Snow White's Enchanted Wish: First Look At Disneyland's Remodel Of Its Snow White Ride
When California's Disneyland theme park eventually reopens, guests will be treated to a newly revamped version of a classic attraction. The park's only ride-through princess attraction, which was formerly known as Snow White's Scary Adventures, now has a new name: Snow White's Enchanted Wish. According to the Disney Parks blog, the overhaul uses "state-of-the-art audio and visual technology, including new music, LED black lighting, laser projections and a new animation system" to bring Snow White's "happily ever after" to life.
Get a first look at the updated attraction below.
Snow White's Enchanted Wish
While the park has been closed due to the pandemic, Walt Disney Imagineering has taken that opportunity to put the finishing touches on this reimagining of this classic attraction, which was one of the rides in operation when Disneyland first opened. New riders will notice "enhanced story details and all-new scenes," and will also experience the smell of apple pie being pumped through a section of the ride to mimic Doc's baking,
This is a far cry from the original ride, which put viewers in Snow White's perspective and plunged them into a terrifying journey that not even the notoriously demented Mr. Toad's Wild Ride could match. The original Snow White ride was a deeply disturbing experience full of jump scares and genuinely horrifying sounds and imagery: this video of a 1991 ride-through is unsettling to me as an adult even now, and almost feels like watching a Blair Witch movie:
There have been several updates and renovations to the ride since then to cut down on complaints from parents and children, and this new update feels specifically designed to shave off any remaining "edge" that the ride once possessed. (Even the outside facade has been repainted with "warmer pinks and gold colors" and "maybe a cheerier blue" to cut down on even the vague appearance of being scary from the outside.)
All of this seems like a microcosm of the most boring and safe approach Disney could possibly take here, and it's indicative of the way that the company's conservative approach to storytelling – in this case, storytelling in the form of crafting theme park rides – can sometimes go too far and end up offsetting all of the elements that made a story interesting in the first place. Now this just seems like a boring, traditional ride that has no personality or hook. This may be a win for Disney's image, but it is unquestionably a loss for people who appreciate the eccentricities of theme parks.