Alice in Wonderland Maze
| Alice in Wonderland Maze | |
|---|---|
| Park | Shanghai Disneyland |
| Land / area | Fantasyland |
| Type | Hedge maze |
| Opened | June 16, 2016 |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Height req. | None |
| Status | Operating |
Alice in Wonderland Maze is a walk-through hedge maze attraction in Fantasyland at Shanghai Disneyland. It opened with the park on June 16, 2016, following a soft opening on May 13, 2016. The maze sends guests on their own chosen path through gardens, sculpted hedges and oversized flowers toward the Mad Hatter's tea party. It is the Shanghai counterpart of Alice's Curious Labyrinth at Disneyland Paris, but with a different film as its main source: where the Paris maze is themed to Disney's 1951 animated Alice in Wonderland, Shanghai's was the first Disney park attraction themed to Tim Burton's 2010 live-action Alice in Wonderland.[1][2]
History
Shanghai Disneyland's Fantasyland was planned as the largest of any Disney park, anchored by the Enchanted Storybook Castle, and the maze was built behind the castle as one of its opening-day attractions. Choosing the Burton film over the animated classic was a deliberate break with the Paris precedent. The 2010 film had been a major international hit, and its version of the story — Alice returning to a Wonderland properly called Underland, ruled by the tyrannical Red Queen — gave the designers a different cast of names and designs to work with: the Cheshire Cat is Chessur, the White Rabbit is Nivins McTwisp, and the Mad Hatter is Tarrant Hightopp. Some reference sources describe the finished maze as drawing on both the 1951 and 2010 films, but its characters, names and set pieces are overwhelmingly the Burton film's.[3]
Experience
There is no vehicle and no fixed route. Guests choose their own path, and the attraction is arranged as a sequence of garden spaces rather than a single puzzle.
The Underland Garden comes first: winding paths among giant flowers, stone walls and whimsical sculptures, with the Bandersnatch and armoured creatures steering guests toward a cave-like passage, and figures of Chessur and McTwisp appearing along the way. The Red Queen's Garden follows, announced by heart-shaped arches, card-like knights and rose bushes. A large sculpture of the Red Queen — with the oversized head of the film's version of the character — is the maze's main photo spot; guests can climb a tower for a view ahead, sit at the Queen's throne, or distort themselves in the funhouse mirrors by the door.
The Hedge Maze proper is a labyrinth of high and low hedges in which each junction is a genuine choice of route, though every route eventually converges. Guests who make it through emerge at the Tea Party, a recreation of the film's long tea table presided over by Tarrant Hightopp, with whistling teapots, spinning cakes, stacked cups and interactive elements, and hats guests can pose beneath for photographs.
Because it is outdoors, self-paced and has no height restriction, the maze functions differently from most of Fantasyland's rides: families can split up, race each other through it, or simply use it as a garden to wander in, with the Enchanted Storybook Castle directly behind it as a backdrop.