Mad Tea Party: Most Everyone’s Mad Here Mad Tea Party
Beware, Beware…they’re Lurking Everywhere!! The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh is located in the Fantasyland area of...
Alice’s Old School Adventures at Disneyland Alice in Wonderland Disneyland Growing up in Southern California, I frequented Disneyland often as a child...
Doesn’t it seem like every commercial for Walt Disney World features the Mad Tea Party? There’s always a kid wearing mouse ears and grinning from ear to ear as his oversized tea cup spins around and around. Or maybe I’m just thinking about the same kid on Dumbo the Flying Elephant wearing mouse ears and grinning from ear to ear as he spins around and around.
Either way, the Mad Tea Party is one of the signature attractions at Walt Disney World that was copied from Disneyland. This ride opened with the Magic Kingdom in 1971. But, what most people don’t remember is that the ride looked very different that October over 35 years ago.
The California-based Imagineers knew a lot about California. It doesn’t rain a lot and the climate is usually quite temperate. You don’t have afternoon thunderboomers every day in the summertime which drench everything and everyone outside. You don’t have scorching heat from the sun with no respite if you’re outside. And, you definitely don’t have the soul-sucking humidity. I’m a native Floridian so I’m not picking on the state - that’s just how it is.
When the Mad Tea Party made its Florida debut, it looked a lot like the Disneyland version, minus the beautiful sunken garden. It was open air without the signature teapot and drunken dormouse popping out. The queue line was also uncovered.
Management quickly realized this was a problem. Whenever it rained, the ride could not operate because the platform would soak up the water, causing the cups to tip. Add in guests collapsing from heat exhaustion while waiting to ride and a solution had to be installed.
So, today, there is a canopy from which gigantic Chinese “paper” lanterns hang. There’s a tipsy dormouse and a tea pot. There’s a covered queue line. And, of course, there’s the ride itself.
The ride is set up as a giant turntable. The entire ride turns. Atop the turntable are three smaller turntables which also turn independently of the larger turntable. Each smaller turntable features six oversized pastel teacups with swirly patterns, complete with saucers. The eighteen teacups also rotate. Inside each teacup is a silver “spinny disc” that you can turn, hand over hand, in order to make your teacup rotate faster. You can get those puppies spinning so fast that you’ll turn green and hurl if that’s your desire.
There’s no requirement that you even touch the “spinny disc”. You can just sit back and let the cup do its own rotating. I usually do that these days since my kids aren’t yet up to the fun of turning green and hurling. I must say, I videotaped our last ride and watching that makes me a little nauseous. I wasn’t at the time so I’ll just chalk it up to the tape.
If even that amount of rotation is too much for you, just watch from the sidelines. There’s a lovely topiary of Alice, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter. This is where you’ll often be able to meet characters from the Alice in Wonderland movie including Alice and the Queen of Hearts.
If you are a very large person, you may find that this attraction is one to skip. There’s a tiny door to get into the teacup and it’s a tight squeeze if you have a huge belly between you and the “spinny disc”. My husband (who is not huge but is tall) is 6′5 and he finds that he must sit cross legged in order to fit inside the tea cup or else his knees hit the “spinny disc”.
You’ll find this attraction in the Fantasyland section of the park, across from The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh. It is also right outside the entrance to Mickey’s Toontown Fair and near the far end of the Tomorrowland Speedway.
Disneyland’s Mad Tea Party
Want to know the best & the worst? Read this! Disneys All Star Sports Resort First I want to say that this is the only hotel on Disney property that I h...
The MANY Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Attraction The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a fun family ride that everyone w...
Would not return again. Walt Disney World Epcot France Being both a frequent visitor to Epcot as well as to Paris, France (the rea...
Go Ahead And Laugh At The Lafayette Lafayette Hotel and Suites San Diego I have been to San Diego a few times and while the city of San Diego is gre...
Wonderful Alaskan cruise on the Dawn Princess Dawn Princess We just got back from a 10 Day cruise to Alaska. We had a wonderful time. ...
How could this Managua airport hotel get “Best Western” certification? Bw Las Mercedes Nicaragua is attempting to promote ecotourism in particular and tourism in ...
There is something more than Shopping in Hong Kong Hong Kong
Visiting Berlin’s Icon: The Brandenburg Gate Brandenburg Gate
Tags: , Destinations, Hotels & Travel, Mad Tea Party
You must be logged in to post a comment.