A Tale as Old as Time Continues Once Upon a Dream
Beyond Fantasyland lies a place where a tale as old as time comes to life and the legend of a sleeping princess lives. The Dark Forest features an expansion of the Beauty and the Beast area of New Fantasyland and a new Sleeping Beauty area. There are two point of entry into this new indoor miniland, one beyond Storybook Circus replacing the useless yellow tent and the other through the old bathrooms in Belle's Village.
Entering through Belle's village will lead to a beautiful forest. Here, guests enter through a clearing to find Tale as Old as Time: Belle's Storybook Journey a trackless dark ride retelling the story of Beauty and the Beast through only music and singing, using the songs of Broadway's Beauty and the Beast as well as every song featured in the movie. The Beast's Forest has a darker air to it, perfect for a chance to meet the prince turned into a monster in this Meet and Greet area.
Tale As Old As Time: Belle's Enchanted Journey
Queue: An arch in a forest clearing with the attraction's name on it leads to the queue, which winds its way through trees and rocks and streams before arriving in a village square, where we enter a bookshop and see a large closed book. Before long, the lights dim and the book seems to come to life, telling the story of how the Prince became a Beast through projections. The book opens a portal to Belle's village in the past where we arrive at a square and our ride vehicles, stained glass roses on clouds, await their passengers.
Scene 1: Belle
The ride vehicles depart and we see Belle walking through her village as Belle sings about her boredom and the villagers sing about her supposed oddness. As we tour this village and its inhabitants, we arrive in our next scene.
Scene 2: Me
Gaston tries to woo Belle by singing his praises, which clearly disgusts the young woman and she attempts to get away from the man.
Scene 3: Belle Reprise
We arrive in a grand circular room and our vehicles stop, seeing Belle wish of something more than a plain life and wish for an adventure. Our vehicles continue on and arrive at a castle.
Scene 4: Home
Belle is trapped in her room and sings of what she fears to come.
Scene 5: Home Reprise
Mrs. Potts comforts Belle to ensure that she will be safe in her new home.
Scene 6: Gaston
We arrive in a tavern where the villagers, led by LeFoo, are singing Gaston's praises and why he's so great. Halfway through the scene, our ride vehicles turn around and seem to be blown away by Gaston's greatness.
Scene 7: Be Our Guest
We arrive in a darkened room where a spotlight shines on Lumiere, where he invites us to pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents dinner. All of a sudden, the entire room lights up and our vehicles dance and play with the silverware and flatware, before culminating in a grand finale.
Scene 8: If I Can't Love Her
The Beast mourns his ugliness and wishes that he could make Belle love him as he loves her on the castle balcony.
Scene 9: Human Again
The Enchanted Objects celebrate and prepare for Belle and Beast to fall in love as they make the castle shine.
Scene 10: Something There Part 1
We travel through a snowy garden where Belle and Beast sing about how they might be falling in love with each other but don't realize it yet.
Scene 11: Something There Part 2
The love is confirmed when we travel into Beast's Library as he gifts it to Belle.
Scene 12: Beauty and the Beast
We enter the Beast's Foyer and see Belle and Beast preparing to meet each other and proceed into the grand ballroom, where our ride vehicles pair up and begin dancing with the couple, gliding on the floor just as they do.
Scene 13: A Change in Me
Belle arrives back at her village and reflects on how her experience has made her better.
Scene 14: Kill the Beast
Gaston leads a mob to the castle to kill what he thinks is a monster, much to Belle's anger as she pleads for him to stop the madness.
Scene 15: The Battle
The Enchanted Objects and the villagers fight each other while Gaston searches for and fights the Beast. At the end, Gaston falls off the castle and we move on.
Scene 16: Light Transformation
In the penultimate scene, our vehicles stop as Belle and the Beast affirm their love and the last petal falls. When it does, the room darkens and projection effects start to occur with fiber optics sparkling on our vehicles as the Beast is transformed into a human and the roses on our vehicles bloom, revealing the human form of one of the Enchanted Objects as a statue.
Scene 17: Finale
A reprise of Beauty and the Beast occurs as Belle and the Prince dance in the ballroom, surrounded by their loved ones. We arrive in the unload and depart back into the forest, ready to see what will happen elsewhere in the Enchanted Wood.
Notes: The roses will be on the back of the vehicles. Guests will sit in the clouds. The roses will be lit up and parts will darken as the ride goes on, the last part darkening in the transformation scene. The statues of the human Enchanted Objects will come up while the room is darkened for Beast's transformation, accomplished with a simple turntable.
Vehicle: Each cloud can seat 4. The roses will be far back so the petals and statues won't touch guests. The statues will retreat back into their roses in the area between load and unload. Vehicles will load and unload in fours. One group of vehicles will be in each stop room at once, with one group in unload, the area in between, and load. This means that 28 vehicles will be on the show floor, with 8 more vehicles in storage.
Tale As Old As Time: Belle's Enchanted Journey
Queue: An arch in a forest clearing with the attraction's name on it leads to the queue, which winds its way through trees and rocks and streams before arriving in a village square, where we enter a bookshop and see a large closed book. Before long, the lights dim and the book seems to come to life, telling the story of how the Prince became a Beast through projections. The book opens a portal to Belle's village in the past where we arrive at a square and our ride vehicles, stained glass roses on clouds, await their passengers.
Scene 1: Belle
The ride vehicles depart and we see Belle walking through her village as Belle sings about her boredom and the villagers sing about her supposed oddness. As we tour this village and its inhabitants, we arrive in our next scene.
Scene 2: Me
Gaston tries to woo Belle by singing his praises, which clearly disgusts the young woman and she attempts to get away from the man.
Scene 3: Belle Reprise
We arrive in a grand circular room and our vehicles stop, seeing Belle wish of something more than a plain life and wish for an adventure. Our vehicles continue on and arrive at a castle.
Scene 4: Home
Belle is trapped in her room and sings of what she fears to come.
Scene 5: Home Reprise
Mrs. Potts comforts Belle to ensure that she will be safe in her new home.
Scene 6: Gaston
We arrive in a tavern where the villagers, led by LeFoo, are singing Gaston's praises and why he's so great. Halfway through the scene, our ride vehicles turn around and seem to be blown away by Gaston's greatness.
Scene 7: Be Our Guest
We arrive in a darkened room where a spotlight shines on Lumiere, where he invites us to pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents dinner. All of a sudden, the entire room lights up and our vehicles dance and play with the silverware and flatware, before culminating in a grand finale.
Scene 8: If I Can't Love Her
The Beast mourns his ugliness and wishes that he could make Belle love him as he loves her on the castle balcony.
Scene 9: Human Again
The Enchanted Objects celebrate and prepare for Belle and Beast to fall in love as they make the castle shine.
Scene 10: Something There Part 1
We travel through a snowy garden where Belle and Beast sing about how they might be falling in love with each other but don't realize it yet.
Scene 11: Something There Part 2
The love is confirmed when we travel into Beast's Library as he gifts it to Belle.
Scene 12: Beauty and the Beast
We enter the Beast's Foyer and see Belle and Beast preparing to meet each other and proceed into the grand ballroom, where our ride vehicles pair up and begin dancing with the couple, gliding on the floor just as they do.
Scene 13: A Change in Me
Belle arrives back at her village and reflects on how her experience has made her better.
Scene 14: Kill the Beast
Gaston leads a mob to the castle to kill what he thinks is a monster, much to Belle's anger as she pleads for him to stop the madness.
Scene 15: The Battle
The Enchanted Objects and the villagers fight each other while Gaston searches for and fights the Beast. At the end, Gaston falls off the castle and we move on.
Scene 16: Light Transformation
In the penultimate scene, our vehicles stop as Belle and the Beast affirm their love and the last petal falls. When it does, the room darkens and projection effects start to occur with fiber optics sparkling on our vehicles as the Beast is transformed into a human and the roses on our vehicles bloom, revealing the human form of one of the Enchanted Objects as a statue.
Scene 17: Finale
A reprise of Beauty and the Beast occurs as Belle and the Prince dance in the ballroom, surrounded by their loved ones. We arrive in the unload and depart back into the forest, ready to see what will happen elsewhere in the Enchanted Wood.
Notes: The roses will be on the back of the vehicles. Guests will sit in the clouds. The roses will be lit up and parts will darken as the ride goes on, the last part darkening in the transformation scene. The statues of the human Enchanted Objects will come up while the room is darkened for Beast's transformation, accomplished with a simple turntable.
Vehicle: Each cloud can seat 4. The roses will be far back so the petals and statues won't touch guests. The statues will retreat back into their roses in the area between load and unload. Vehicles will load and unload in fours. One group of vehicles will be in each stop room at once, with one group in unload, the area in between, and load. This means that 28 vehicles will be on the show floor, with 8 more vehicles in storage.
Moving on to a different forest, or entering through Storybook Circus, another story comes to life in Once Upon a Dream: Aurora's Thrilling Tale a dark ride retelling the story of Sleeping Beauty. Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip meet nearby in Princess Aurora's Forest, a replica of the dreamy and beautiful forest where Aurora and Phillip met once upon a dream.
Queue: We enter through the gates of King Stephan's Castle and into its magnificent courtyard. After some switchbacks, we enter into the throne room, before heading up the stairs and into the hallway. Another turn and we enter Princess Aurora's Chambers. There seems to be nowhere to go before thunder crashes and a green flame appears on a second story.
Pre-show: The green flame dies down and an animatronic of Maleficent appears, telling the story of how she cursed Aurora and then casts a spell on us, putting us right into the story of Sleeping Beauty as the spinning wheel. Once Maleficent leaves, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather appear to give a happier note. With Love's First Kiss, Princess Aurora will wake. Maleficent appears once more to shoo away the fairies and the fireplace opens up, taking us to the spinning wheels we will act as.
Scene 1: Once Upon a Dream
Our spinning wheels depart and we arrive in a forest. Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip dance as they sing Once Upon a Dream to each other.
Scene 2: The Forbidden Mountain
Our vehicles take a turn and we climb up The Forbidden Mountain and arrive in Maleficent's Palace.
Scene 3: Maleficent's Palace
We take a tour of Maleficent's Palace, a dark scene culminating in a full view of Maleficent in her elegant, terrifying glory as she plots and expresses frustration that Aurora still lives.
Scene 4: Aurora in the Palace
We are brought to Princess Aurora's room as Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather leave the girl and she cries over not being able to see the man she met again, not knowing he is her betrothed. Maleficent's voice is heard commanding the girl to rise and follow.
Scene 5: Fireplace Tunnel
The train of ride vehicles separate into three.
Scene 6: Finger prick (three separate identical rooms)
Our ride vehicle makes a turn and heads straight as Maleficent's voice commands Aurora to touch the spindle. The vehicle stops as an animatronic Aurora walks up to the vehicle and touches the spindle. The room darkens as Maleficent laughs and our vehicle zooms out of the room.
Scene 7: Briars and Thorns
We enter a projection tunnel of growing briars and thorns as we rejoin our companions. We make another turn.
Scene 8: Dark Transformation
Maleficent stands, threatening Prince Phillip, and begins transforming into a dragon via projections.
Scene 9: Dragon Battle
Prince Phillip and a massive animatronic Dragon Maleficent battle it out amongst briars and thorns.
Scene 10: Dragon Slaying
We see a screen with Prince Phillip slaying the dragon.
Scene 11: True Love's Kiss
Prince Phillip awakens Aurora with a kiss for Happily Ever After. We unload and exit out into the Enchanted Wood, ready to find another adventure in this Enchanted Wood.
Notes: The Spinning Wheels will hold six guests and the seats will look like they are made out of thorns. Three rows of two will be the seat organization. The spindle will extend out so that the Aurora animatronic won't get too close. The ride system will be a faux-trackless experience with omnimover elements, with the track embedded under the floor and the vehicles able to turn sideways.
Queue: We enter through the gates of King Stephan's Castle and into its magnificent courtyard. After some switchbacks, we enter into the throne room, before heading up the stairs and into the hallway. Another turn and we enter Princess Aurora's Chambers. There seems to be nowhere to go before thunder crashes and a green flame appears on a second story.
Pre-show: The green flame dies down and an animatronic of Maleficent appears, telling the story of how she cursed Aurora and then casts a spell on us, putting us right into the story of Sleeping Beauty as the spinning wheel. Once Maleficent leaves, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather appear to give a happier note. With Love's First Kiss, Princess Aurora will wake. Maleficent appears once more to shoo away the fairies and the fireplace opens up, taking us to the spinning wheels we will act as.
Scene 1: Once Upon a Dream
Our spinning wheels depart and we arrive in a forest. Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip dance as they sing Once Upon a Dream to each other.
Scene 2: The Forbidden Mountain
Our vehicles take a turn and we climb up The Forbidden Mountain and arrive in Maleficent's Palace.
Scene 3: Maleficent's Palace
We take a tour of Maleficent's Palace, a dark scene culminating in a full view of Maleficent in her elegant, terrifying glory as she plots and expresses frustration that Aurora still lives.
Scene 4: Aurora in the Palace
We are brought to Princess Aurora's room as Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather leave the girl and she cries over not being able to see the man she met again, not knowing he is her betrothed. Maleficent's voice is heard commanding the girl to rise and follow.
Scene 5: Fireplace Tunnel
The train of ride vehicles separate into three.
Scene 6: Finger prick (three separate identical rooms)
Our ride vehicle makes a turn and heads straight as Maleficent's voice commands Aurora to touch the spindle. The vehicle stops as an animatronic Aurora walks up to the vehicle and touches the spindle. The room darkens as Maleficent laughs and our vehicle zooms out of the room.
Scene 7: Briars and Thorns
We enter a projection tunnel of growing briars and thorns as we rejoin our companions. We make another turn.
Scene 8: Dark Transformation
Maleficent stands, threatening Prince Phillip, and begins transforming into a dragon via projections.
Scene 9: Dragon Battle
Prince Phillip and a massive animatronic Dragon Maleficent battle it out amongst briars and thorns.
Scene 10: Dragon Slaying
We see a screen with Prince Phillip slaying the dragon.
Scene 11: True Love's Kiss
Prince Phillip awakens Aurora with a kiss for Happily Ever After. We unload and exit out into the Enchanted Wood, ready to find another adventure in this Enchanted Wood.
Notes: The Spinning Wheels will hold six guests and the seats will look like they are made out of thorns. Three rows of two will be the seat organization. The spindle will extend out so that the Aurora animatronic won't get too close. The ride system will be a faux-trackless experience with omnimover elements, with the track embedded under the floor and the vehicles able to turn sideways.