we set off, passing by the bucolic countryside, before heading towards the Tremaine Manor. Outside, we see Cinderella herself, feeding the animals
(1).
Heading inside, we pass through the manor’s grand foyer. The calm, peaceful mood is instantly shattered as we are soon greeted by the sounds of the stepsisters shrilly calling for Cinderella. Fortunately for us, this doesn’t last long as we head towards Cinderella’s room to meet the mice. Inside, we see the mice and the birds preparing a dress for Cinderella to wear to the ball. They work quickly and happily; singing “The Work Song” as they go.
However, this joy is soon snuffed out like a light. As we head out of the manor, we see the silhouette of the stepsisters, tearing Cinderella’s dress apart
(2). Heading out into the garden at night, we see an animatronic Cinderella, crying
(3).
“There’s nothing left to believe in”, she says through tears. Suddenly, through the magic of Pepper’s Ghost, her Fairy Godmother appears before her.
“Dry those tears, my child”, she says.
“You can’t go to the ball looking like that. Now, let’s see...what are those magic words again?”
As we hear the Fairy Godmother sing “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”, we pass through the garden as she works her magic...her Pepper’s Ghost magic, that is. A pumpkin turns into a magnificent coach
(4). The mice turn into gallant steeds
(5). The dog and the horse turn into coachman and footman, respectively
(6). And last but not least, we watch as Cinderella’s rags turn into a magnificent gown!
(7)
As we head out of the scene, we hear the Fairy Godmother’s voice:
“Remember, Cinderella: On the stroke of twelve, the spell will be broken.” We pass by Cinderella in the coach, waving goodbye to the Fairy Godmother
(8). On the other side of the track, we see her wave back, before disappearing
(9).
Ahead of us are “crash doors”, painted with a mural depicting the Castle in the distance. Passing through the doors, we find ourselves in a beautiful garden. The trees gently sway in the breeze, a river gently burbles, and up ahead, we see Cinderella and Prince Charming sharing a romantic waltz to the instrumental strains of “So This is Love”
(10). All in all, the mood is very pastoral and romantic. In fact, our pumpkin even slows down to take it all in.
Unfortunately, the mood is once again shattered by another unpleasant sound: the sonorous chime of the clock tower.
“Oh, no!” we hear Cinderella’s worried voice say.
“It’s midnight! Good-bye!” This is soon followed by the Prince’s voice:
“No, wait! I don’t even know your name! How will I find you again?”
Picking up speed as we leave the garden, we find ourselves before the staircase of the castle. We see Cinderella rush down the staircase
(11) (or rather, glide down, ‘cause she’s a static animatronic), but as she passes by one step, we notice that one of her glass slippers has fallen off. The Prince’s silhouette is at the top of the staircase, desperately reaching out towards her. The clock tower stands a few feet behind the staircase in forced-perspective, both hands reaching towards the 12.
Making a left, we find ourselves heading towards the Tremaine Manor once more. We hear the voice of a herald:
“Hear ye! Hear ye! The Prince has decreed that he shall marry the girl whose foot fits the glass slipper!” Heading inside we see the stepsisters, each with one bare foot and sour looks on their faces. It is obvious that their attempts to try on the slipper failed. The Grand Duke is preparing to leave.
“Well, if there are no other ladies here...” “Wait!” we hear a voice call out to him. It’s Cinderella, at the top of the staircase
(12).
“May I try it on?”
However, as we pass by this scene...a third unpleasant sound hits our ears: CRASH! Indeed, on the wall, we see the silhouette of the Footman trip upon Lady Tremaine’s cane. We hear the anguished wail of the Grand Duke.
“Oh, no! What shall I do now?” Cinderella responds:
“Perhaps, if it would help...” “No, nothing can help now”, the Grand Duke says through his tears. But then, we hear Cinderella say:
“But, you see, I have the other slipper.”
At last, we see it: Cinderella is seated, as the Grand Duke slides the slipper onto her foot. It’s a perfect fit!
(13) Leaving the manor at long last, we see a glorious celebration: Cinderella and the Prince have been married! As a triumphant instrumental of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” fills the air, we see Cinderella—once again in her ballgown—and the Prince waving farewell to us
(14). The King and the Grand Duke stand nearby, throwing rice. The mice wave goodbye from atop a railing. The birds, the dog and the horse stand nearby. And just before we leave, we see the Fairy Godmother appear before us, saying:
“Remember: the dreams that you wish will come true.” (15) With that, we pull back into the loading area; our midnight journey complete.
