More Fantasyland dark rides

Roger_the_pianist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Anybody want to armchair Imagineer extra dark rides for Fantasyland?

Nothing would be replaced, and honestly I think we can get by with smaller scale things like Snow White, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio, Mr. Toad, Pooh


Of course Mary Poppins has been flying around and most know of Tony Baxter's early concept. I think you could have a fun ride with a steeple chase type ride system (haven't seen those in a while) that goes through the animated sequence of the fox hunt/horse race and has a finale with Mary winning and Supercalifragilistic...etc, Bert and the penguins. I wouldn't mind lots of projections since it could feel like you are in the animated world.


And I really love 101 Dalmations, the original. I imagine entering a London brownstone like where Roger and Anita live, then you chase Cruella kinda like Mr. Toad through the snowy country side.

I would settle for walk around characters of Roger and Anita walking real dalmations (not sure if this has ever been done, seems like you only see Cruella)

They could be walking their dogs (maybe just Pongo and Perdita, or how cute if they had a couple of puppies, and of course the animals would live great lives with dog trainers, maybe even have free reign of Tom Sawyer Island at night 😜) out and about in Fantasyland, or Main Street, or the UK pavilion. They could also match well with the citizens of Hollywood (if they come back)

Just fun ideas
 
I’d love an Alice in Wonderland dark ride—fall down the rabbit hole, chase the white rabbit, change sizes back and forth, see the Cheshire Cat disappear as he sends you this way or that way on the track, escape being beheaded, escape the jabberwocky… stuff like that.
 

Roger_the_pianist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yes, it's easy to not know there's an Alice dark ride at Disneyland. It's often said that Alice is the only movie in Fantasyland with two attractions (add Mad Tea Party) but Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Casey Jr. Circus Train should count as two attractions for Dumbo.

And Disneyland Paris had a garden maze based on Alice.

I would like to visit an attraction that is the jazz club from Aristocats, but the problematic portrayals on the jazz cats make that unlikely without a lot of reworking.
 

Robbiem

Well-Known Member
Sleeping Beauty as a replacement for snow white. Start with the christening scene and Melefecants curse then the dance scene in the forest, spinning wheel and sleep scene finale with prince philip and the dragon then happy ending with Aurora and Philip dancing in the court
 

Roger_the_pianist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We don't have to replace anything, there are no limits in this Fantasy Fantasyland as to space 😜

I do love more Sleeping Beauty. I've met Mary Costa, the voice actress for Aurora. She was at a gala event where I music directed the floor show. Some one told me she was in the audience, so I played Once Upon a Dream at the top of the second act.

She came up to me afterwards, told me she wanted to meet me, and kissed me on the cheek 😍

So I have been kissed by a Disney Princess 🌈
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
I still can't believe how they mismanage the space of the "Fantasyland expansion" last decade. They could have easily fit in a few more smaller scale rides into the designs - e.g. a copy of the Pinocchio ride in the circus area or one buried under a corner of 7DMT when it's at its highest point (I would think something like a Sleeping Beauty ride would work well in this "forest" area). And that's ignoring that they didn't have to get rid of SWSA - they could have build a dedicated princess M&G in the Belle's village area or such.. Sigh
 

Roger_the_pianist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I remember the first time riding Jungle Cruise as a kid I thought we would see Lion King, Jungle Book, etc. Of course that ride was imagined long before these characters and was connected to the Disney nature films.

So I would like to see a Fantasyland that wasn't so Eurocentric, especially since newer films have branched out to all over the globe.

We really need Coco in the Mexico pavilion boat cruise (it would be perfect unlike Frozen Ever After taking over Norway)
 

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
Yes theres nothing like a few good dark rides to pick up a theme park. Unfortunately Disney has moved away from them because of the scare factor. I'd like a good Ichabod Crane/ Headless Horseman dark ride. Situated by Sleepy Hollow in Liberty Square to keep with the time period theming of the buildings and surroundings. The HM nearby would also add to the atmosphere and it would be extremely popular for the Halloween festivities.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I'd love to see something that isn't a "book report" dark ride, but expands on a known character or theme, or a particularly exciting scene. Mr. Toad was always one of my favorites, but he's such an unknown to today's kids that I don't see Disney World ever bringing him back. I love @JIMINYCR's idea of a Headless Horseman dark ride. A Coco-inspired journey through the Land of the Dead would be cool, too, or a graceful Magic Carpet ride through and above Agrabah at night, which would be a far better tribute to Aladdin than the theme-killing spinner in the middle of Adventureland.
 

Roger_the_pianist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Is 101 Dalmatians popular enough to get a ride, though?

I hope so! More people might know the Glenn Close version and of course the new Cruella. I teach piano and voice, kids always want to sing "Cruella DeVille" when they see it in the Disney songbook. Even if kids haven't seen the original, puppy plushies would sell. COLLECT ALL 101!!!
 

Roger_the_pianist

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Headless Horseman would be neat (steeple chase) but he's in the double feature with Toad, so most people don't know him. I remember watching it at school in first grade.

But of course he would fit in at Liberty Square. Maybe even Toad could come back around there since it's kinda scary and you go to heck.

With the discussions around Hall of Presidents and the colonialism theme of Liberty Square, I wouldn't mind the whole area becoming haunted with Mansion, Sleepy Hollow, maybe even the Nightmare Before Christmas Forest. It could be a true Ghost Town extension of Frontierland.

I know traditionalists will fight me on a Liberty Square revamp, but you've got to admit it has no major draw now except the Mansion.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Headless Horseman would be neat (steeple chase) but he's in the double feature with Toad, so most people don't know him. I remember watching it at school in first grade.
It wouldn't necessarily have to be tethered to the Disney cartoon -- just the original Legend of Sleepy Hollow story by Washington Irving. I think the story itself is familiar to most, as it's had multiple retellings in books and movies.

I grew up only knowing the story from a "book on tape" that my second grade teacher played for us, but it was one of my favorites. The sound of horse hooves approaching on a dark road (something we actually hear around these parts, thanks to a robust local Amish and Mennonite population) still gives me a shivery thrill every time. :)
 

Skibum1970

Well-Known Member
It wouldn't necessarily have to be tethered to the Disney cartoon -- just the original Legend of Sleepy Hollow story by Washington Irving. I think the story itself is familiar to most, as it's had multiple retellings in books and movies.

I grew up only knowing the story from a "book on tape" that my second grade teacher played for us, but it was one of my favorites. The sound of horse hooves approaching on a dark road (something we actually hear around these parts, thanks to a robust local Amish and Mennonite population) still gives me a shivery thrill every time. :)

I'm a little tired of retellings by Disney rides. I don't mind The Little Mermaid ride but it could have been exploring the kingdom or castle more than just scenes. I would second Sleeping Beauty going into Fantasyland and Beauty and the Beast. I would love a Moana ride but have kind of wondered if that would be better in Hollywood Studios as part of a new themed area going into or around Animation Courtyard (if there was space).

The Headless Horseman could work in Fantasyland or even, through some imaginative usage of space, in Liberty Square.
 

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