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potzbie
09-08-2005, 02:50 PM
I have a memory of one certain dark-room ride.

My favorite special effect of all Fantasyland rides is in MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE.

There is the scene where your motorcar busts through the railroad crossing warning arms, with the ding-ding and red flashing lights, and you are in complete darkness, but feel the bump of the cross-ties on all four wheels, as you ride the railroad tracks.
In mere seconds, you hear the horn of an approaching train (while all four wheels bump along on the tracks, in the direction of the horn, of course).
Then, you see the 8-foot high single light of an oncoming train!

Of course, you pass right under the light, and continue the "wild ride."

When I was a child, that scene was the scariest experience I had ever had at Disneyland.
To this day, in comparison with PETER PAN and ALICE IN WONDERLAND and SNOW WHITE'S SCARY ADVENTURES and PINOCCHIO, that scene is my favorite all-time special effect of any dark-room ride.

Is there a scene from one of the dark-room rides that you enjoy each and every time?

DisneyDustin22
09-08-2005, 02:52 PM
I like flying over the city in Peter Pan and I always enjoy the falling through the clouds in Roger Rabbit.

Clotho
09-08-2005, 04:35 PM
I second Peter Pan. "Flying" over everything added an extra special touch.

Mr Toads was great, but I didn't know the story as well, so it didn't resonate as much for me.

DangerMouse
09-08-2005, 04:38 PM
Peter Pan is my favorite dark ride, but Alice is a close second. I just love the part with the Queen of Hearts and "Painting the Roses Red". My kids still refuse to go on Mr. Toad and Snow White.

mariogarza
09-08-2005, 08:32 PM
Definitely flying over London....at Peter Pan

mkcbunny
09-08-2005, 09:07 PM
I love the roses/card part of Alice, but also the "Unbirthday" part after you've been outside for a second. Love that bit where you exit and it seems like it's over but it's not. Gets me every time.

jon80flt
09-08-2005, 09:35 PM
The BEST dark room ride.....SPACE MOUNTAIN :fez:

coronado_g
09-09-2005, 12:46 AM
When I was a kid, Alice totally TOTALLY freaked me out!! I was scared to death of the giant teapot and that crazy Queen of Hearts screaming like a banshee. I remember closing my eyes and holding onto my little sister thru out the terrible ordeal. It's wasn't until I was over 30 that I was able to conquer my irrational fear on Alice. :(

evrythngwmn
09-09-2005, 01:26 AM
Definitely flying over London....at Peter Pan

I'll put another vote in for this. My other favorite is gone now. I loved the upside down room in Alice before it was redone.

DaddyB
09-09-2005, 06:10 AM
Dark Room rides? Is that a photographic term? ;)

Butterfly Skyy
09-09-2005, 06:21 AM
I love HM and POTC! I could go on them allll day!

wendyxo
09-09-2005, 07:14 AM
I'll put another vote in for this. My other favorite is gone now. I loved the upside down room in Alice before it was redone.

This was my favorite too! But I don't remember it that well, what did they put in the place of the upside down room?

evrythngwmn
09-09-2005, 12:28 PM
This was my favorite too! But I don't remember it that well, what did they put in the place of the upside down room?

It's been so long I'm not really sure. I was starting to think I imagined the whole thing and then I read something about it being done and the removal of the upside down room.

KeithOfTerror
09-09-2005, 12:34 PM
There's something seriously twisted and awesome about the fact that Mr. Toad's wild ride basically "kills" its riders and sends them to Hell. Two thumbs up for that train and the hot hell room.

disneyperson
09-09-2005, 12:41 PM
They have rides about photography? :D
Sorry, couldn't resist.

ghoofie
09-09-2005, 02:54 PM
I have a memory as a youngster on Alice that freaked me out, for some reason. There is a flower, I think yellow ?, that has a kinda face with
a nose like a horn, and the horn comes forward at you and honks.
I remember having bad dreams about that thing.

potzbie
09-09-2005, 10:56 PM
Thanks, guys.
I was inspired.
I went to DL today (Fri.) and went back-to-back on:
(a.) TOAD
(b.) PAN
(c.) SNOW WHITE
(d.) ALICE.

Here is my feedback.

Why is there NO LINE AT ALL for SNOW WHITE'S SCARY ADVENTURES?
It can be scary to little tykes.-- That dang witch pops up too many times, too close to the vehicle.
(That is so great!)
Why is it not appreciated? Is it because its entrance is easy to overlook?

I can now see why the PETER PAN viewpoints are popular.
It is like the movie "2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY", where Dave Bowman says, "Omigod! It's full of stars!"
The travel-thru-stars effect was pretty darn nifty, indeed!
The star effect is better then the over-London effect, in my opinion.

In ALICE, I can imagine some scenes causing psychological trauma.
The day-glo monster-animals (the creature that looks like a telephone or horn) can cause nightmares for tiny tykes.
There's a Jungian psycho-traumatic reason for those hybrid animals to scare people, surely.
ALICE strikes me as down-played or under-designed.
It seems slow, in many ways.
The scenes need a certain something to improve the effect.
Maybe it is too static -- no movement or little movement.

TOAD was toned down from what I had remembered.
The number of devils in hell was almost zero.
Awww!
The train effect is shorter and not as dramatic.
Awww!
Was my memory so bad?
I had rented "WIND IN THE WILLOWS" this year, for the first time, and I now know that the bartender, "Winky," was a crook, despite his smile.
More bad weasels might improve TOAD's effect.
It needs MORE psychological trauma!

I did not have the patience to include PINOCCHIO today.
But I remember it from early this year, so it's not like I missed it.
It never made an impression on me.
It apparently never made impression on MousePlanet readers, either!
I guess we agree that PINOCCHIO is in serious need of MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA to goose up its effect.
Right?

Four out of five ain't bad.

Oh, a post script.

I tried to spin the MAD HATTER tea cups, too, today, while I was in the "neighborhood."
The spin is not up to pre-2004 levels, but worth a spin.
I remember how zonked out I got myself back in the good old days, where the spin would continue, unlike today's status quo clamp down.

I still think that the slow, fixed-track dark-room rides can have elements to appeal to adults, and not lose the desired effect on children, if done right.

You know, the Unofficial Guide lists PETER PAN favorably, but rates PINOCCHIO unfavorably.
Since all these dark-room rides have the same theme of design (viz., slow movement of vehicle; day-glo colors; nearly-static scenes from the cartoon/movie), then there must be a reason why one ride is memorable, and another ride is a boring waste-of-time.
So there is still room for improvement for some rides.

That's my report card.

Vegitabeta
09-10-2005, 03:52 AM
Ok the Witch in Snow White still freaks me out and I'm 16! I try and get on the side of the car that she doesn't come close to lol.

I'm also voting for the 'Flying over London' scene in Peter Pan's Flight. However, I could also ride HM and POTC all day without any trouble! ;)

Another Dimension
09-10-2005, 06:01 AM
I like every tracked inch of every dark ride at Disneyland, C's thru E's/!\

Viva La Disney
09-10-2005, 06:06 AM
I like every tracked inch of every dark ride at Disneyland, C's thru E's/!\

I couldn't have said it better myself :D

MermaidHair
09-10-2005, 09:19 AM
Potzbie - Loved your report! It has been a LONG time since I was on these rides and I enjoyed your commentary. Can't wait to go on some - if not all - with the kids next spring.

Lucky you to be able to hop on over to the park to check them out :p

BalooNumberTwo
09-10-2005, 10:51 AM
There is the scene where your motorcar busts through the railroad crossing warning arms, with the ding-ding and red flashing lights, and you are in complete darkness, but feel the bump of the cross-ties on all four wheels, as you ride the railroad tracks.
In mere seconds, you hear the horn of an approaching train (while all four wheels bump along on the tracks, in the direction of the horn, of course).
Then, you see the 8-foot high single light of an oncoming train!



Funny, i thought i was the only one that jumped when you thought you were going head on with a train! Cool that i share one of my favorite darkride moments with someone else!

ralfrick
09-12-2005, 07:29 AM
I'm particularly fond of the Queen in the mirror effect in Snow White, the vanishing blue fairy, which I never noticed until our last visit, on Pinnochio, and Pooh leaving his body.

Cheers.

kisroo
09-12-2005, 07:37 AM
Peter Pan~flying over London and Never Neverland is one of my faves.

Going down the rabbit hole and the singing flowers in Alice is a close second.