Disneyland Review: Mad Tea Party

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun spinning ride for all ages

Cons: Only if you have motion sickness

The Bottom Line: 

Spinning 'round and 'round

Has never been this mad fun

Classic attraction

Enjoy a Spin Aboard the Mad Tea Party

One of the attractions most associated with Disney Parks in the Mad Tea Party, and it's no wonder.  This is one of the original attractions that opened when Disneyland did in 1955.  It may be old, but it is still very fun.

This attraction is located in Fantasyland.  It's right next to the Alice in Wonderland ride and across one walkway from the Storybook Land Canals and across another walkway from the Matterhorn.  If you're in the area, you really can't miss it.  Follow the sound of an organ playing "A Very Merry Unbirthday to You" and look for the Chinese lanterns.  Those lanterns light up at night and are very pretty.  This ride is completely outside, so on those rare rainy days in Southern California, it will close if the ride gets too wet.

The ride consists of 18 giant tea cups.  The cups sit on a giant platter that spins.  There are then three circles of six cups that spin together.  Finally, you can spin your individual tea cup as much or as little as you want by spinning the white wheel in the middle of your cup.

Since this ride starts and stops all at once, the line doesn't have the almost constant forward motion that most Disney lines have.  However, since each cup holds at least two people and usually groups of three to four, you move forward quite a ways when the line does move forward.  A full queue usually takes 15 to 20 minutes for a ride that I've never timed but probably lasts two minutes.

Depending on the size of your group, you'll definitely want to break into smaller groups.  The official Disneyland position is that one cup holds five people.  Three adults is tight, four is cozy.  I can't imagine having five adults in one cup.  Of course, if you've got kids with you, then five to a cup would be pretty easy.  They definitely won't let you get away with only one person per cup; it's more fun with multiple people anyway.

This ride has no height limit.  Little kids might not want to spin as fast as adults, but the beauty of this ride is it can be enjoyed on many different levels.

When the ride is in motion, the big circle and the smaller circles are always spinning.  You get to decide just how fast your cup itself turns.  It seems to take a little more muscle than in the past, but if you and your party can find the right rhythm, you can get spinning pretty quickly.  I recommend two, at most three people spinning at one time; otherwise, you wind up running into each other's hands.  There is a suggested direction on the white wheel in your cup to maximize your spin.  However, you can spin either way.  In fact, I often find it fun to switch directions half way through.  It is the Mad Tea Party after all, right?

Quite obviously, this ride is not for the faint of stomach.  Even if you don't spin your cup at all, you are still spinning around the two other circles all the time.  If you are susceptible to motion sickness, it will most likely hit you on this ride.  The good news is a surprise mild case usually can be controlled by just not spinning the individual tea cup.  While spinning fast is fun, so is sitting back and watching the rest of the park as you glide around the two bigger circles.

While the line for this ride doesn't seem to get too big, it does seem to hold pretty steady at 15-20 minutes.  Hopefully that means this signature ride is here to stay.  While I don't ride it every time, I always enjoy my trip about the Mad Tea Party.