A Different Kind of Magic- The strangest, creepiest and outright terrifying attractions to operate at Disney Parks; Part Two

When you think of Disney rides and attractions, it’s unlikely your mind would jump to confusing storylines, creepy concepts and attractions that look too insane to be real, but they do exist! In fact, some Disney rides can be the strangest of all! We have now reached part two of this two-part-post, so let’s dive into the weird and explore the history of the strangest and scariest Disney attractions!

Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Fantasyland, various Disney parks

Magic mirror on the wall, who is the creepiest of them all? It has to be Snow White’s Scary Adventures, at parks from Magic Kingdom to Tokyo Disneyland! Snow White and Her Adventures, as it was originally known, was an opening day attraction at Disneyland, and has been bringing nightmare fuel to riders ever since. The different versions of this ride vary slightly at each park, but for this post I’ll talk mostly about the Disneyland version.

In it’s 1955 incarnation, riders would begin the experience in the mine, where they would meet the dwarves as they chop away at diamonds and other precious gems. Soon you would leave the mine and enter a seemingly innocent-looking forest, but this was an early Disneyland darkride, nothing was going to stay innocent and kid-friendly. A sign appeared in the distance displaying two arrows, one pointing towards the dwarves’ cottage; the other leading to the Evil Queen’s castle. As you can imagine, the cottage door slams with a horrifying thud, leaving riders with no choice but to enter the imposing door of the castle.

On entering uninvited, riders were greeted with a few terrifying skeletons warning you to turn back. But nope, your ride vehicle would keep venturing further and further into the castle’s darkness, as the shadow of the witch begins to creep along the walls. The witch materialised and offered riders a poisoned apple. It actually became a tradition for new graduates visiting the park to try to steal the apple, and many succeeded.

The witch would appear one more time at the seven dwarves’ cottage before crashing through several sets of doors as the final petrified screams of the witch ring out through the halls.

While some riders loved the ghost-train style darkride and its creepy atmosphere, many had questions and concerns. Snow White and Her Adventures was considered, by some, to be too scary for children, while others were confused that the more uplifting elements of the 1937 movie, such as the seven dwarves and Snow White herself, made little to no appearance in the attraction. Disneyland’s first darkrides were designed to allow guests to step into the shoes of the main character, which is why Snow White, Alice, Mr Toad and even Peter Pan weren’t even in their own rides at first!

In 1983, Fantasyland underwent a major overhaul, in which each ride recieved it’s own individual updates. When reimagining Snow White, imagineers made sure to remove some of the 1955 nightmare fuel, and add extra warnings throughout the queueline warning that the ride may not be the bright, magical adventure you and your kids were hoping for. Well, the signs don’t say exactly that, but it’s more or less the same meaning. Even the attraction itself recieved a new name, becoming Snow White’s Scary Adventures.

The ride layout was completely reworked, too. Now, riders would begin the experience in the castle, first meeting the Evil Queen during the iconic ‘transformation’ scene, in which the queen turns round from the magic mirror to reveal a dastardly witch staring into the souls of unsuspecting riders. This effect was first used in the version at Magic Kingdom in Florida! You then pass through several other scenes that are a lot more true to the film (and actually feature Snow White this time!) The experience ends when the witch falls from the cliff, similar to the original, but instead of the abrupt end you got before- now Snow White and her Prince Florian would ride off into the sunset. Much more cheerful than the original ride.

Almost every version of Snow White’s Scary Adventures still exists today, with the exception of one: Magic Kingdom’s incarnation of the ride operated for the last time in May 2012. Around a year later Princess Fairytale Hall opened in Snow White’s former show building, as an immersive meet and greet area.

Kaiser Aluminium Hall Of Fame, Tomorrowland, Disneyland

With the Walt Disney Company being one of the largest in the world today, working on a small budget doesn’t seem like something they would have ever had to deal with. Yet with tight budgets and even tighter deadlines, the construction of Disneyland in the 1950s was absolute chaos. Some projects were altered to be more cost efficient and easier to construct on a time limit, while others were shelved altogether, and massive parts of the park’s original plans were losing priority to work on other areas.

One now iconic area of Disneyland to be compromised was Tomorrowland; Walt Disney’s initial visions for the land were proving too ambitious to be ready for park opening, and the Disneyland TV series had been building up so much hype for the area that it couldn’t just be cancelled or even delayed. Something in Tomorrowland had to be ready for opening day, and one of the only solutions was to gain sponsorships for the area. Technology, research and science companies from across the US saw the opportunity and, working with the Imagineers, created attractions that brought their industry to guests. This led to some pretty strange rides and attractions, one of these being the Aluminium Hall of Fame.

Metal company Kaiser was certain that aluminium is the material of the future for construction and manufacturing, and based their walkthrough attraction on the production and uses of aluminium. The company even managed to convince Walt Disney to build the cars of Autopia from this thin transition metal- yes, the same material tin cans are made from- needless to say, the cars would constantly become dented and the material was eventually switched.

A tour of Kaiser’s Aluminium Hall of Fame began by teaching guests how aluminium is created, before entering a showcase of Kaiser’s innovative and in some cases interactive aluminium products. These included a giant telescope, which would soon prove essential for another attraction on this list, as well as the aluminium Time Sphere and The Brightest Star In The Galaxy, and of course the Kaiser Aluminium Pig, or KAP. KAP was possibly one of the first original Disney Parks characters- before we got Dreamfinder, Figment or Timekeeper, the pig was one of the few characters to be exclusively seen at the parks.

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Guests could interact with the Aluminium Pig, pressing buttons and pulling levers to change its shape, changing it from completely flat to large and round in just a few seconds. This was intended to show potential customers how versatile aluminium really is as a manufacturing material, but its likely that many didn’t really care about what the pig represented, it was just fun to change the shape of a metal pig.

After just five years of sponsoring the attraction Kaiser withdrew their support in 1960, and the Aluminium Hall of Fame ultimately closed. Many of Tomorrowland’s corporate showcase-type attractions weren’t intended to be permanent, only acting as filler for something big, or many somethings, that were coming in the mid-1960s, and this set up the opening of the next attraction on this list!

Adventure Thru Inner Space, Tomorrowland, Disneyland

July 1967 brought Tomorrowland’s first massive update since Disneyland’s opening in 1955, and revived many of the now late Walt Disney’s initial visions for the area. Carousel of Progress was moved from the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair to Tomorrowland, while Autopia received a much-needed refurbishment, but there were completely new attractions too. The concept for one of these attractions, Adventure Thru Science, dated back to ten years before, as a darkride that would allow guests to explore the inner space of a droplet of water.

By the time the project finally came to fruition, the name had been changed, becoming Adventure Thru Inner Space, as was the storyline- guests were no longer exploring the inside of a water droplet, but a snowflake as it freezes and melts. But with a range of attractions being expanded or created from scratch across Tomorrowland, a key aspect to consider was where the darkride would go.

Kaiser’s Aluminium Hall of Fame had closed several years prior in 1960s, leaving behind many old set pieces, including the giant telescope. One of Adventure Thru Inner Space’s main themes from the beginning was microscopes, and the aluminium telescope could easily be redesigned as one- so it only made sense that the darkride would take advantage of the space left by the Aluminium Hall of Fame.

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The queueline for the ride was based mostly in one of the former attraction’s halls, and when waiting in line guests could hear the ride’s narrator, Paul Frees (also the Haunted Mansion’s “ghost host”!) introducing the ride experience while tests and safety checks were occurring in the background. On boarding your Atommobile ride vehicle, which held their own legacy as the first OmniMover ride system, you would enter the Mighty Microscope and begin to “shrink beyond the smallness of an atom, the smallest building block of matter” as you explore the inside of the snowflake.

On emerging from the microscope, guests found themselves surrounded by imposing snowflakes, which would soon turn to water molecules. As you shrink down further, you could see the individual atoms of the molecule, resembling not-so-hidden Hidden Mickeys. I guess even water molecules have to be Mickey-shaped in Disneyland!

The voice that follows riders through the attraction asks if he can enter the atom itself, and that’s exactly where your Atommobile takes you: the electron shell of the atom, where electrons are buzzing around like “fiery comets.” To quote the attraction spiel- “how can you possibly survive”? As guests penetrate the atom’s wall, a pulsating crimson nucleus can be seen in the distance, the main light in the mostly dark, empty room. Your adventure through the inner space of an atom ends here, and soon you are back on visual and returning to your normal size.

Despite the technological advances that came with the opening of Adventure Thru Inner Space, it was considered one of the most boring and confusing attractions to ever operate at Disneyland. The storyline was somehow simple and complex at the same time, and made absolutely no sense without Paul Frees’ narration, which was supposed to be the thought waves of the scientist that took the journey before you, but even this was a confusing enough concept for many riders. Queues were relatively long however, as when Adventure Thru Inner Space debuted, Disneyland’s paid ticket system was still in operation, and this attraction was one of the few that was free.

Adventure Thru Inner Space was popular for another, slightly more adult reason too. The almost complete darkness combined with the boring-nature of the attraction provided the perfect opportunity for teenagers and young adults to, well… do things you wouldn’t expect in the Most Magical Place on Earth. This was so common, in fact, that the ride actually earned the nickname “Adventure Thru Intercourse” according to some CMs who used to work at the attraction. Yikes!

The ride was one of the last in Tomorrowland to rely on a sponsorship, but when the ride’s sponsor, chemical company Monsanto failed to renew their contract in 1977, ten years after the attraction opened. Adventure Thru Inner Space continued to operate for five years after this, before it closed in 1985. All the sets and most of the Atommobiles were removed and disposed of, and its replacement, Star Tours, opened to a mostly positive reception in 1987.

Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour, Fantasyland, Tokyo Disneyland

Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour sounds more like a family-friendly (ish) Halloween maze, not a 1980s Disney attraction, but that’s exactly what it was. This terrifying walkthrough made its debut in July of 1986, and took guests on an adventure through the caverns and dungeons beneath Cinderella Castle. The experience started innocently enough, with your guide telling the stories of all our favourite Disney protagonists ranging from Snow White to Peter Pan. Your tour would quickly take a darker turn however, as the villains become angry that the heroes are receiving so much attention, and the heroes’ portraits melt away as evil takes the limelight.

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The Evil Queen’s magic mirror appears on the wall, informing guests that “no hero is complete without a villain”. Suddenly and unexpectedly the mirror would open up, revealing a dark passageway into the caverns. But if you thought this is as scary as it’s going to get, you’d be wrong. Guests would walk down the steps, descending into the dungeons, where the villains were waiting to get their revenge.

One of the first scenes guests encountered was the Witch’s laboratory, where the spellbook was open to a recipe for poison apples. Nope, no actual apples guests could steal here. The next scene at first seemed normal, until armour-laden statues began shaking as an axe is swung in the distance. From here a corridor would lead to Maleficent’s lair, where she would threaten guests to escape or face evil. Your guide would lead you down another hallway to escape the evil fairy, but she wasn’t just letting you escape- Maleficent’s goons would chase guests into the darkness, poking their heads through holes in the wall.

This hallway led you to a jewel-filled cavern, but a flash of lightning informed you that you’re still in danger, and the dragon that materialised in the cave confirmed that. The guide then ushered guests into a lift for safety, yet you weren’t even safe here as a demonic voice filled the lift before the doors would open at another creepy corridor. Here a tapestry lined the walls, telling the story of the 1985 animated movie The Black Cauldron.

The guide would choose a guest from your group to carry the legendary sword, then lead the group into the Horned King’s lair. After catching sight of the guests the terrifying audio-animatronic villain would begin an absolutely horrifying speech about how the guests are about to be sacrificed to the cauldron and it would “all be over soon”- not exactly the most magical or whimsical speech to ever be used on a Disney attraction. The guest holding the sword would point it at the Horned King, and as the King is defeated the attraction comes to an end.

Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour is, even today, considered one of the scariest Disney attractions ever created, with its consistent death threats and various surprise elements. It was also a favourite among some guests at Tokyo Disneyland, yet like all defunct attractions the Mystery Tour did eventually reach the end of its life, and closed permanently in April 2006, after almost twenty years of scaring adults and children alike.

Did you ever ride any of the attractions on this list? Which is your favourite? Let me know in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll love our other posts from theme parks and attractions around the world!

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Photo credits:

-@wingchunjourney on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wingchunjourney/

-Disney D23

You are all clear… and outta here! Thanks for reading!

-Lily