Mad Tea Party, August 1970
The Mad Tea Party still thrills (and sickens) guests after nearly 70 years! Luckily I am not prone to motion sickness, so I have a fine time whirling around for a few minutes (not necessarily in a teacup). I've never been entirely clear on whether the Disneyland version of this sort of spinning attraction was the first, or if something similar had already existed elsewhere. Does anybody know?
Next is this nice, colorful ground-level view. So many empty teacups! I wonder if music accompanied this ride back then? Now you hear the tootling mad tea party theme on an endless loop, I assume that the cast members mentally tune it out, or else it would drive them... well, you know.
3 comments:
Wow, there are six people in that tan Teacup on the right! And it looks like that solo guy, on the same blue disk, has a prosthetic arm? Whether it is or isn't is neither here nor there, just 'interesting', to be in some random Disneyland pic taken by an unknown photographer floating overhead in a Skyway gondola. And look! The Trap Door! (In its closed position.) I never noticed it before the other day when it was featured here on GDB. Now I see it all the time!
An interesting choice, to use 'NASA guys' as the ride attendants on the Teacups. I wonder what the thinking was on that? One would maybe expect to see a couple of "Alices" doing that job here.
One can't help but feel joy when looking at these colorful, whimsical Teacups. Thank you, Major.
I understand that DUMBO & THE MAD TEA PARTY shared the area music with what came from KING ARTHUR CARROUSEL in the years prior to NEW FANTASYLAND. Interestingly the carrousel recorded music started out with music of a band playing a medley of Disney tunes made to sound like a carousel band-organ . Sometime in the 60’s a real recording of an actual band organ played that featured no Disney tunes. In the early 70’s a band organ was recorded playing custom punched cards to create the sound track recording for Walt Disney World’s CINDERELLA’S GOLDEN CAROUSEL . Eventually that recording was used at Disneyland ( until 1983) and until recently played at Tokyo Disneyland ( their Cinderella’s Golden Carousel was renamed THE CASTLE CAROUSEL and Floridas is now called PRINCE CHARMING’S REGAL CAROUSEL )
When Disneyland’s NEW FANTASYLAND was built, the MAD TEA PARTY turntable was relocated closer to the ALICE attraction and the area Cup music you hear today was added - it is a raw full track of the music recorded for the 1951 Alice In Wonderland film ( its features studio musicians playing gourds!!) Walt Disney World had its own recorded music that features two different tea cups in motion tracks “very merry unbirthday” and “the Caucus Race” and meandering loading music lifted from music from the film.
BTW : that Mad Tea Party turntable is FILTHY!!!
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