Mad Tea Party
Mad Tea Party is a spinning tea cup ride found in five of the world’s six Disneyland-style theme parks. The ride theme is inspired by the Unbirthday Party sequence in Walt Disney’s Alice In Wonderland, and plays a carousel rendition of the film’s “Unbirthday Song”. On July 17, 1955, it was one of the first attractions to debut at Disneyland.
Several Mad Tea Party concepts were once far more outlandish than the current version. One drawing depicted the Mad Hatter’s dinner table in the center of the ride, surrounded by numerous lanterns and decorations. Another drawing had 20 teacups orbiting a central core, resembling a racetrack with banked curves.
The tea cups spun on a bare platform for the first few months after the ride began before being painted with the colourful spiral that exists today. Furthermore, throughout the first two years of the journey, the tea cups had no brakes or clutches; nothing limited how rapidly they might be spun.
The original position of the attraction was just behind King Arthur Carousel and Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was slightly modified in 1972 by adding ornate arches linking the light posts, and again in 1978 by repainting the platform and teacups. The entire attraction was entirely rebuilt and relocated to its current site near Matterhorn Bobsleds in 1983. [8] It also used some of the original designs’ ideas, such as colored lanterns.
After a disabled rider lost his balance and slipped from a teacup, the attraction was changed in 2004 to make it more difficult to spin fast.
[9] One of Disneyland’s teacups, like other remaining 1955 attractions, was painted gold in 2005 to commemorate the park’s 50th anniversary.
Arrow Development created the display at Disneyland.
The ride was originally partnered with an adjacent gift shop called the “Mad Hatter of Fantasyland” in 1956; when the Alice in Wonderland attraction was erected in 1958, the store was relocated closer to both attractions, forming an Alice corner. One of the teacups is placed outside the hat store for photo ops.
Facts about the Attraction
Three miniature turntables rotate clockwise, each containing six teacups, within one main turntable that rotates counter-clockwise.
The Dormouse can be seen peering out of a huge teapot in the center of the large turntable.
Restrictions: The original Disneyland attraction cannot run in the rain because the turntables slip and can no longer spin once saturated with a reasonable amount of water.
Next Point of Interest: Peter Pan’s Flight