The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a dark ride located at Magic Kingdom Park in Florida, Disneyland Park in California, Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong, and Shanghai Disneyland in Shanghai. The ride is based off of the 1977 Disney film of the same name, which in of itself is based off of the children's books "Winnie-the-Pooh" and "The House at Pooh Corner" by A. A. Milne. The ride is a retelling of "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," the second segment of the film. The ride first opened at Magic Kingdom on June 4th, 1999, replacing the beloved opening day dark ride, Mr Toad's Wild Ride. The ride then opened at Disneyland on April 11th, 2003. The ride then became an opening day attraction at Hong Kong Disneyland on September 12th, 2005 and Shanghai Disneyland on June 16th, 2016. Disneyland's version of the ride is located in Critter Country, while the rest are located in Fantasyland at their parks. A newer, more advanced version of the ride called Pooh's Hunny Hunt opened at Tokyo Disneyland on September 4th, 2000. This version however, uses a trackless ride system and provides a much different experience than the standard versions of the ride.

## History

### Original Proposals for Disneyland

Originally, imagineers planned to have a Winnie the Pooh ride at Disneyland. It was to be located in "New Fantasyland," an expansion of the land that opened in 1983. However, it seems that those plans were eventually canceled, as no Pooh themed attraction was present when New Fantasyland opened. Next, Pooh was set to make his way to Mickey's Toontown in 1993 with the opening of the land. The new ride was planned to feature honey pot ride vehicles which guests could freely spin throughout the ride while also enjoying the show scenes. Plans for the new ride eventually became Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, a popular dark ride themed to the 1988 film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." The current ride retains the spinning feature originally meant for the Pooh ride.

### Magic Kingdom and Mr. Toad

Disney decided to look back into a Pooh ride during the franchise's resurgence in popularity in the 1990s. This time, they chose to look at Florida's Magic Kingdom, which had plenty of space for a new ride, unlike Disneyland. Despite being able to create a new location for Pooh, Disney chose to close Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, a popular opening day attraction at the park. Several fans were infuriated when it was announced Mr. Toad would be closing to make way for Pooh. Fans were so angry that many participated in peaceful protests against the ride's closure. Fan input was not able to change anything though, as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride closed on September 7th, 1998, leaving Disneyland's version of the ride the only one remaining. Pooh's new ride opened at Magic Kingdom on June 4th, 1999, making it the only version of the ride to open in the 20th Century.

### Disneyland and Other Versions

As Pooh came to Florida, Disney decided it was time they revisited the idea of Pooh at Disneyland. Unlike Magic Kingdom however, there was no space to add a new attraction without removing another. Disney already knew the ride couldn't be in Fantasyland like the original because it had the most limited amount of space and the had the oldest buildings. Disney decided Pooh would be in Critter Country, a land visited mostly for just Splash Mountain. Of course, it wouldn't make sense to remove one of the most popular rides in the park, so Disney chose to remove the Country Bear Jamboree, a relatively popular show. Fans were once again upset by the news, but even with backlash, Disney removed the Jamboree in favor of Pooh. Disneyland's version of the ride opened on April 11th, 2003 to some short-lived long lines. Construction of Hong Kong Disneyland was well underway soon after Disneyland's version of Pooh opened to the public. The ride and the park as a whole opened on September 12th, 2005, with Pooh finding his place in Fantasyland once more. Years later, the newest Disney park began construction. Shanghai Disneyland opened on June 16th, 2016, with Pooh being an opening day attraction.

## Ride Experience

### Magic Kingdom

At Magic Kingdom, guests enter the queue made to resemble the Hundred Acre Wood. Formerly, the queue had the standard fantasy tent look typical of many Fantasyland dark rides. The queue is filled with many interactive elements to keep young children entertained while they wait in line. First, kids can play in Rabbit's garden by crawling through a tunnel of crates, make music with vegetables, or even play a game of hide-and-seek with some gophers. Kids can also visit Eeyore and Piglet's homes, crawling through Eeyore's gloomy place and knocking on Piglet's door, hearing him inside. Lastly, there are digital walls of honey that, upon touch, will begin to disappear, eventually revealing a picture of one of the characters once enough is removed. Throughout the queue are large book pages depicting a Disney retelling of the first chapter of the first Pooh book. Soon, guests will board their honey pot ride vehicle as Tigger gives the safety spiel, before being taken away into the ride. As the pot enters the show building, another book page can be seen, with this one beginning chapter two, which is about a blustery day. The ride begins during the blustery day as Piglet is seen barely hanging onto a broom spinning in the wind. Gopher jokingly refers to this day as "windsday," to which Piglet responds "Maybe for you!" Next, Pooh himself is seen floating in the air with a blue balloon trying to reach some honey in a tree, though the wind proves to make this difficult. Eeyore watches from below, telling Pooh that he won't be able to reach the honey. Next is Rabbit's garden, where Rabbit is on the ground covered in his own vegetables, saying "Why me? Why me?!" Meanwhile, Kanga is trying to keep Roo from being blown away, although is having fun and thinks he is a kite. The pot travels into Owl's house, which is in terrible condition from the strong wind, so bad that the walls are swaying. Owl is seen sitting in a chair above riders as the pot travels through the ruined home. It then enters deep into the Hundred Acre Wood at nighttime. Tigger happily greets riders and invites them to bounce with him. The track then bobs up and down to give the effect of the pot bouncing along. Tigger appears in many locations, including behind a bush and upside down in a tree. After a little fun bouncing, Tigger and the pot make their way to Pooh's house as he gets ready for bed. Tigger warns Pooh of Heffalumps and Woozles, mischievous creatures who appear in people's dreams and steal honey. As Pooh goes to bed, a thunderstorm is seen brewing outside. Pooh goes to sleep, and riders see his dream form separate from his real form, floating away into a dream. The pot enters Pooh's dream of Heffalumps and Woozles as the song of the same name plays. Both creatures are seen, with the Woozles appearing to scare Pooh and riders while the Heffalumps seem to just have some fun. The room is vibrant and full of color, and a mirror is present to make it feel larger than it really is. In addition to the honey stealers, living honey pots are seen along with two living watering cans at the end of the scene. The water from the cans transition into real rain as Pooh awakes from his nightmare. While Pooh was asleep, the storm flooded the Hundred Acre Wood. Rain falls from the sky as the pot passes through the Wood. Gopher happily spits water from his mouth, but the other characters are struggling to stay on dry ground as the rain presses on. Eeyore precariously balances on a stick, Rabbit floats in an upside down umbrella, Owl remains in his chair, scared of the ever rising water, and Tigger struggles to save Piglet, who is floating on a chair. Meanwhile, Pooh is stuck inside of a honey tree, as usual. Fortunately, everything turns out okay as the pot travels into a party the characters are throwing for Pooh (with Piglet being the only animatronic and the rest being cutouts placed on two more book pages. A happy Pooh is shown next to the party, merrily gobbling up honey as he tells his friends to start the party without him. Several more book pages are seen as the Winnie the Pooh theme song plays. The last book page depicts Pooh happily skipping along with Christopher Robin. The pot re-enters the station where guests disembark back into Fantasyland.

### Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland

The two international versions of the ride are nearly identical to Magic Kingdom's, but there a few very minor differences. The queue is absent of interactive elements and is much less themed. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the queue retains the fantasy tent look that many Fantasyland rides currently and formerly use(d). At Shanghai Disneyland, the queue starts out similarly to Disneyland's, but then enters a queue more resemblant of Magic Kingdom's and Hong Kong Disneyland's. The two international versions also have some very minor dialogue changes, as well as slightly different coloring in the Heffalumps and Woozles scene. They also feature some additional bouncing sound effects during Tigger's scene, and they use a different song at the end of the ride. Instead of the theme song, Hong Kong and Shanghai use the song "Hip-Hip-Poohray."

### Disneyland

Unlike Magic Kingdom, Disneyland's queue does not feature interactive elements and does not resemble the Hundred Acre Wood. Instead, guests enter the queue through a barn-like structure and traverse outdoors. Eventually, guests will find themselves in the outdoor station (Magic Kingdom's station is technically outdoors, but it is under a roof). Guests will then board their beehive ride vehicles, which have a small Heffalump bee hidden on the back. The beehive then dispatches into a barn as many walls move out of the way to transport riders into the Hundred Acre Wood. The first scene of the ride is fairly similar to Magic Kingdom's, though it is a bit brighter. Pooh is still swaying in the air holding a balloon, and the other characters are up to their usual antics as well. Next, the beehive enters the rain scene, which is also mostly the same, aside from being at the beginning of the ride instead of the end. The beehive soon begins enter Pooh's house as he prepares for bed. Tigger briefly appears and talks to riders (without the bouncing effect) before riders see Pooh fall asleep and enter his nightmare of Heffalumps and Woozles. Now, dream Pooh flies away much faster and is seen a bit longer. The beehive enters the Heffalumps and Woozles scene, which is now slightly longer and looks quite a bit different. The same song still plays and most of the original scenes and gags from Magic Kingdom are present. There are a few differences though. First, upon entering the scene, Dream Tigger warns Dream Pooh about the Heffalumps and Woozles, instead of this happening before Pooh goes to sleep. The scene is now covered in honey as well, as opposed to being more rainbow and psychedelic. The living honey pots also look slightly different and a bit more 3D, and the watering cans now show what seems to be real rain fall instead of just having static rain be painted on the wall. Lastly, Pooh is seen in the middle of the room in a hot air balloon watching everything from above. The beehive escapes the nightmare as Pooh enjoys his honey. The Heffalumps and Woozles fly away as the ride transitions back into the real world. Pooh's friends are then seen telling him to wake up as the beehive passes by Pooh's bed. Finally, the friends (now all animatronics instead of just Piglet) are shown celebrating Pooh's birthday. The beehive exits the show building and back outdoors into the station as the theme song plays. Guests then exit their beehive and back out into Critter Country.

## Trivia

* At Magic Kingdom, two Mr. Toad references are seen in Owl's house. If you look carefully, there are two pictures, one showing Pooh greeting Moley (one of Mr. Toad's friends) and the other showing Mr. Toad lending the deed to Toad Hall (his home) to Owl.
* Two Country Bear references are included at Disneyland. The first is during the Heffalumps and Woozles scene. The hot air balloon Pooh rides in is actually the same used by the bear Teddi Barra, one of the several animatronics from the show. Next, at the end of the same scene, look behind you and you will see static heads of Buff, Max, and Melvin, three animatronic animal busts who were formerly present in the show. However, these versions are only static figures, not the original animatronics.
* Pete Renaday plays the narrator in Disneyland's version. Renaday was also the voice of Henry, a character in the Country Bear Jamboree.
* Tigger breaks the 4th wall at Magic Kingdom and the international parks. Near the end of the scene, Tigger says, "I almost bounced out of da ride!"