Dark Ride Magic: Roger Rabbit's Falling Room

There's a moment on Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin where you seem to be hurled into the air by an explosion. You have to return to Earth somehow, of course...

How about a hundred-story fall between skyscrapers toward the distant skylight of the Acme warehouse? My blurry photos don't do it justice, but the "Falling Room" is one of my favorite Disney ride scenes: a horizontal hallway that makes you feel as though you're plummeting vertically.

It's simple, shorter than it looks, and effective simply because it's so well designed and painted--and it even gets its point across while your cab is spinning in circles (trying to keep the cab facing forward while snapping pictures is a challenge in itself!)

All of Disneyland's black-light dark rides have their own unique mood and approach. Roger's ride is full of mess-with-your-perception visual gags that do a fantastic job of making you feel off-balance and disoriented--exactly how a human chasing a gang of weasels through Toontown should feel.

Inside Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

It's time for Mouse Troop's first Toad-related post of 2013, and today we're actually climbing aboard one of those awesome motorcars; get ready for a trip through Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!

The entry hall tapestry pays tribute to the mural on the 1955 version's exterior. It details your upcoming trip from beginning to end.

The short interior queue gives us a glimpse of Toad's lifestyle. He certainly loves chandeliers...and carvings of himself.

 He looks so innocent...

We watch a few cars begin their journey by entering the library, knocking poor MacBadger off a ladder...

...and crashing out through the fireplace, sending sizzling embers across the floor.

As we climb aboard our motorcar, I must apologize for the upcoming murky, grainy on-ride photos. Between my slow reflexes, my iPhone's limitations and the ride's many abrupt turns, the results of this photo safari leave a lot to be desired. On the plus side, I think the shots manage to convey the look and black-light atmosphere of the ride...in a murky sort of way...

And...we're off! We encounter MacBadger, crash through the fireplace, escape a falling suit of armor and (as the black-light effects take over), rush down down a weasel-infested hall, disrupt Mole's dinner, and crash out of the mansion through a glass wall...

The local bobbies are not pleased to see us crashing through the countryside. We avoid a near head-on collision with another car (our own reflection) and pass Ratty's riverside home.