Disneyland is all about immersive experiences. Whether you're Soaring over California or crusing Route 66 with Mater or speeding through a Galaxy far, far away or sitting in a Clamshell as it dives Under the Sea, they have a knack for transporting visitors into the fanciful worlds they've created in their movies.
This summer, they're taking out their pixie dust and shaking it all over the Hollywood Pictures Backlot to transform it into Alice's Wonderland, for their latest nighttime dance party, the Mad T Party. This is definitely not your grandmother's tea party; it's not even the crazy-but-cute tea party hosted by the Mad Hatter in the classic Disney cartoon. No, the Mad T Party is more like a wacky, whimsical acid trip inspired by the
2010 Tim Burton movie.
Guests enter Wonderland through the Rabbit Hole, which is basically a series of mist-spraying arches decorated with swirls and neon lights.
These giant lanterns are hung right above the main music stage, like the lanterns strung over the Mad Hatter's party table in the movie.
On stage you'll find a live band, dressed in costumes inspired by the movie, alternating with a DJ dressed as the White Rabbit.
Alice reminds me of a blonde Katy Perry -- I wonder if The Pea will want to dress like her for Halloween? She and fellow vocalist The Mad Hatter kept the crowd fist-bumping and jumping with their high-energy musical numbers.
I love the Drink Me bar! You can't really see it from the photo, but the bar has a coffee table with teapots, cups and saucers hanging upside-down from the ceiling.
The glow-in-the-dark ice cubes were a huge hit. Once we had finished our drinks, we fished out our ice cubes, dried them out, and took them home as a souvenir. We discovered that when you toggle the on/off switch, the ice cube colors change colors, and one setting even has the ice cube changing colors every few seconds! It's the coolest way ever to decorate a drink!
Once you've got your drink, you'll want a place to sit and get a rest from the dancing. Guests can head to lounge areas, scattered throughout, and relax on
Queen of Love Linvin chairs in dayglo colors, with matching coffee tables and giant lamps. The furniture looks right at home in Wonderland, and although they look like they're made of hard, unforgiving plastic, they are surprisingly comfortable.
Throughout the are, you'll see cast members in delightfully wacky outfits. These flamingo riders/stiltwalkers were enchanting the crowd the night we were there; I'm told there's also a human slinky, but he must have been stuck in his rabbit hole that night, and we didn't get to see him.
A second stage, called the House of Cards, showcases a group dancers dressed as cards. They're introduced by Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, who've gotten a seriously badass makeover. You'll also find the twins walking around the party area acting like bouncers.
Right beside the House of Cards is the Mad Arcade, a small game arcade with skeeball, basketball, whack-a-mole, air hockey and other classic arcade games. The games are themed after Alice in Wonderland (i.e. Cheshire Cat's Smile Smash, where you try to knock the Cheshire Cat's teeth down by shooting ping pong balls into its mouth), and everything is glowing in neon lights. Tokens are a quarter each, and most games take 1-2 tokens.
A note about kids: As you can imagine, there is a LOT of noise and lights at the Mad T Party, so it can be overwhelming for kids under 6. My sons are 8 and my daughter is 11, and the sensory overload didn't bother them at all. The Pea was definitely old enough to enjoy the music and dancing, and all 3 kids loved the Mad Arcade and the air hockey tables. They were really entertained! They serve nonalcoholic drinks and candy, so the underaged set is all set :)
I'm told that Mad T Party is very similar to the previous dance party, ElecTRONica, just with renamed drinks and decor, but I prefer this theme because it's much more universal and beloved. The Mad T Party is Disney-fied enough for families (but see my note regarding kids
at the end of this post) but cool enough for the tween crowd, so you probably won't find many people uttering the words, "It's not my cup of tea".
Mad T Party is located at the Hollywood Pictures Backlot in Disney's California Adventure. It will run throughout the summer, beginning at dusk and lasting for as long as DCA is open for the day. For more photos of the Mad T Party, check out my photoset on Flickr and on Facebook.
Disclosure: The Disneyland Resort provided media
privileges, park admission for my family and accomodations for the
duration of the Cars Land opening event. Other costs, including
transportation,meals and extra days at the Disneyland Resort, were
incurred at my expense. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
