My Disney Top 5-Things That I'll Miss About Snow White's Scary Adventures
by Chris Barry, contributing writer
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It’s not every day that an original Walt Disney World attraction closes its doors. That’s exactly what happened this week though, when Snow White’s Scary Adventures at the Magic Kingdom took guests on their final trip through the dark forest and into the mines on May 31st. This classic dark ride has been scaring the pants off of little kids (and some big kids as well) since opening with the park in 1971. As of yesterday, we've heard its final scream. Princess Fairytale Hall, a Disney Princess meet and greet, will take Snow White’s place in the near future and little girls in princess dresses will come running for sure. The question is, “Will any of them miss what came before?”
My 13-year-old daughter, herself a reformed Princess-aholic is pretty upset that the Snow White ride is leaving. She’s more of a traditionalist like her dad when it comes to this sort of thing. Even though she herself wore the gowns and crowns back in her younger years, she’s just not ready to see Snow White, Prince Charming, and the Dwarfs pack up and leave just to make room for a Princess photo-op. My sons on the other hand were always a little put off by the whole Snow White’s Scary (emphasis on scary) Adventure experience. I’m quite sure the only part of this attraction they’ll miss is the only part they ever watched with their eyes open: the trip through the Seven Dwarf’s cottage. The rest of the time, the Wicked Queen, the skeletons, and the evil looking trees kept them truly in the dark.
I realize that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will be taking up residence just across the courtyard and it looks like it’s going to be an amazing attraction. I’m sure the Imagineers will outdo themselves and hopefully include some tributes to the old classic when this final part of the Fantasyland expansion opens in 2014. However, I felt it only fitting that on this, the first day after its closing, we pay our own tribute to this quintessential dark ride and one of Walt’s earliest theme park creations. That said, here are my Top 5 Things That I’ll Miss About Snow White’s Scary Adventures.
Snow White's Scary Adventures at Wat Disney World's Magic Kingdom is now closed forever. Photo by Chris Barry.
5 – The Mine Cars
I know it may sound silly, but we always liked to take our spots in the final loading area and wait for “our” mine car to come into view. We’d take guesses as to which of the names of the Seven Dwarfs would be on our car. I always hoped for Dopey, of course. It's little things like this that get ingrained into your head when it comes to Disney attractions.
4 – The Mural
This is only a small piece of the wonderful Snow White's Scary Adventures mural. Photo by Chris Barry.
Snow White is really the one that started it all. It’s the film that ushered in a new era in animation, that of the feature length film. This beautiful mural features that classic animation style that still looks beautiful to me more than 70 years after the film’s release. My kids and I always loved trying to find the hidden Mickey on the Dwarfs boxer shorts hanging out to dry and that small Mickey on the chimney.
3 – Dopey Waving Goodbye
On our Walt Disney World trip last summer, I made the family aware that this would probably be the last time we would get to ride Snow White. We’ve always loved Dopey’s innocent wave goodbye at the end of the ride, but this time…we were really waving goodbye. This is one of those things that I hope shows up in the new attraction. Perhaps, Dopey can be waving hello to us all at the beginning this time around.
2 – The Wicked Queen – The Old Hag
This is the classic freak-out moment for the youngsters. All things considered, it’s a pretty mild scare—but I still think it’s a great effect. It has certainly frightened the bejeezus out of many a young guest over the years.
1 – The Seven Dwarfs Cottage
Three of the Seven Dwarfs inside their cottage provide a happy respite to an otherwise truly "dark" ride. Photo by Chris Barry.
To me, this is one of the happiest moments in any Disney attraction. This is also the moment where my kids would finally uncover their eyes. The kindly forest animals start to appear. The classic yodeling “Silly Song” is heard, and once you pass through those doors out of the dark forest and into the cottage, all is well with the world. This is the moment that I’ll miss the most for sure.
I realize that Snow White’s Scary Adventures wasn’t a very popular attraction. There was usually only a 10-20 minute wait at the longest whenever we were there. There was obviously never a need to install a FastPass machine here. Still, it was an original. It had Walt’s fingerprints on it as far as I’m concerned. It was in his original park in Anaheim more than 50 years ago, and it’s been in almost every Magic Kingdom-style park since.
I'm pretty sad that it’s now just a memory. This summer on our trip to Walt Disney World, it won’t quite feel the same with Snow White’s Scary Adventures gone. My kids may have rode through it with one eye open most of the time, but they’re sad to see it go as well. I guess it’s just one more reason for us to finally make our way west to Disneyland…or maybe Disneyland Paris…or even Tokyo. I think I might just have to do something like that; all for just one more spin through the quintessential Disney dark ride…Snow White’s Scary Adventures.
What are your thoughts on the loss of this classic attraction at Walt Disney World? Will anybody miss it as much as I will? Click on the “Discuss this article on MousePad” link below and let’s hear what you have to say.
Comments
I'll certainly miss Snow White. I rode it 2-3 times every visit. The dark rides are quintessential Disney Parks to me. Hate to see them go one by one. As I have no children, I'll probably never have any use for the Princess Fairy Tale Hall...
...that they were building a ton of new stuff anyway. Why not just put the meet and greet in the new construction. Why kill a classic?
So is the Dwarf's cottage at the end of the ride at WDW (only been there once)? It's the first part of the ride at DL.
It's about halfway through the ride, say around 2 minutes in. The WDW version began (inside the attraction portion) with the Magic Mirror and the Queen's transformation.
I think the WDW version has a much more comprehensive ending, though. At DL, the ending is 'Scary witch at the top of the mountain being chased by dwarfs and Snow White rides off with the Prince".
Have to agree with you on the dark rides being quintessential Disney Parks. I think it's the simplicity. Sometimes the simplest rides are still the best and most beloved. I don't buy into the newer thinking that everything has to be some sort of "interactive" attraction because that's what people, especially kids, expect nowadays. For example, my kids love Peter Pan (judging by the lines midday so do a lot of other people) and there's a ride that's old school and simple. Just like Snow White. We've all agreed in this household...we will miss it.
I haven't been to DCA, but is the Mermaid ride a little bit of a throwback? It seems like it's basically a dark ride, albeit a really nice one. I'm very enthusiastic about it coming to WDW.
CB
Well they were going to do just that. If you remember the early plans had New Fantasyland as pretty much New Princess Land. They were meet and greets all over the forest. I'm kind of happy that those plans didn't come completely to fruition.
In fact, wasn't the Dwarf's Mine Train not part of the initial "Princessland" redo? As in - that was added when they re-tooled the expansion?
That's correct. Someone in charge with sons must have looked at the plans and said..."What are my boys going to do here?" I did the same thing when I saw the initial plans.
Pretty sad to see a classic like that go, especially for what they are replacing it with. I'm actually from Northern California and Disneyland is my home and they are doing similar things over here. They just shut down the Plaza Gardens to put in a princess meeting type thing. For those that don't know, it was a music stage/dance area at the end of mainstreet on the left (towards adventureland). This thing is an ICON of Main Street. Count Basie and Louis Armstrong performed on this stage among MANY other legends. There was also frequent swing dancing with live big band that added to the old feel of main street. I don't get how a princess meet and greet fits on main street at all, but its a real shame. I remember as a kid watching the piano player with all the dressed up swing dancers stopping by for a chat before heading over to the Plaza Gardens. Made you feel in a whole other time period.
I know that Walt wanted the parks to change over time, but I feel like these kinds of changes just aren't exactly what he had in mind.
Now I feel bad that I didn't go through when my brothers and some friends from the Air Force were there in February... I didn't know it was so soon.
I far to often take for granted the old attractions we still visit every time... Swiss Family Tree House is always a must along with the Jungle Cruise and Pirates. We just go through them so fast with our focus spent on "The Mountains", great food, and time together.
I am headed there next weekend for a weekend solo trip to blow off some steam and escape reality (plus BTMR was closed in February.), so I will see if I can get some pictures of what they are doing.
Does this remind anyone else of how they replaced Herbie with Lightning at the HS stunt show? I like Cars and cant wait to see Cars Land at DL, but Herbie was a classic that went away too soon. Granted, when I was there in November, 3/4 of that crowd wouldn't have known who Herbie was...but it still seems wrong to replace an Icon rather than adding to the show. At the very least, it was cool to see the split version of Herbie with 8 wheels and 2 drivers.
Yes TLM at DCA is very much a dark ride. It is technically way more advanced than the old Fantasyland rides but it follows the same basic story theme. The ride has actually gone through some changes since opening so the ride at MK will be improved from the start especially with Ariel's better hairdo under the sea.
I have been on the ride at MK and I am sorry to see it go for another meet and greet. I think they should have kept it open until the mine train opened.
As for the change at DL the PFF will be more than just a meet and greet. It will be an extension of the castle area and will still incorporate the old stage that many have performed on. It is supposed to be more of a themed area so it should be tastefully done not to damage the show on Main Street. Imagineering has really put a lot of work into all the changes on both coasts and I think as guests we will be pleased by the end result. I am excited to see the new Fantasyland and the remodeled DCA and Cars Land. I give Imagineering an A for effort.
The saddest part about this evolution which seems to be happening is that these are the visions Walt had and was a part of before he passed. Even for my kids (who are all now in their upper teens and low twenties), there is something about getting on a ride that Walt not only dreamed, but rode himself. I understand wanting to integrate the new stories (Cars, Toy Story, etc.) into the parks but it should not be at the expense of the originals that started it all. I know there is a high demand for the character meet and greets, but there is a better way to set these up without impacting a legendary attraction.