Dark Ride Loading: Pinocchio's Daring Journey

The five Fantasyland dark rides each have a unique style to their loading area, but all aim to provide a smooth transition from the (relatively) real world to the glowing black-light realms inside the building.

At Pinocchio's Daring Journey, we feel as if we're entering a picture book that's springing to life, with three-dimensional set pieces emerging from background paintings.

A Tribute to Monstro, Fantasyland's Biggest Villain

Welcome to Whale Poetry Thursday! What better subject than the wondrous and despicable Monstro, who stars in two Fantasyland attractions: Storybook Land Canal Boats and Pinocchio's Daring Journey. The Disney Hipsters have the realm of park Haikus perfected, so all I can do is pay homage to Lewis Carroll and Isaac Watts...

How doth the massive angry whale
Improve the flower beds
And swallow elder toymakers
N' little woodenheads.

How scarily he lunges forth
By Daring Journey's track

And grosses out canal tours
With his epic layers of plaque.

The Pinocchio That Never Was (with Fish Heads & Crumbs)

The entry for Pinocchio's Daring Journey, featuring the cheerful title character, misleads some first-time riders into thinking it's a happy trip through a puppet show. If you've seen the film, you know how that scenario plays out, and the ride is every bit as dark and full of villainy.

During the film's production, Walt Disney and co. made a wise decision when they scrapped their original concepts for the character -- which stuck fairly close to the book version -- in favor of a more likable, naive personality an audience could actually care about. Carlo Collodi's book is an amazing work of fantasy, but his Pinocchio is one of the most obnoxious, self-centered and irritating characters in children's literature.

Thank goodness you don't have to worry about running into that version of Pinocchio on the Disneyland dark ride. Er....

Pinocchio's Daring Journey in 1983

Pinocchio's Daring Journey opened in Disneyland as part of the massive Fantasyland remodel in 1983. Then and now, guests encounter a bit of foreshadowing as they enter the queue and pass this deceptive, cheerful poster for Stromboli's show.

The above image is from this past summer, but all the following photos are from my family's first trip to "New Fantasyland" in the summer of 1983.

Ride vehicles designed to look hand-carved by Geppetto begin the journey by entering Stromboli's Theater. Guests have about two seconds to watch Pinocchio on stage before veering to the right as "Something Goes Terribly Wrong."

Darker Than You Think: Pinocchio's Daring Journey

I love the whimsical puppet theater exterior of Pinocchio's Daring Journey at Disneyland. Yet this 1983 dark ride is a lot spookier than it appears from outside. If you've seen the classic film, you know why.

My family witnessed a little scene while waiting in line. A nervous little girl asked her father, "What's going to happen on this ride?"

"Happen?" snapped the Dad, confused by the question. "Yer gonna see Pinocchio!" The girl was not reassured; clearly, she (unlike her pop) knew the story.

Yes, folks, "Yer gonna see Pinocchio." Yer also gonna get locked in a cage by Stromboli, stumble down Tobacco Row, watch kids turn into donkeys, nearly get shoved into a crate, and get attacked by Monstro the Whale, all while Jiminy Cricket yells, "Look out!" and "You're going the wrong way!"

I love this ride, but -- similar to what happens with Snow White's Scary Adventures -- parents should remember that Disney dark rides reflect their source material quite well, and Pinocchio's journey is loaded with villains, threats and narrow escapes. Just as with all good films and rides, the happy ending must be earned.