Mad Tea Party

Mad Tea Party is a spinning tea cup ride at all five Disneyland-style theme parks around the world. The ride theme is based on the Unbirthday scene from Alice in Wonderland. The ride has gained infamy over the years for the amount of guests (and even Alice and the Mad Hatter themselves) who get motion sickness as a result of the spinning component to the ride.

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 parks. The 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. This version was modified in 2004 to make it more difficult to spin fast after a disabled rider lost his balance and slipped from a teacup. The Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland versions are the only Mad Tea Party attraction that doesn't have a big teapot in the center of it.

Attraction Premise

 * Pour yourself into an oversized teacup and twirl quickly or slowly amid a menagerie of color and sound. Celebrate your “un-birthday” in Wonderland as you sail back and forth around a towering teapot beneath a windswept party of paper lanterns, as festive music fills the air.
 * Each tea cup includes a wheel in the center that lets you control the direction and speed of your spin. If you decide you want a wild ride, simply turn the wheel fast and hold on. If you want a gentler ride, you may opt to not turn the wheel at all.

Attraction facts

 * Ride system: Three small turntables, which rotate counter clock-wise, each holding six teacups, within one large turntable, rotating 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.
 * 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.
 * However, in the early days, the Magic Kingdom's version was uncovered until around 1975.