Snow White's Scary Adventure

Snow White's Scary Adventure is one of those old-time rides that really holds up well. It was in place when Disneyland opened and remained after the Fantasyland remodel. Originally it suffered from one of Disney's less successful ideas, to put the guest in the place of the main character and leaving any image of this character completely out of the ride. People were naturally confused as to why Snow White was not in the Snow White ride. When they refurbished Fantasyland they finally got the hint and put Snow White in the ride just one time. The overhaul of Fantasyland happened the year I was born, so I obviously don't remember anything but it's current state.

 

Now as you step up to the ride, it looks as though you are entering the Queen's castle, who peeks out of the curtains above the door every few minutes, glaring down at the guests. When I took my friend to Disneyland for his first time we went to this ride pretty early on and as we walked up I pointed out the book on the pedestal with the brass apple on top. There were a few people behind us so I just told my friend to touch the apple. When you do there is a clap of thunder and the evil Queen laughs. The people behind us in line were completely amazed as we walked in and I could hear one lady say, "I've been here a hundred times, and I never knew it did that!" It's fun to help people see all the detailed work that goes into Disney.

 

Once inside you are loaded into carts with one of the dwarf's names on the front and you are off into this classic dark ride. While it was pretty easy to get me on this ride when I was younger, I would spend most of the time in line trying to remember which side of the ride I wanted to be on. There was one side that I hated to sit on, but I could never figure it out before I was just told to sit down. This always lessened my excitement for this ride, because I would spend more time worrying about whether or not I had been sat on the wrong side than I would spend enjoying myself.

 

My Mom would always deploy the whole 'point out how much fun this is' method when we were on rides, pointing out things and trying to make them seem less scary.

 

"Oh look, there are the dwarfs, doing a happy dance!"

"There's Snow White, going up the stairs."

"Look at the happy little animals!"

"Now we are in the woods, look at the logs, they look kinda like alligators."

"There's the Queen in the mirror..."

 

This is where I would freeze and inevitably realize that I was indeed on the wrong side. We would swing into the Queen's room, her facing the mirror. I would push myself as hard as I could to slide further away, but as we moved in closer the Queen would turn around and practically be in the cart with me.

 

 

 

Oh. My. Goodness. I was so terrified of this part that it dominated my every thought as we got on this ride. The rest of the ride was fine for me, weaving our way through the dark, but as soon as I saw this coming up I would have a little heart attack.  The hag even appears a few more times, lurking in shadows and popping out of doors, offering up her poisonous fruit.

 

A Glimpse Behind the Magic

Originally (before 1983) the old hag held out a real apple towards the guests. This proved to be a problem because some guests would actually reach out and steal the apple. After the Fantasyland reopening they solved the problem by having the apple not really there, if anyone tried to take the apple now their hand would pass right through it.

 

This is actually the Disney World version, but you get the idea.

 

I would emerge still alive and vowing to myself that I would remember which side I wanted to be on next time we were on this ride. Of course, over the year or so that followed I would forget which side that was and I would end up sweating it out again, hardly able to concentrate until the witch spun around and nearly made me cry every time.

 

With the new Fantasyland project going on in Florida, this is the only Snow White ride left in the US. They have removed Snow White's Scary Adventure from Disney World and are replacing it with some sort of mine cart ride through the dwarf's mines. So if you are brave enough to sit on the FAR RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE CART, go to Disneyland and resist the urge to scream as the witch spins around.

 

Lesson Learned;

Don't let one event/person dictate your enjoyment of an entire experience.