Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
Cool stuff....really enjoyed the fun 'virtual ride' on the 58' Original!
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Original Alice in Wonderland Ride
- Thread starter AllyInWonderland
- Start date
fantasmicsyd
Member
Oh my goodness!! This is so cool! I’ve always been endlessly fascinated by the pre-1983 Fantasyland dark rides and their limited documentation. If only there was something like this for the original versions of Snow White, Peter Pan, and Mr. Toad..
BasiltheBatLord
Well-Known Member
@Rich T Another question for you...
I put up two windows and watched the 1958 recreation and a 2019 POV side-by-side. For most of the ride it's very easy to tell what was where, as the track seems to still be the exact same. However it seems like something happens once you get to the crash room in the 1958 version (which in the current version is right after the walking cards in the gardens). It seems like at this point both versions tracks diverge and it somehow seems like the current version of the ride is slightly longer. In the 1958 version you go Crash room -> "I've lost my way!" tunnel -> Doors. But in the current version it's White rabbit -> Queen -> Croquet tunnel -> Angry queen -> Doors
I know this is hard to visualize without actually seeing it, but do you know if the track was altered in '83 or if there was additional space put in on the second floor? My guess is that they reshaped the interior a bit to allow for extra scenes right before the doors.
I put up two windows and watched the 1958 recreation and a 2019 POV side-by-side. For most of the ride it's very easy to tell what was where, as the track seems to still be the exact same. However it seems like something happens once you get to the crash room in the 1958 version (which in the current version is right after the walking cards in the gardens). It seems like at this point both versions tracks diverge and it somehow seems like the current version of the ride is slightly longer. In the 1958 version you go Crash room -> "I've lost my way!" tunnel -> Doors. But in the current version it's White rabbit -> Queen -> Croquet tunnel -> Angry queen -> Doors
I know this is hard to visualize without actually seeing it, but do you know if the track was altered in '83 or if there was additional space put in on the second floor? My guess is that they reshaped the interior a bit to allow for extra scenes right before the doors.
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Rich T
Well-Known Member
I definitely agree they reshaped things a bit, and I think it’s in the Royal Gardens room.
I remember the first time I rode the remodeled ride in its opening week in 1984. Having ridden the original many, many times, the track layout felt the same to me until just before the point you mention. Once past the marching cards, my “motion memory” (if that’s not a real term, it should be) expected to keep turning more to the left, but it felt like a tiny bit of track had been added to allow the brief White Rabbit scene (and the camouflaged service doors).
The layout became familiar again at the start of the croquet scene.
On the post-84 version, as you leave Tulgey Wood and first enter the royal gardens, you can see on the left the hedge wall hiding the croquet scene, so that’s still where the teapot door to the Crash Room stood. So I think the change is a bit of extra track between the marching cards and croquet scene. Since that White Rabbit scene is so physically shallow, it might have just been a matter of using every inch of space in that corner right up to the walls.
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BasiltheBatLord
Well-Known Member
And here's the final version, with animated props/doors and the full outdoor descent, in 360 degree format:
Rich T
Well-Known Member
This is beautiful!!! Near-perfect—It really does take me back in time to the version I grew up with. Lots of improved lighting...And the doors opening effects make a huge difference... especially since doors are a major recurring theme in this ride! I am one happy DL dark ride fan!
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Stevek
Well-Known Member
I actually bought this on DVD when first released...still have it.
chadwpalm
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Just watched this in VR. Aside from all the movement making it vomit-inducing, it was pretty cool. I can understand the nostalgia behind this, but I do think the modern version is much better, though a more modern upside-down room or shrinking room would have been cool too.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
The new version is definitely a better overall ride, but I love the all-out weirdness of the original. Definitely *not* a book report ride, it freely rearranged elements to make a unique experience that captured the *feeling* of being in Wonderland.
A great best-of combo would be to bring back the Upside Down Room (it’s replacement, the Tweedle encounter, is dull) and make the Flower Garden darker lighting-wise.
Stevek
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I can't do VR. Tried it once and just about tossed my cookies.
chadwpalm
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
If you do it a lot you start to build up a tolerance. When I binge played Half-Life: Alyx I was immune to the motion sickness after a couple of hours of play. If I'm controlling the motion it isn't as bad. The thing is, if you stop playing for a while like I have the past few weeks, you lose the tolerance. This video had a lot of constant movement, so I had to take a break when it was over.
Imhaiki1996
New Member
For anyone interested, here's a rough-draft version of Costa's recreation with a RAW RECORDING of the actual ride's original audio from 1971
Rich T
Well-Known Member
For anyone interested, here's a rough-draft version of Costa's recreation with a RAW RECORDING of the actual ride's original audio from 1971
Awesome! In the 70’s, early teen me took my little Panasonic cassette recorder through the FL dark rides, and I listened to that tape till it broke. So glad SOMEONE took better care of their recording!
This really brings back memories. Yes, that 3rd screaming door really was ear-splittingly louder than the others!
Okee68
Well-Known Member
I saw a post you made in this thread last year noting that the sound of crackling fire was heard near the Upside-Down Room's fireplace. I find that to be pretty intriguing, because I think I can make it out for a brief moment in the 1971 on-ride recording, right around the 0:32/0:33 mark in Don Carson's video. Just about every audio reel in the ride is crystal clear in that recording, so I wouldn't be surprised if even something as minuscule as crackling fire is at least somewhat audible.Awesome! In the 70’s, early teen me took my little Panasonic cassette recorder through the FL dark rides, and I listened to that tape till it broke. So glad SOMEONE took better care of their recording!
This really brings back memories. Yes, that 3rd screaming door really was ear-splittingly louder than the others!
And here's another bit about the fireplace... As of now, I've almost totally convinced myself that the sound of the White Rabbit's trumpet was actually a squeal produced by the hanging tea kettle. My reasoning is that because everything else in the ride sounded exactly how it's supposed to, then there wouldn't have been much of a reason for a trumpet to inexplicably not sound like a trumpet, and instead much more like a tea kettle... of which there was right across the room. Not only that, but why would the designers of the ride have chosen to make the White Rabbit blow his trumpet for a solid four seconds at the same time as he's blabbering about being late? Even by the standards of old-school dark ride crudeness, that's a bit of a bizarre choice. Not that I actually know what I'm talking about, though, as I was born nineteen years after all of the original sets in Alice were demolished.
Phroobar
Well-Known Member
If you want dark ride crudeness, you need to ride Lagoon's Dracula's Castle. At one point they make the headless horseman randomly say recite a line from Curse of the Black Pearl where Balbosa says your in a nightmare.
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Okee68
Well-Known Member
Also, I've scanned the entire article on Alice in Wonderland from issue #31 of The "E" Ticket for anyone who wants to read it. It contains plenty of neat little behind-the-scenes details and other obscure facts that some of you might not be familiar with.
I posted a video on YouTube about a month ago () which is pretty much just a bare-bones slideshow of all the pre-1983 interior photos from this issue coupled with the 1971 live recording, and I have each photo available to download in full resolution via the link in the description. I bring this up because I'll also throw in these full-page scans soon, as that obscure little "link in the description" deal is really my best bet at delivering these pages to as many people as possible. This is probably something I should have done like five years ago when I purchased the magazine, but I digress.
I posted a video on YouTube about a month ago () which is pretty much just a bare-bones slideshow of all the pre-1983 interior photos from this issue coupled with the 1971 live recording, and I have each photo available to download in full resolution via the link in the description. I bring this up because I'll also throw in these full-page scans soon, as that obscure little "link in the description" deal is really my best bet at delivering these pages to as many people as possible. This is probably something I should have done like five years ago when I purchased the magazine, but I digress.
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Okee68
Well-Known Member
Here's the rest of them. Apparently I can't upload these in full resolution on this website, although the large versions can still be found here: https://jumpshare.com/b/PP3dIoSqe3YEbWS43aV5
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Okee68
Well-Known Member
Random Cheshire Cat observation: The smaller, silhouette-like figure that swung down from above the footstool like an old-fashioned traffic sign appears to have had a "staring eyes" gimmick similar to the larger Cheshire Cat figure. I noticed that in these two shots (conveniently taken from different angles), his pupils seem to be in different positions, so I think it's likely that this figure too had recessed sclerae and projected pupils which would "follow" riders as they moved past. Also, if Don Carson's 1958 re-creation is correct, then the red eyes staring from the darkness at the beginning of the Tulgey Wood utilized the same effect.
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