Mad Tea Party

Inspired by the unusual tea party scene in the 1951 Disney adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," the Mad Tea Party is an original Disneyland attraction. It's located on the edge of Fantasyland next to Alice in Wonderland and across from the Matterhorn.

Madly whirl your way around Fantasyland inside a giant multi-colored tea cup. Inspired by the classic Disney animated movie Alice in Wonderland, Mad Tea Party recreates the film's madcap "unbirthday" sequence featuring the Mad Hatter and March Hare's chaotic tea party.

Choose one of 18 pastel tea cups for a spin under haphazardly strung brightly colored Japanese lanterns. The teacups twirl around 3 separate turntables, which themselves are mounted on one larger turntable. That whole crazy contraption is fun to watch and a blast to ride! Each teacup holds up to 5 Guests. You control how fast you spin by rotating a large wheel in the center of your teacup.

Touring Tips

• This attraction is slow loading so the line can sometimes move sluggishly. Like most rides that are not continuously loading, lines for the Mad Tea Party can get fairly long. Try to visit this ride early in the morning for shorter waits.
• The queue and the ride are outside and exposed - it can get quite warm on a sunny day. Since it is uncovered the ride is closed when it rains.
• There are 18 teacups that spin on three different revolving "platters" - each platter spins at a different speed, and the individual cups also have varying maximum numbers of revolutions. The orange diamond cup is regarded as the fastest spinner, followed by the purple cup. The two heart cups are the slowest.
• If you want to ride the teacups but get nauseous easily you don't have to spin the cup. For those wanting a more wild experience-the more people in your teacup the more manpower you have and the faster you can get it spinning.
• There is a separate teacup next to the ride available for taking pictures. Make sure to stop and snap a picture for the family album even if you don't want to ride the attraction.
• The teacups cannot run in the rain, so be aware of this if your trip forecast calls for showers.
• Each teacup will hold three average-sized individuals fairly easily. There are no restraints, but there is a door that closes the teacup.
• Even if you do not spin your individual teacup, the cups will still spin in a double circle (around the axis of one of three ride plates which in turn spin around the center of the ride). Those that are prone to motion sickness or have problems with spinning should probably avoid this attraction. Not only do the teacups spin on the platform, but turning the wheel in the center of the teacup makes it spin even more, and can make riders quite dizzy. It's probably wise to avoid this ride immediately after eating.
• Sometimes Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and the White Rabbit will join riders in their teacups!

Facts

• Ride system: Three small turntables, which rotate clockwise, each holding six teacups, within one large turntable, rotating counter-clockwise.
• Theming: The Dormouse can be seen popping his head out of a large teapot in the middle of the large turntable. This occurs only at Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland as the other parks do not feature a central teapot; the Hong Kong Disneyland and the March Hare Refreshments at Disneyland Paris feature their own teapots apart from the ride.
• Mad Tea Party is a spinning tea cup ride at all five Disneyland-style theme parks around the world. The ride theme is inspired by the Unbirthday Party scene in Disney's Alice In Wonderland. The ride has gained infamy over the years for the number of guests who get motion sickness as a result of the spinning component to the ride.
• Restrictions: The original attraction at Disneyland is unable to run in the rain, once the turntables are saturated with a moderate amount of water they slip and can no longer spin. All other versions of this attraction at Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland are covered to prevent such situations, as well as protect riders from extreme heat and sun. Magic Kingdom's original version, however, didn't have a roof until 1974.
• The attraction is called Mad Tea Party at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. It is known as Alice's Tea Party at Tokyo Disneyland, Mad Hatter's Tea Cups at Disneyland Paris, and Mad Hatter Tea Cups at Hong Kong Disneyland. All five versions of the attraction are located in Fantasyland, and all except the Tokyo version were opening day attractions at their respective park.
• Disneyland version was originally located directly behind Sleeping Beauty Castle (in the present-day location of King Arthur Carrousel) and was moved to its present-day location in 1983. In 2004, it was modified to make it more difficult to spin fast after a disabled rider lost his balance and slipped from a teacup
• For Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration, a golden teacup has been placed in the ride. There's also a golden teacup near the entrance to the Mad Hatter shop available for photos.

History

Mad Tea Party was moved into this location as part of the 1984 Fantasyland redesign. It is not known by us what was in this spot prior to that.

Mad Tea Party was originally located in the area behind the castle in the space that is now occupied only by King Arthur Carrousel. As part of the 1984 redesign of Fantasyland it was moved to the other side of the Peter Pan's Flight and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride show buildings though the ride itself was little changed. Controversy struck the ride in early 2004 when, after a short maintenance closure, it was found that the teacups were so tightened that it was now impossible to spin that at any great speed. The reasons given for this change were contradictory but despite some well publicized complaint the change has not been reversed.