Snow
White's Scary Adventures
Fantasyland
Attraction
where guests ride on one of
the dwarfs' mine cars into Snow White's adventures as the Evil Queen
pursues Snow White into scenes from the animated film...
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Ride
on one of the dwarfs' mine cars into Snow White's adventures as the Evil
Queen pursues Snow White into scenes from the animated film. Be there as
the Evil Queen transforms into a grizzled old hag. Get tempted by the
poison apple. Beware falling rocks!
This attraction, one of the
original "dark rides" in
Fantasyland,
tells the story of
Snow White,
Disney's first full length animated feature. Along
the way, the wicked Queen has other plans in mind for Snow White.
Note: While the title implies the ride may be too scary for children, it's
relatively tame.
Snow White's Scary Adventures
opened on July 17, 1955, based on the animated film
Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs. Originally, the attraction was called Snow White's
Adventures. In 1983, the name was change to represent the scary nature of
the attraction. Guests travel through the home of the seven dwarfs and the
enchanted forest.
Snow White's Scary Adventures is located in
Fantasyland.
The ride is based on the 1937 classic film, Disney's
first full length animated movie. To ride, you board mine trains like
those used by the dwarves in their diamond mine. Each of the cars can seat
up to six people, 3 in front, 3 in back. They are all named after one of
the dwarves and you will find an image of a dwarf on the front of each
one. There are also carvings of the forest animals from the story on the
sides of the cars.
The ride was one of the 20 rides available on opening
day in 1971. The outside of the ride at the Magic Kingdom is much
plainer than the one at Disneyland. It's not as authentic looking. Rather
than resembling a castle it's a plain blue trimmed building with a striped
roof.
The ride was redesigned in 1994 for more than one
reason. Some of the scarier scenes were eliminated due to complaints from
parents. Also, the ride was renamed and the word Scary was added.
Previously it was called Snow White's Adventures. Adding the word Scary
would supposedly act as a warning to parents of young children. The mine
cars were also made larger due to problems riders were having boarding
them. This wasn't the first time the ride had been changed though.
Apparently the first version of the ride was confusing and didn't even
feature Snow White. Instead, the riders were meant to believe that they
were Snow White running from the witch. People left the ride wondering
where the main character was. She was later included in the 1983
renovation.
In 1994, they added better audio animatronics, more
scenes with the dwarves, and eliminated some of the scary scenes with the
witch. The ride is aimed at a 5-7 year old audience and there are many
warnings in the Disney guidebooks as well as at the ride that some scenes
may scare young kids. My son was 3 at the time and was not the least bit
frightened. He has seen the movie and it's not much different other than
feeling more realistic. He actually liked yelling at the Evil Queen to go
away. The ride has no height restriction.
After boarding the mine trains, you are transported
through the tale of Snow White. Parts of the ride are dark. Much of it has
fluorescent color and ultra violet lighting. Like many of the rides here,
everything white you have on will glow in the dark. The train is a rough
and jerky ride at times.
First you will see Snow White singing with the birds.
You will enter the castle and see the magic mirror on the wall. A skeleton
in a cage alerts you of danger and soon the witch appears. She transforms
herself from wicked queen to an old woman. You get to see her devise her
evil plan and prepare the poison apple. Snow White is chased into the
woods by huntsmen. Loud thunder and lightening crashes. The trees are
scary like the ones in the Wizard of Oz and their branches are made to
look like arms. The alligators in the water swim up to your cart as well
and the witch tries to drop a giant rock on your head. Doors open very
close to the car as you approach.
Next there are more peaceful scenes as Snow White meets
the dwarves singing and dancing in their home. She moves in and escapes
the queen for the time being. Before long, though, she meets the old woman
who gives her the poisoned apple. She is shown in her glass box awaiting a
kiss from the prince. There is also the happy ending, of course.
This ride does not have FastPass. It's not nearly as
crowded as most of the other Fantasyland rides though. The ride is 2 minutes long.
Since the name is Snow White's Scary ride, some parents
might incorrectly think the emphasis is on Snow White and not scary. If
you think about it, most of the scary parts of Snow White involve the
witch, so the connection of the ride to the story is logical. Snow White
in and of herself wasn't too scary. Now if she had decided not to play the
helpless damsel waiting for a man to rescue her that might be considered
scary by some.
You travel on a track through the ride. It is shaped
like a mine car and I believe it sits 4 people (two in the front and two
behind). You get pulled along in the dark and see some of the scary scenes
from the movie. Every now and then that pesky witch pops out - most times
you can see it coming, but it might freak some youngsters.
The name of this ride
says it all, Snow White's Scary Adventures. This Fantasyland
Attraction is based on the Movie Snow White.
It was rehabbed in 1994, to include the Snow White
Character, and to make the Mine Carts larger. It was more scary, than it
is now, but due to the complaints of parents, it was toned down, but it
still is scary.
You hop into Mine Carts, with 3 benches in each car.
Each Bench fits 2 or 3 people. The front of Each cart has the name of a
Dwarf.
As you enter the Story, you see Snow White, sitting by
the Wishing Well, singing to the birds.
The, you enter the Castle, where you see the Mirror
on the Wall.
You then see a Skeleton , locked in a jail cell. Next,
the Witch makes her first appearance. She appears a total of 5 times in
the ride.
Snow White is chased into the Woods. There is loud
Thunder and Lightning, The Trees have arms for branches. The Logs in the
Water are made to look like alligators, and they come right up to your
cart. The Witch even tries to drop a big rock on your cart!
You travel through the forest, and into the home of the
7 Dwarves. They are singing and Dancing. Snow White meets the Dwarves. She
takes care of there home in the forest.
The Witch, disguised as an old lady visits Snow White,
she gives her a Poisoned Apple. The Apple has a Spell on it.
You see Snow White, on top of the Coffin. The Prince
Kisses her, and we have a Happy ending.
As you exit, Dopey waves goodbye to you.
There is a Hidden Mickey in the Waiting Queue
area. Look on the Clothes line in the Mural. On the pair of Boxing Shorts,
one of the Red Hearts is actually, a Mickey Mouse Head!
This nice little ride is the abridged version of Disney's "Snow White."
You ride a mine car through the "Snow White" story,
which is illustrated with wonderful ride effects and great recreations of
all of the SW characters.
Two of the best effects in this ride revolve around
mirrors. The first is the magic mirror. The Magic Kingdom creators
recreate the animated mirror in such a way as to give anyone a brief
chill. Yes. Yes. It's down right scary. The other effect is when you come
upon the wicked queen looking into the mirror. You can see her reflection,
but when the animatronic doll turns around she's the scary old woman who
give Snow the apple. It's great!
One other little detail, which I enjoyed, was the
skeleton in the dungeon reaching for the water cup. I like this one
because it's my favorite part of the movie. As it happens in the film...
the queen is excited and happy (in an evil way of course) and she walks by
and says "Thirsty?... Have a drink." as she kicks the cup towards the
skeleton. Absolutely the funniest part of "snow White." I was so glad they
included this in the ride.
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