Alice's
Tea Party is a good old-fashioned carnival-type ride, done Disney style. It
takes its theme from the classic Disney move, "Alice In Wonderland." For the
ride, you and up to three other people sit in a giant teacup. Your teacup
sits on a "platter", which sits on another, larger platter. Both platters
spin independently, and the ride can get quite disorienting. To make things
even more chaotic, there is a "steering-wheel" type device in the center of
the cup, and you can grab hold and spin the cup as fast or slow as you wish
(there are brakes to prevent the cups from spinning when the attraction is
stopped). The ride lasts about a minute and a half.
Alice's Tea Party was original located near Tomorrowland, but was moved to its currently location at the center of Fantasyland (next to Cinderella's Golden Carrousel) in 1998 to help make room for Pooh's Hunny Hunt. In the process the attraction got a much-needed facelift. The Queen Of Hearts Banquet Hall, which also has an Alice In Wonderland theme and opened at the same time as the revamped Alice's Tea Party, is located just adjacent to the attraction.
Because of the type of ride that Alice's Tea Party is you definitely do not want to ride it after eating. Although it's dizzying at times, it's a lot of fun, and because you control your individual teacup's speed the ride can be as wild as you want to make it.
