June 1958 – present
LOCATION
Fantasyland — Alice In Wonderland is nestled in between the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Storybook Land Canal Boats, and the Mad Tea Party. If you are standing facing the front of the castle, take the path to Fantasyland on the right and you should see the ride on your left.
BACKGROUND
Alice in Wonderland is a dark ride based on the film sharing the same title, and sits next to its partner ride, the Mad Tea Party. This ride concerned Walt Disney upon its construction, because he feared audiences wouldn’t connect with it the same way they connected with the teacups. But regularly long lines and visits from Alice, Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit have proven Walt wrong since 1958, with no signs of slowing down.
EXPERIENCE
Details:
- Single Rider Line – no
- Fast Pass – no
- Height Requirement – none
- Duration – 3:40
Guests waiting beside the Mad Tea Party load into caterpillars that whisk them away into Wonderland. After falling down the rabbit hole, guests are led into Wonderland’s gardens as they chase the White Rabbit. The Cheshire Cat appears every so often, sporting his famous grin, and he is always surrounded by the many magical creatures featured in the classic film. Guests continue through Wonderland, narrowly escaping the Queen of Hearts and her Card Henchman, and finally celebrate the end of their journey at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. In just four minutes, guests experience the story of Alice in Wonderland by living it themselves.
MY RATING: ★★★☆☆
Alice in Wonderland is very cute, and the least dramatic/scary dark ride for little kids. The scenes depicted come straight out of the movie, and the animatronics are updated and exciting. This ride is a must for any little princesses that have just been on the teacups or visited the Mad Hatter shop.
This ride only gets three stars for two reasons. First, the line is always incredibly long, and at times frustrated guests don’t think the short ride is worth the wait. Second, there is one part of the ride where the caterpillar cars weave outside as they descend to the offloading area. This part has absolutely no decoration, no characters, and not much of a view. It’s a solid 30 seconds of what feels like dead time, and there is enough space for Imagineers to build some kind of cool backdrop, or at least something to look at. If they were to revamp that one area, I would give this ride four stars.
VISITING TIPS
While Alice is fairly packed throughout the day, it is by far the most crowded between 4 and 9 pm. If you don’t want to wait in a line easily exceeding a 45 minute wait, head to this ride as early in the morning as possible. If you don’t mind waiting in line, however, I would recommend visiting at sunset. In my opinion, the lanterns and waiting area are just gorgeous when it first gets dark, so I don’t mind standing in line once in a while.
TRIVIA
Some of the Alice in Wonderland ride sits on top of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which is why the caterpillars weave outside when descending back to the loading area.
This ride was originally designed to put guests in Alice’s shoes, so she wasn’t featured in the ride. But when many confused guests inquired as to her whereabouts, she was added in a few places during the big Fantasyland renovation in 1983.
The toadstool holding the ride’s sign was once a ticket booth in Fantasyland.
