Original Alice in Wonderland Ride

[Okee68]

Random thought, but in the last photo I love how you can see the painted-on silhouette of the train guy. Old school classic dark ride effect which was used on a lot of older versions of the Fantasyland rides (even the '80s versions) but is less common now. Tokyo still makes full use of that effect in most of their rides.

That's the actual shadow of the prop. It goes over the back wheel of the bicycle, and you can even see the shadows of the rods holding the guy in place.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

The miracle of portable flash photography... what else is left to create?

 

[truecoat]

This has always bothered me. Why was she wiped from the image? You can even still make out her purple silhouette, which was filled in using recolored scenery from this other photo:

Disneyland is a place that relies on suspension of belief. This guy would never get that girl in a hundred years so even Disney knows they can only go so far.

 

[Okee68]

It's kind of funny how the audio of the original Snow White was so minimalist, crude, and bare-bones that the 1972 recording only vaguely matches up with correctly timed photos of the ride.

 

[Okee68]

I don't know how many of you know about DisneyChris, but this guy recently uploaded audio mixes for the original 1950s Fantasyland dark rides incorporating some of their actual, raw source audio:

Disneyland Audio Tour - Chapter 11

disneychris.com

This page is enormous, but if you search for "Snow White," "Toad," "Alice," or "Peter Pan" with ctrl+F, you'll find each one easily. Toad's crossing bells, train whistle, oncoming engine, and (partial) train collision are all present, and that repetitive loop of the Dig-a-Dig-Dig song from Snow White, as well as the forest glade audio and crashing portcullis are here as well. The Snow White mix additionally features howling wind and demonic moaning sounds for the scary forest scene, both of which I have yet to make out in the 1972 recording. I almost wonder if those reels were actually turned off for whatever reason when the recording was captured, leaving the scene totally silent.

 

[Okee68]

The old version of The Merrily Song is in the Toad mix as well, but it's only a fraction of the song and it sounds like garbage for some reason. I think there's a decent chance of it being an excessively scrubbed-down version of the recording from the WidenYourWorld/Omniluxe website:

http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/mtwrtownsquarebglive.mp3

 

[Okee68]

Now DisneyChris has uploaded the full Merrily Song, although it's in the same poor quality. You can find it at the very bottom of the page.

 

[brb1006]

Now DisneyChris has uploaded the full Merrily Song, although it's in the same poor quality. You can find it at the very bottom of the page.

I love DisneyChris, he has archived a lot of music from Disneyland'a older parades. Wish he might update the Flights Of Fantasy section. It's missing the Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Snow White sections.

 

[Okee68]

I love DisneyChris, he has archived a lot of music from Disneyland'a older parades. Wish he might update the Flights Of Fantasy section. It's missing the Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Snow White sections.

I don't how exactly he has access to this gargantuan treasure trove of vintage Disneyland audio, but he's an absolute lad for uploading this stuff. On the Old Fantasyland page, there used to be "coming soon" boxes for what would have been the isolated sound effects for each dark ride. I need to ask him if that's something he still intends on posting to the website.

 

[brb1006]

I don't how exactly he has access to this gargantuan treasure trove of vintage Disneyland audio, but he's an absolute lad for uploading this stuff. On the Old Fantasyland page, there used to be "coming soon" boxes for what would have been the isolated sound effects for each dark ride. I need to ask him if that's something he still intends on posting to the website.

For those who never seen the Flights of Fantasy Parade. Here's a rare video showing the parade outside of screenshots.

 

[Okee68]

This is extremely pointless and trivial, but I just discovered that if you train your ears hard enough, you can make out the accordion bird sound effect in the first Alice '71 recording during the flower garden as it plays for the riders one car ahead. It's obscured to a ridiculous degree, but if you know exactly what to listen for and when to listen for it, it's barely audible in the most minuscule sense imaginable. I'm sure I'll still be discovering these microscopic nuances in those recordings ten years from now.

 

[Clover Bailey]

What do you honestly think convinced the original Imagineers to end Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Hell? I understand that the dark rides took some creative liberties with the source material, but it's such a bizarre concept. I could easily see Imagineers in the 70s pulling something as crude off like that, but 1955, when Walt was alive?

 

[Okee68]

What do you honestly think convinced the original Imagineers to end Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Hell? I understand that the dark rides took some creative liberties with the source material, but it's such a bizarre concept. I could easily see Imagineers in the 70s pulling something as crude off like that, but 1955, when Walt was alive?

It was just a really memorable, out-of-left-field ending, and a suitably manic way to end off a manic ride. I doubt whoever came up with it even expected Walt to be okay with the idea, yet he was, and thus you get sent to hell in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Also, things like devils and demons were already a very common motif in traditional pretzel dark rides, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it as well.

 

[Sailor310]

It was just a really memorable, out-of-left-field ending, and a suitably manic way to end off a manic ride. I doubt whoever came up with it even expected Walt to be okay with the idea, yet he was, and thus you get sent to hell in Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Also, things like devils and demons were already a very common motif in traditional pretzel dark rides, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it as well.

I put it in another thread, but seems appropriate here"

Gratuitous Merchandise has t-shirts:
"The Ride Where You Die and Go To Hell" written over an image of an imp. First time I had to think about it, then it made me laugh.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Of course I'd be first hahaha.

I remember, when I trained for the Alice ride, all the CMs kept telling me how creepy Alice is and how everyone's scared to walk past her. I didn't know what they were talking about, I had no problem walking past her. She's definitely creepy but not that creepy. Now Snow White, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad and Pinocchio are different stories. I was always scared to walk through those rides, but I had to do it.

I think she's super cute! She looks exactly like Beaumont!

 

[Brer Panther]

What do you honestly think convinced the original Imagineers to end Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Hell? I understand that the dark rides took some creative liberties with the source material, but it's such a bizarre concept.

I distinctively remember reading that Walt wanted the ride to end like that to show the consequences of Mr. Toad/the riders' actions. Maybe I'm just misremembering...

 

[Rich T]

What do you honestly think convinced the original Imagineers to end Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Hell? I understand that the dark rides took some creative liberties with the source material, but it's such a bizarre concept. I could easily see Imagineers in the 70s pulling something as crude off like that, but 1955, when Walt was alive?

They did it because it’s a brilliant way to end a crazy, chaotic dark ride. It just works. It’s one of the most unforgettable finales of any ride ever, and the fact that it’s pulled off with material you can buy at any hardware store makes it even more wonderful.

Remember, a lot of classic Disney and Warner Cartoons take comical visits to hell (and feature train tunnels to disaster). Funny versions of hell were common gags in Walt’s Day. And Walt’s best films contain elements of death and darkness; it’s part of what gives them emotional depth.

But, again, I think the true answer is that the idea for the train-tunnel/hell ending was just too brilliant to pass up. And it fit the available space.

 

[Okee68]

From the Yesterworld Twitter:

 

[Okee68]

Full-resolution versions of each shot:

 

[Okee68]

I almost forgot about this one:

This was captured in 1976. The harbor is one of three scenes in Toad (along with Ratty's cottage and the warehouse) that weren't significantly altered for the 1983 overhaul.