History of teacup rides?

[DreamFigment]

As we know, there are teacup-type type rides in other parks. Does anyone know which came first? Did Disney take a preexisting ride format and add a charming theme? Or did Disney invent the whole concept (circles going around inside circles going around inside a circle) which was then copied by others? Do any Hoppers know? Does it come up in one of David Mumpower’s books?

[CH-GenX]

This is what I found:

Arrow Development, an outside contractor, was responsible for building six of the rides for Disneyland's opening day: Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Snow White's Adventures, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, King Arthur's Carrousel, and the Casey, Jr. Circus Train. According to Imagineer and Disney Legend Bob Gurr, all of the rides, except for the carousel, were prototypes. "That meant all of the developmental testing was to be done by our Disneyland guests!" According to Gurr, Arrow lost money on making the rides. When Walt Disney offered to make up the difference, the owners of the company refused, saying it was just an honor to work with Disney. Their humility paid off—Disney contracted Arrow for many more rides, and eventually bought a third of the company.


From this source I would say that the imagineers took the idea of the tilt-a-whirl and expanded it: https://www.themeparktourist.com/featur ... -tea-party

[DreamFigment]

Thanks for this source! Interesting that it’s sort of in between new and a copy, if it’s a kind of reinvention of the tilt-a-whirl, but if I had to choose, that does seem like more of a new idea.

I started thinking about it after I saw a YouTube show (I forget which) ranking ride vehicles. They didn’t mention the teacups at all, but I think teacups are near the top of the best ride vehicles, or even #1. The Mary Blair style and the variety of different cups to choose from. The way they play around with size, making something small into something giant. The fact that you can interact with the vehicles to customize your experience (choosing whether or how fast to spin).

I think it might not have occurred to the people who were rating vehicles because the teacups have become so accepted that you can forget what an amazing idea they are. Or maybe they seem like a copy of a typical ride — except apparently they’re the model that others have copied!