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Photo by Roger J. Runck, 1959, courtesy of Robin Runck |
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There are indoor Disney rides, outdoor Disney rides, and a few that are both. For example, the Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland enters a show building for its climactic Rainbow Caverns scene. And the Submarine Voyage is partially in a water-filled show building. |
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Disney dark rides, such as Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, operate in the dark. Only their load areas see any daylight—with one exception. |
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Photo by Roger J. Runck, 1961, courtesy of Robin Runck Caterpillar |
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Welcome to Alice in Wonderland, based on Walt Disney’s animated feature of the same name. In the 1951 movie and the 1865 fantasy novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Alice follows a white rabbit into the rabbit hole. Now it’s your turn. Have a seat in a two-row caterpillar—possibly the most unusual looking ride vehicle ever to come out of WED Enterprises. You begin in a garden of giant fiberglass leaves. Shortly after you’re dispatched, you enter a black-light world featuring bizarre scenes such as the Upside Down Room and doors that keep getting smaller—smaller than you are—but you somehow fit through anyway. |
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Photo by Charles R. Lympany, circa 1958, courtesy of Chris Taylor Construction at the Holiday Hill site adjacent to Alice in Wonderland |
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Your caterpillar vehicle exits from the show building onto a narrow ramp which resembles a series of leaves forming a vine. From your elevated vantage point, take a quick glance above the construction wall at the site where the mountain for the Matterhorn Bobsleds will soon rise. |
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Photo by Roger J. Runck, 1959, courtesy of Robin Runck Almost floating in the air |
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The delicate-looking vine is hardly wider than your caterpillar. You quickly navigate a series of hairpin turns as you return to the load area—sort of like a real caterpillar sliding across the tops of leaves. |
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Photo by Roger J. Runck, 1961, courtesy of Robin Runck Fiberglass landscaping |
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The narrow vine is flanked by oversized fiberglass foliage. There are some small shrubs at ground level, but there’s mainly gravel. There are certainly no actual trees here. |
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Alice in Wonderland was one of two new attractions that opened at Disneyland on June 14, 1958. The other was the Columbia, a $300,000 replica of the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. A display ad for Disneyland in the Los Angeles Times (June 18, 1958) described the new Fantasyland ride:
NEW The park was not yet three years old. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2004 Looking better than ever in 2004 |
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While it can be said that the original version of Alice in Wonderland has “gone to Yesterland,” the ride is still alive and well at Disneyland. There have been three major versions:
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2023 Digital projections in the 2014 version |
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And then there’s the story of the vine… For more than 50 years, the winding vine defined the ride’s exterior. Other Fantasyland dark rides had tournament facades until 1982 and European village facades from 1983 onward. But Alice in Wonderland was always unique. The vine was the ride’s signature. For guests walking by, it was a delightful kinetic sculpture. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2004 Hairpin turns |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007 Load area in 2007 |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2004 Heading toward the finale |
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The first notable change to the vine came in 1984, but it was really about what came at the bottom of the vine, not about the vine itself. Where the track previously made a U-turn to the unload area, it now reentered the show building for an additional dark ride scene—the Unbirthday finale. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2010 Timeless track |
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During the first half of July 2010, the vine was still about the same as in 1958. Then, on Thursday, July 15, 2010—in the middle of Disneyland’s busy summer season and just days before the park’s 55th anniversary—Alice in Wonderland closed abruptly and unexpectedly. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2010 Busy summer day in 2010 |
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The Los Angeles Times (“Disneyland’s Alice in Wonderland ride closed to install safety equipment,” by Hugo Martín, July 22, 2010) had this explanation: One of Disneyland’s oldest attractions, the Alice in Wonderland ride, has been closed since last week while workers install safety barriers recommended by California work-safety inspectors. Park officials said they hope to reopen the ride in the next few weeks. Disney officials said the Anaheim park voluntarily closed the ride July 15 after California Department of Occupational Safety and Health inspectors pointed out that it lacked handrails needed for maintenance crews who work on an elevated segment of the ride. The Cal/OSHA inspectors were in the park on a separate matter and did not order closure of the ride, Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said. “We like to have all of our rides ready for our guests,” she said. The ride remained closed for about a month. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Temporary fix |
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The Orange County Register (“Disney ride reopens after safety fix” by Eric Carpenter, Aug. 13, 2010) reported on the reopening: The Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland reopened Friday after a monthlong closure to fix a potential safety hazard, park officials said. The ride, in the Fantasyland area of the park, was shut starting July 15 so that crews could install a barrier along the outside, elevated track where the ride’s carriages travel. The barrier is intended to help prevent maintenance workers from falling off the ride’s track. Disney said it voluntarily closed the ride to fix the potential problem. The delicate vine would never be the same. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 No longer “floating” |
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There were not only railings on the elevated section, but the narrow track now had a wide floor beneath it. It changed the guest experience. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2013 Decorations |
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Although it was a temporary fix, an effort was made to dress up the railings with large leaves in a style that would match the ride. That didn’t prevent postings on Disney fan forums from using adjectives such as “ugly“ and “hideous” to describe the changes. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Permanent fix |
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Alice in Wonderland continued to operate with its temporary safety fixes until Disneyland’s closing time on March 9, 2014. After an extended refurbishment, the ride reopened July 4, 2014. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Big improvement |
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Rails along the edge of the track allow maintenance employees to attach harnesses. Some parts of the track have permanent safety railings. Everything looks much better than the temporary fix. For the rest of this article, let’s take a ride down the vine… |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Much wider than the original 1958 track |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Much wider from below too |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Approaching the Unbirthday room |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2014 Big tree Wonderland |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2017 The big green tree |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Impressive tree trunk too |
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Although Alice in Wonderland lost its signature delicate vine track, it gained a huge tree over the years. The photos at the top of this article show Alice without any trees. Now a huge tree dominates the attraction’s exterior. It’s not quite the size of the Swiss Family Treehouse—but Alice’s tree is real. |
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© 2024 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated April 12, 2024 |
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