Happy 60th Birthday, Disneyland! Here are Your Best (and Worst) Animation-Based Attractions

Walt Disney’s dream of imagineering a magical wonderland for the public came true six decades ago, opening on July 17, 1955. So let’s spend a few minutes today talking about Disneyland’s most, and least, notable animation-specific attractions.

This highly subjective list is based on my many warm memories of the park, thanks to the annual passes my family once had, and will hopefully resonate with both old-schoolers and new adopters. Of course, it’s by no means exhaustive, so please jump in and offer us your own choices for Disneyland’s best and worst attractions based on their animated shorts and features.
And remember to keep your hands and arms inside the list at all times! Main Street Cinema
Since this throwback to the cartoons that made Disney a household name is right next to where you officially enter the theme park named after him, it’s only fair to nudge it to the top this list, even though more accessible animation-specific attractions — like the digitally immersive Mickey and the Magical Map live show, now showing at the much ritzier Fantasyland Theater — pull in way more attendees. Main Street Cinema is a smaller but more historical movie theater that plays Disney animated shorts, including the foundational Steamboat Willie, on six different screens — minus the objectionable content, of course.
Snow White’s Scary Adventure
It is poetic that one of Disneyland’s oldest rides, based on Disney’s first feature-length film, would still be one of Fantasyland’s best attractions. This is a dark and spooky cruise mostly through the nightmarish transformations of the film, whose villainous witch alternately leaps out or sneaks up on riders, freaking out especially the little ones. This might be why the lines for the ride are never that long compared the rest of Fantasyland’s offerings. An honorable mention goes to its neighbor, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, for the same reasons.Alice in Wonderland / Mad Tea Party
This may seem like a cheat, but it makes sense given that both rides are based on Disney’s charming but destabilized Alice in Wonderland adaptation. The Mad Party’s legendary Tea Cups, which riders can spin as they careen across the attraction, are one of Disneyland’s most dizzying, interactive, and popular rides. So too is the slow-going but off-balance Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, a track ride through recreated scenes of the film that have recently been enhanced with animation. The animatronic flowers singing “Golden Afternoon” are particularly sublime. Since both rides are right next to each other, they fuse into a single rewarding homage to one of Disney’s most psychedelic films.