I'd like to talk about Snow White's Scary Adventures. For quite some time now, I've had an idea for a new, more elaborate version of the ride. And here it is.
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Although Snow White's Scary Adventures can still be found in California, Tokyo and Paris, the Florida version was sadly closed down in 2012, because as part of the New Fantasyland expansion, a new ride based on
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--namely, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train--was being built. Snow White's Scary Adventures would later turn into the Princess Fairytale Hall meet & greet. But, I say this classic deserves to stay here at Walt Disney World, but bigger and better than ever! How will I pull this off? Well, come with me as we journey back deep into the dark forests for an all-new experience with an all-new name:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I'd put this ride in, of all places, Sunset Boulevard at Disney's Hollywood Studios. After all,
Snow White premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre, which is represented on Sunset Boulevard as the facade of the Once Upon a Time shop. And in a park celebrating Walt's historic film-making achievements, I think it'd only be necessary to have a little something honoring the film that put him on the Hollywood map. But however, given the space of the average dark ride, this means that the Sunset Club Couture, Mouse About Town and Once Upon a Time shops will be closed to make way for the new ride.
As guests walk down Sunset Boulevard, they are greeted by the new impressive facade of the Carthay Circle Theater, done in a style similar to the one at Disney California Adventure.
The Carthay Circle Theater is decked out as it was on that fateful day--December 21st, 1937--when
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made its Hollywood debut. The theater is very elegant, not giving a single clue as to what lies inside...
Once inside the theater, we find ourselves not in an extravagant theater lobby, but instead, the film's iconic forest, bloomed in imaginative three dimensions.
The atmosphere seems only peaceful, harmonious, enchanting and inviting – promising a grand fairytale adventure with elegance. On the right hand side of this peaceful fairytale forest atmosphere, an ingeniously realized waterfall splashes happily with shiny vibrating strings portraying the water. Next to the waterfall is the Seven Dwarfs' Diamond Mine "entrance" – although it was the actual exit of the ride vehicles. In the middle of the forest is a three-dimensional miniature of the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage.
At the left hand side, near the loading area is the Evil Queen's Castle, emerging from murals into impressive three dimensions as the Castle Courtyard. Winding through the queue, we eventually reach the stretch of land located in front of the cottage, finding a parade of mine cars pulling in and out, loading and unloading happy (or not-so-happy passengers). Each mine car sits a maximum of six people and bares the name of one of the dwarfs. Boarding a mine car ourselves we are given a quick safety spiel by an unseen hag.
"For a safe adventure, please remain seated, keeping your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the mine car, and please do watch your children. And remember, smoking and flash photography are never permitted in this enchanted world, hee hee hee! Farewell!" With her cackles behind us, our car pulls forward into the forest, the three-dimensional trees seamlessly emerging from the beautifully-painted wall mural behind it.
Heading towards the Evil Queen's Castle, we make a loop around the Wishing Well. As we pass by, we hear Snow White sing "I'm Wishing", dreaming about "the one I love". The same song was heard at this Castle Courtyard area, echoing even to the queue area. Much like the original (and highly traumatizing) 1971 version, the version you hear is the same version heard in The Mickey Mouse Revue (heard in the video from 0:41 to 1:24).
After the vehicle circles the Wishing Well, it drives towards the miniature of the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage, makes a u-turn and approaches the Castle Courtyard itself. Under the golden sun, Snow White sits on the stairs in her scullery maid garment and holding a white dove. The singing of "I'm Wishing" is a bit more louder, to feel as if she's singing it. Behind wonderfully stylized flower bushes, the Prince, sitting atop his white horse, watches her. Behind Snow White and the Prince, the remaining courtyard is lit with dramatic blue, as the Evil Queen stands behind a window and spies upon the Princess.
From there, we make a sharp left and enter the Castle itself. Inside, we come face to face with the Slave in the Magic Mirror through a simple but impressive projection effect. The exquisitely painted set featured the Magic Mirror in its 1937 movie appearance, with the ornamental stone frame with signs of the zodiac around the mirror. Inside, the Mirror's Slave reveals: "Alas, Snow White is the Fairest One of All".
"Never!" yells a voice behind the vehicle. It's the voice of the Queen! We make a sharp turn to our right and find ourselves in the Queen's Throne Room. standing in front of her mirror, arms in the air, summoning the dark powers: "Magic Mirror on the wall..." Suddenly, the Queen turns around with a thundering sound effect – revealing that she has transformed into a wart-nosed old hag before our very eyes! As the Witch, she continued: "With this disguise, I'll fool them all! Heh heh!"
Suspenseful music, taken from the film, and the distant sound of howling wind and howling wolves welcome us to the narrow corridors of her Dungeon, ghostly voices telling us to turn back. Countless skeletons pop up in the dungeons, some hanging from chains on the walls, others simply fallen to the floor. Perhaps the most iconic of these skeletons (from a memorable moment in the film) is a skeleton trapped beneath iron bars, reaching for a nearby pail of water, having died doing so. We turn towards a archway leading to the relative safety of the outside world set in a blue night sky with glistening stars. Our escape is foiled - the Hag has summoned a large portcullis to come crashing down, blocking our path. We turn right into the Queen's laboratory. Whirring gizmos and bubbling potions on either side of the track illuminate the Hag dipping a skull-faced apple into a green-glowing cauldron, taunting us..."Apple deary?" Her cackle follows us as barely avoid being by falling equipment shelves and turn a sharp left outside of the Castle and into the Frightening Forest.
No music is played here, just an eerie howling wind and the rustling noises of the forest. From out of nowhere the old Hag drifts out from underneath her Castle on a boat, the apple in one hand, a makeshift oar in the other. "Fresh apple...tasty apple!" The trees suddenly take on the appearances of monsters as their gnarling teeth, red eyes, and gnarled branches reach for us, intimidating eyes staring down at us from the treetops, alligator-resembling logs snapping at us, bats flying through the darkness.
Much like Tokyo, this ride's version of the Frightening Forest scene creates truly spooky yet elegant ambience with very few sound effects. The most significant sound of these is the eerily ethereal
"banshee wail" that was created for
Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Now there is music, adding on to the suspenseful theme. The Huntsman stands before a tree up ahead, speaking to a screaming Snow White a few feet away. "Quick! Run away! And never come back!" Snow White screams as we cross through some more trees and into a miniature briar patch, where logs that look like alligators come towards us. In the darkness, ominous eyes glow, but as we turn away, we find out that the eyes are those of the kind-hearted woodland creatures, who point the way to the Seven Dwarfs' Mine.
Inside we are immediately immersed into a glistening grotto filled with dazzling jewels and diamonds embedded into the walls, stacked into piles, and stocking lonesome mine cars. The dwarfs appear hard at work, singing "Dig-a-Dig-Dig" diligently. Grumpy and Bashful have their backs turned, picking away into the cavern walls, Sleepy asleep in a deer-pulled mine car, the deer very angry at his lazy rider. Making a left we pass by a small shaft opening in which Happy and Sneezy emerge on a handcar very slowly. Sneezy suddenly gathers up a sneeze and creates a rather powerful sneeze, sending the handcar flying forward. Doc and Dopey appear surveying diamonds to our right. Although Doc takes his work seriously, Dopey sees it as a game, holding the diamonds up to his eyes and instantly causing thousands of his eyes to be projected throughout the mine in a stunning effect, taking them down and removing the projections, putting them again and restoring the projections.
Another mine shaft door moves aside for us, allowing us access into the forest at sunset. We find ourselves about to go under a log spanning a canyon, a miniature waterfall near our path. As we pass under, we see the Seven Dwarfs actually march atop the log, singing "Heigh-Ho".
We pass under the log and make a right turn. True enchantment may have fill the hearts of some travelers, as the Seven Dwarfs' Cottage emerges from the serene forest ambience. Inside the cottage, the Seven Dwarfs made merry music and singing a "Silly Song". Immediately inside the dwarfs can be seen dancing about, singing, playing miniature instruments, and having an all-together good time with Snow White who waltzes about the room gleefully with Dopey standing on Sneezy's shoulders wearing an over-sized jacket. The woodland creatures have also gotten in on the fun, watching from the windows.
The fun is cut short however when we exit the cottage (through the ride's many "crash doors")...
The near second we exit the Cottage we are immediately greeted by the Hag who lurks outside a window, clutching the apple, her raven perched on her free hand. "Go on deary...take a bite!" She cackles once more, our car making a sharp right back into the woods, passing by the Prince. "Snow White! Where are you?" The searching Prince is quickly left behind as we head back towards the Cottage, the dwarfs lining both sides of the track, each one warning us not to proceed, others shouting for Snow White to run. Making a left turn explains the shouting: Snow White appears inside the Cottage, popping out of the front half of an opened door, ready to bite into the apple. The Hag stands close by with a big ole' grin, "That's right deary! Take a bite!" Thunder and lightning crash, sending us straight back into the Mysterious Woods. As we enter the Hag can be heard shouting “Now I'm the fairest in the land!” Two mean-eyed vultures watch us pass, their heads moving in perfect unison as they follow our every move.
Thunder rumbles above the hills as we hear the Dwarfs' commotion with Doc's flustered voice: “It's the Quicked Ween—the Wicked Queen! Come on men!” We pass through some trees to find ourselves at the Stormy Mountain, where the Dwarfs are seen on a nearby cliff, scared.
Why are they scared? I don’t know, maybe because…the Witch is about to crush them (and us) with a boulder! Rain falls heavily (and even seems to run down the side of the cliff). The Witch is seen, ready to dislodge the boulder. “Fools! I’ll crush your bones!” she yells. She laughs wildly, only to lose her footing and fall backwards, screaming in horror (her scream taken directly from the film), a burst of fog and light occurring (this hides the figure which falls backwards into a hole, raising back up for the next vehicle seconds later).
We pass under the mountain and find ourselves back in the forest. A moving choral rendition of “Someday My Prince Will Come” fills our ears, cuing the ride's Finale. Directly before us lies Snow White in her opened glass coffin, the now peaceful forest surrounding us via colorful murals, a beautiful sunset at hand. Our ride vehicle (using silent brakes) slows down a bit and we actually witness the Prince kissing Snow White awake.
Turning right we see six of the dwarfs bidding Snow White and her Prince goodbye as they ride away towards the Castle in the Clouds (the couple, horse and Dwarfs are figures, the castle is part of a mural.) Dopey on the other hand waves in the opposite direction - classic Dopey - waving down to us and wiggling his ears from a top an overhead bridge.
A set of painted doors showcasing a beautiful sunset on the horizon. A painted-on banner reads "...and they all lived happily ever after". The doors move apart and we wheel back into the loading area, exiting our mine car.
