Talk about scary—I don’t know what is more frightening...the interior of this attraction or the look on this little girl’s face as she is about to begin her journey. There’s nothing bashful about her as you can see from this 1950’s photo.
Snow White aficionado Kenneth Sundberg recently provided me with this detailed layout of the post 1983 Snow White’s Scary Adventures attraction:
Many thanks to Kenneth for his fantastic submissions to Daveland!
See more Disneyland Snow White attraction photos at my main website.
Kenneth and Kurt are two of the "go-to" guys when it comes to learning about the vintage SWSA attraction. They both know their stuff!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Dave! My wife says I wore that same expression as the little girl in the photo when I first rode SWSA. The only difference being that I was nearly 37 years of age at the time :)
I was stunned to learn that the Snow White dark ride was going to be closed in Florida in order to have a princess meet 'n greet. Thought it was a bad joke at first, but apparently it is true.
ReplyDeleteNot a rumor, it's true that the ride will be closed in WDW. However, it wont be a big loss. The ride, when it originally opened, was terrifying, even more so than the DL couterpart. Unforttunately, a few years ago it was deeemd "too scary" and made alot tamer and now it is extremely lame and hardly anyone goes on it. I say good riddance. WDW will instead get a new Seven Dwarfs mine train coaster with interior dark scenes that promise to be very scary...so all in all, it's a great trade-off.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed true that Snow White will soon take her last Scary Adventure. Quite a few people welcome the ride's closure. I don't. The ride shows its age, for sure, but I make sure to board it at least once each time I'm at Disney World.
ReplyDeleteI wrote an elegy (I guess that's what it was, kind of) to SWSA here:
http://disneydispatch.com/content/features/2011/snow-white-plans-final-scary-adventure
The comments were ... discouraging.
Anonymous - Call me lame then, because I actually enjoyed the WDW version...especially the well scene (with evil queen watching overhead) and the farewell scene...all different from what Anaheim has. I do agree that the Dwarf attraction has potential. Obviously there are different opinions, and Bob, I can definitely sympathize with your discouragement over the comments on your post. The times they are a changing...which is what keeps blogs and websites like mine busy as they document the past and discuss the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob - Kurt Raymond here. I thought your post was well put, and I also can sympathize with the fans who don't want change, but even myself, as a big Snow White aficionado can see why Disney is doing what they are. Granted, Princess Meet and Greets are not for everybody, however the consolation is WDW is getting a new, updated, and more 'thrilling' ride to replace it, and I'm ok with the fact that Snow White will still have some area of WDW that represents her and the other characters as well. We in Anaheim thankfully just recieved some choice effects upgrades so I know DL's won't leave anytime soon. Thanks for letting us know your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteActually, Dave and Sanctum-Rob, it's completely vice versa - without Dave's magnificent photo website my SWSA Tribute would have remained very little and inaccurate. I don't KNOW much about the SWA/SWSA, but I have always loved to analyse many things "to death"... Thanks are due to the real SWA experts like Dave, Major Pepperidge, Kurt, Rob and many others who have given me the possibility to put it all together.
ReplyDeleteAbout the upcoming Dwarfs Mine ride... Yes, I am excited about the possibility that the rollercoaster MAY include also some familiar scary stuff - but my biggest concern is that it will be a children's rollercoaster NOT meant for fat people like me ...not forgetting that my stomach doesn't like swinging in any form. (Spinning is, however, no problem). I do admit that DL's Indiana Jones Adventure is one of my absolute favorite Disney rides because of its breathtaking experience and incredible technical aspects, but something in me despises the idea of a speedy, bumpy and swinging SW ride with height and size restrictions. My love towards Disney's original 1937 SW is based on serenity, beauty, elegance and stylish horror - and NOT on vomit-flavoured action while chained into a torture device.
My two cents...
Thanks for the peek into a perennial favorite.
ReplyDeleteJG
I love the map! One of the reasons that I adore the Snow White ride is that there is a very definite sense of moving through the story by moving through a geography. It's not just cutting from scene to scene (which I consider a weakness in Pinocchio and the latter half of Peter Pan), but you actually move sensibly from the cottage to the mine to the castle and into the forest as though you were in a real place, more or less. Mr. Toad and Alice manage it a fair bit as well, but Snow White has the most defined sense of it.
ReplyDelete