I imagine some people, when they think of Sleeping Beauty, think of just another Disney princess movie. But for some of us who grew up on that movie, however, Sleeping Beauty is remarkable for containing the most epic sword-dragon battle in film history. Here's an idea for an attraction intended to take advantage of said epicness...
Imagine you head back around Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, only to discover that Ariel's Incredibly Bland Undersea Whatever has been bulldozed. (Already you're jumping for joy, I can tell
) In its place rises an ominous, black, craggy wall of jagged mountains, with a distant, sinister castle looming up behind them - the Forbidden Mountains, which you recognize from the film.
Passing into the ride entrance, you find yourself in a dark, narrow corridor with grimy stone walls, green torchlight, and, above you, the yellow eyes of goblin guards peering down menacingly. One of the guards mutters something about prisoners - the queue is taking you to your cell in Maleficent's dungeon.
You wind past a window overlooking a wild goblin bonfire, past skeletons in various torture devices, past the wily raven that leers at you, evidently enjoying your capture. We hear Maleficent's sinister three-note motif, the same motif that led Briar Rose to the enchanted spinning wheel:
Eventually, the queue dumps you into a cell, which functions as the preshow room. Through a row of bars there is an empty cell, across a second row of bars (thus creating some distance for the sake of illusion, similar to Rock-and-Roller Coaster) is a screen showing the cell of Prince Philip, who is seated forlornly. He does not appear to notice the crowd of tourists being jammed in two cells down from him.
When the door behind you closes shut with a loud clang, the torchlight darkens, and Maleficent herself sweeps into Prince Philip's room. She taunts him, as in the film, and when she's gone, Philip is visited by Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, who arm him with a sword and shield and break his chains. As Philip heads out of his cell, Flora turns to you. "You! Come with us! We'll need all the help we can get to escape!" She aims her wand at the locked door on the far end of your cell, and in a burst of red fiber optics, the lock is broken and the door lurches open.
Waiting for you outside is an enchanted carriage, equipped with magical crossbows charged with the colored light of a particular fairy. The carriage, as I imagine it, would be basically a step or so down in intensity from an Indiana Jones Adventure vehicle, with a couple tiers of seating (a la Men in Black) so that everyone gets an equal shot at the enemy. Boarding your vehicle, you hear Flora's voice as the vehicle rumbles around a stone-walled corner, "This enchanted carriage will take you out of Maleficent's castle, but you must fight! Prince Philip will need cover! Now move, quickly!"
The carriage speeds up and starts tumbling down a rough stone path. Goblins snarl and leap from the sides, but retreat when shot with crossbows. Rounding a corner, we see the fairies freeing Samson the horse, while Prince Philip watches around a corner... The next straightaway takes us under a kettle of boiling oil - Merriweather shoots it, and it becomes bubbles that pour onto us. A second kettle becomes rainbow mist that we pass harmlessly through.
"The drawbridge!" cries Flora, and we see the bridge starting to crank up. Rainbow steam fills the air at the end of the rising drawbridge... Our carriage leaps across it, and lands with a thud on the other side of the moat. Our carriage disappears around a crag, but we hear Maleficent's curse ringing out as thorns start to sprout all around us. Samson and Philip are caught in the thorns - further shots from the crossbows free them, and all around us the thorns retreat as we shoot our way through them.
On the other side of the thorns, we see Maleficent's castle at a distance, and we hear her summon "all the powers of hell" and (animation) morph into a dragon. We turn and run, but around the next crag, we see Maleficent herself -a full-size animatronic, spewing fire at Prince Philip's shield. "Fire at will!" cries Merriweather and we start pouring shots into the dragon, causing fiber optic light bursts and the dragon to react in pain as we round the scene. Rounding another bend, we look back to see Philip hurl the sword into Maleficent's heart (animation), and the dragon is gone.
We enter a brighter colored castle area, passing a scene where Philip leans down to kiss Briar Rose, and "Once Upon a Dream" plays loudly as we enter a ballroom - a crowd of people watches the couple twirling in dance. Now, a bonus - half of our crossbows fire pink magic and half fire blue - by shooting objects and dresses around the ballroom we can change their colors (spotlights on costumes, animated tapestries/paintings) to pink and blue and back.
We unload in the castle stables, where kids can meet Philip and Briar Rose, or feed Samson a carrot, or head next door to the Fantasyland Armory to invest in the "Disney Heroes" line of toy medieval weapons and armor - Aladdin had a nice scimitar, as I recall, and Hercules was no slouch against the Hydra, Merida's bow... Well maybe a whole line of merchandise is a bridge too far
Or is this too intense for a Fantasyland dark ride? Maybe kids couldn't handle the original Snow White's Adventures, but this time around, the kids would be armed...
Imagine you head back around Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, only to discover that Ariel's Incredibly Bland Undersea Whatever has been bulldozed. (Already you're jumping for joy, I can tell
) In its place rises an ominous, black, craggy wall of jagged mountains, with a distant, sinister castle looming up behind them - the Forbidden Mountains, which you recognize from the film.
Passing into the ride entrance, you find yourself in a dark, narrow corridor with grimy stone walls, green torchlight, and, above you, the yellow eyes of goblin guards peering down menacingly. One of the guards mutters something about prisoners - the queue is taking you to your cell in Maleficent's dungeon.
You wind past a window overlooking a wild goblin bonfire, past skeletons in various torture devices, past the wily raven that leers at you, evidently enjoying your capture. We hear Maleficent's sinister three-note motif, the same motif that led Briar Rose to the enchanted spinning wheel:
Eventually, the queue dumps you into a cell, which functions as the preshow room. Through a row of bars there is an empty cell, across a second row of bars (thus creating some distance for the sake of illusion, similar to Rock-and-Roller Coaster) is a screen showing the cell of Prince Philip, who is seated forlornly. He does not appear to notice the crowd of tourists being jammed in two cells down from him.
When the door behind you closes shut with a loud clang, the torchlight darkens, and Maleficent herself sweeps into Prince Philip's room. She taunts him, as in the film, and when she's gone, Philip is visited by Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, who arm him with a sword and shield and break his chains. As Philip heads out of his cell, Flora turns to you. "You! Come with us! We'll need all the help we can get to escape!" She aims her wand at the locked door on the far end of your cell, and in a burst of red fiber optics, the lock is broken and the door lurches open.
Waiting for you outside is an enchanted carriage, equipped with magical crossbows charged with the colored light of a particular fairy. The carriage, as I imagine it, would be basically a step or so down in intensity from an Indiana Jones Adventure vehicle, with a couple tiers of seating (a la Men in Black) so that everyone gets an equal shot at the enemy. Boarding your vehicle, you hear Flora's voice as the vehicle rumbles around a stone-walled corner, "This enchanted carriage will take you out of Maleficent's castle, but you must fight! Prince Philip will need cover! Now move, quickly!"
The carriage speeds up and starts tumbling down a rough stone path. Goblins snarl and leap from the sides, but retreat when shot with crossbows. Rounding a corner, we see the fairies freeing Samson the horse, while Prince Philip watches around a corner... The next straightaway takes us under a kettle of boiling oil - Merriweather shoots it, and it becomes bubbles that pour onto us. A second kettle becomes rainbow mist that we pass harmlessly through.
"The drawbridge!" cries Flora, and we see the bridge starting to crank up. Rainbow steam fills the air at the end of the rising drawbridge... Our carriage leaps across it, and lands with a thud on the other side of the moat. Our carriage disappears around a crag, but we hear Maleficent's curse ringing out as thorns start to sprout all around us. Samson and Philip are caught in the thorns - further shots from the crossbows free them, and all around us the thorns retreat as we shoot our way through them.
On the other side of the thorns, we see Maleficent's castle at a distance, and we hear her summon "all the powers of hell" and (animation) morph into a dragon. We turn and run, but around the next crag, we see Maleficent herself -a full-size animatronic, spewing fire at Prince Philip's shield. "Fire at will!" cries Merriweather and we start pouring shots into the dragon, causing fiber optic light bursts and the dragon to react in pain as we round the scene. Rounding another bend, we look back to see Philip hurl the sword into Maleficent's heart (animation), and the dragon is gone.
We enter a brighter colored castle area, passing a scene where Philip leans down to kiss Briar Rose, and "Once Upon a Dream" plays loudly as we enter a ballroom - a crowd of people watches the couple twirling in dance. Now, a bonus - half of our crossbows fire pink magic and half fire blue - by shooting objects and dresses around the ballroom we can change their colors (spotlights on costumes, animated tapestries/paintings) to pink and blue and back.
We unload in the castle stables, where kids can meet Philip and Briar Rose, or feed Samson a carrot, or head next door to the Fantasyland Armory to invest in the "Disney Heroes" line of toy medieval weapons and armor - Aladdin had a nice scimitar, as I recall, and Hercules was no slouch against the Hydra, Merida's bow... Well maybe a whole line of merchandise is a bridge too far
Or is this too intense for a Fantasyland dark ride? Maybe kids couldn't handle the original Snow White's Adventures, but this time around, the kids would be armed...
