May 31 - Snow White's Scary Adventures

Image courtesy themeparkreview.com

On this day, in 2012, the Snow White’s Scary Adventures ride terrified its last child in the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World. When Disneyland was under construction in the mid Fifties, plans were naturally made to include rides based on popular Disney characters. When the park opened on July 17, 1955, guests could experience attractions based on Peter Pan, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (at least the Mr. Toad part), Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Some of the rides just featured characters or elements of the films they were based on, like the flying elephants of Dumbo or the teacups of Alice. Other rides, like Peter Pan’s Flight or Snow White’s Scary Adventures, took guests right into the stories they were pulled from. Except they didn’t do it in a way that people expected.

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It didn’t take long for guests to notice that when they rode Snow White’s Scary Adventures, the attraction seemed to be missing something. Snow White was nowhere to be found. The Evil Queen/Hag made several appearances and the dwarfs were there, but where was the princess the ride was named after? The thing is, she wasn’t supposed to be there. The Imagineers had designed a ride concept that proved to be a little higher brow than it needed to be. You, as the rider, were literally stepping into Snow White’s shoes (or Peter Pan’s or Mr. Toad’s) and experiencing what she would have experienced, something the Imagineers felt was implied by the possessiveness of the attraction’s name. It was a nuance that was lost on the general public. For years, the number one complaint about Snow White’s Scary Adventures was a twofold statement, rarely uttered one part without the other: it’s too scary and where is Snow White?

Image courtesy youtube.com

The concerns guests had about Snow White’s Scary Adventures went largely ignored for years. When the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World opened sixteen years later, it included a version of the ride. Arguably, the Florida ride was made even scarier. Instead of the three times guests encountered the Evil Queen in the original version, they encountered her seven times, apparently being crushed by a giant jewel she topples on to them to end the ride. In 1983, the Disneyland version would be modified to include Snow White and lighten the tone, but children in Orlando would continue to be scared for eleven more years. In 1994, the Magic Kingdom version was toned way down with most of the witch figures being removed, Snow White finally made an appearance and the ride ended with the witch’s demise. The word scary was also dropped from the attraction’s name. That’s how it stood for the next eighteen years, eventually closing to make way for Princess Fairytale Hall, where guests can meet a princess rather than wonder why she isn’t in her own attraction.

Image courtesy youtube.com

The Disneyland version (really version 2.0) is still operating today making it one of the longest running rides in Disney history. The 1983 revamp didn’t just happen to Snow White’s Scary Adventures, all the dark rides were updated to actually include their namesakes at some point. An additional modification happened at the same time. When the figure of the witch offers the poisoned apple to guests outside of the dwarfs’ house, ride vehicles come close enough that people stole the apple a number of times over the years. Now if they try, their hand will pass right through it. It’s a projection. Additional versions of the ride are also operating in Tokyo Disneyland, a mix of the California and Florida rides, and Disneyland Paris, essentially the same as Disneyland’s current version.