If you’ve wanted to know how to find Once Upon a Time at Disneyland, then this blog post is for you!

If you are a fan of ABC TV’s Once Upon a Time (like we are), you will enjoy a fun “treasure map” of how to find Once Upon a Time at Disneyland. So, put on your OUAT lenses and let’s hop over to Disneyland in Anaheim.

Note: This post will always be updated. If you’ve spotted a representation of OUAT that we may have overlooked, PLEASE leave a comment letting us know. We need your to help. Thanks.

How to Find Once Upon a Time at Disneyland

Let’s journey through Disneyland and find representations of ABC TV’s magical drama, Once Upon a Time.

Our 1st stop is Snow White’s Scary Adventures in Fantasyland.

Fun facts;

This attraction is one of the few attractions that has been opened since the park opened.
Originally, the ride did not depict Snow White. The idea was that the rider was Snow White experiencing everything first hand, but during the 1983 refurbishment, the Snow White figure was added as well as other modifications to the ride.

If you touch the “golden apple” in front of the attraction you will either hear lightning crashing or the Old Hag cackling.

In this attraction, we see; Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs, and Evil Queen and the transformation to The Old Hag. Oh, and lots of apples.

Don’t forget to look outside the attraction for the Evil Queen, because every once in awhile, she’ll be looking for you.

Once Upon a Time characters spotted in the attraction;
Snow White
Prince Charming (in the final painting)
Evil Queen (5 times)
The Magic Mirror
Grumpy
Dopey
Doc
Sleepy
Sneezy
Happy
Bashful

Once geeky Once Upon a Time tidbit, in the audio intro while you are waiting in the line queue, you will hear the narrator use the word ‘dearie,’.

Our second stop is Snow White’s Grotto.

Hidden away on the path on the front eastern edge of Sleeping Beauty’s castle is Snow White’s Grotto. It features an anonymous gift from an Italian sculptor of Snow White, the Seven Dwarves and various woodland creatures. This issue was that all the human sculptures were the same height. To rectify the situation, the dwarves were placed closer to the viewers and Snow White was placed farther back. This would give the illusion of proper height for the characters.

Also in the Grotto is a replica of Snow White’s ‘Wishing Well’. From inside the well, we can hear Snow White singing, “I’m Wishing (For the One I Love)” which is on a loop. Many have proposed marriage from that spot. I even considered it.

Once Upon a Time characters spotted in this area;
Snow White
Grumpy
Dopey
Doc
Sleepy
Sneezy
Happy
Bashful

We continue on our quest on How to Find Once Upon a Time at Disneyland

Our third stop is Peter Pan’s Flight.

This was another early attraction that gave the rider entry into the story (or in this case, the animated feature) of Peter Pan. This was another attraction that was opened when the Disneyland park opened. Similar to Snow White’s Scary Adventures, the attraction did not feature a Peter Pan figure in the attraction until the massive Fantasyland renovation of 1983.

Peter Pan’s Flight Fun Facts

The line for this attraction is normally very long. There are many reasons for this;
It is a classic story,
The ride system isn’t an omnibus (constantly moving ‘ships’ that load patrons onto it (Like Haunted Mansion Doom Buggies)). The ships stop until the patrons load the ships, then fly off into the attraction,
Some believe that the location “draws” people to it. The location is the first attraction on the right in Fantasyland. People seem to almost always want to “ride the first ride” on the right.

Prior to the massive Fantasyland renovation of 1983, there was a huge replica of the Jolly Roger in a small lagoon with Skull Rock toward the back. The pirate ship was officially called The Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship and Restaurant and as you can guess, it was sponsored by Chicken of the Sea.

To tie this fact in with the Peter Pan’s Flight, some of the fixtures from the pirate ship were added to Peter Pan’s Flight after the renovation.

Once Upon a Time characters spotted in the attraction;
Peter Pan
Tinkerbell
Wendy Darling
Michael Darling
John Darling
Captain Hook
Mr. Smee
The Crocodile (representing Rumpel)
The Lost Boys

Our fourth stop is Pinocchio’s Daring Journey.

This “dark ride” showcasing the morality play about the saga of a wooden puppet becoming a real boy replaced the Mickey Mouse Club Theater in 1983. It has the feel of the other Fantasyland rides and fits in well. It uses older visual tricks like “Pepper’s ghost (Used a lot in the Haunted Mansion)” and newer digital projection technology was utilized to show the donkey transformation (used on Snow White’s Scary Adventures).

For me, I love the little touches like;
Jiminy Cricket telling Pinocchio to go the other way (the “right” way),
Geppetto calling for Pinocchio during his search. This gets me every time.

Once Upon a Time characters spotted in the attraction;
Pinocchio
Blue Fairy
Geppetto
Jimminy Cricket
Monstro

Our fifth stop is Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through.

Even though Disneyland park is “small”, the space in which its exists is used extremely well. Unless you knew wheat to look for, you might not even know this attraction existed. There isn’t a grand facade with ride vehicles announcing it, but indeed you can ‘walk-through’ the story of Sleeping Beauty in Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

It is interesting that this attraction was the one that actually met one of Walt Disney’s goal of having a walk-through attraction (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Alice in Wonderland attraction were all originally conceived as walk-through attractions). You feel like you are walking through the streets portrayed in the animated feature. As always, Disney’s focus on detail is everywhere. There are doorways, shadows, etc with fun visuals and sound effects that you need to pay attention and stay just a bit longer in certain areas to observe, interact with and enjoy.

Oh, and there are stairs.

Quite a few stairs actually.

The story of Princess Aurora is laid out with passages from the ornate storybook leading to dioramas. The previous dioramas were cool, but also looked dated. The updated dioramas are great. The use digital projections to add magical elements and make it worth it to climb all those stairs.

Once Upon a Time characters spotted in the attraction;
Princess Aurora
Prince Phillip
Maleficent

Our journey continues of How to Find Once Upon a Time at Disneyland

Our sixth stop is Alice in Wonderland.

Have you ever wanted to fall into a magical rabbit hole and enter a magical land? You can in this Disneyland attraction that originally opened in 1958 in Fantasyland.

You will see things like; the Red Queen in all her fury, an Un-Birthday party hosted by the Mad Hatter, a musical garden, smiling cats and more.

Once Upon a Time (and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland) characters spotted in the attraction;
Alice in Wonderland
White Rabbit
Red Queen
Mad Hatter
Queen of Hearts

Want more Alice wonderment? You can ride the Mad Tea Party ride right next door. I hope none of the cups are chipped, but they are fun.

You may also want to buy a hat at the Mad Hatter. I’m pretty sure not of the hats are a portal to other OUAT worlds, though.

Our seventh stop is Storybook Land Canal Boats.

If you’ve ever wanted to a tour seeing miniaturized versions of homes of many of the most famous storybook characters that have been in many Disney animated features – from a boat, then this attraction is for you. It also includes seeing what Pinocchio and Geppetto saw going into Monstro’s mouth, seeing the Cave of Wonders and more. If you normally pass this attraction by, do yourself a favor and take this ride next time.

Once Upon a Time (and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland) character homes/lands spotted in the attraction;
Alice in Wonderland
White Rabbit
Peter Pan
The Darling family
Aladdin
Jasmine
Jafar
Snow White
7 Dwarves
Cinderella
Fairy Godmother
Lady Tremaine
Anastasia Tremaine
Drizella Tremaine
Gus
Anna
Elsa
Olaf
Kristoff
Sven
Hans
King of Arendelle
Queen of Arendelle
Pinocchio
Geppetto
Jiminy Cricket
Monstro
Blue Fairy
Ariel
Prince Eric

Our trek continues of How to Find Once Upon a Time at Disneyland.

Our eighth stop is Fantasyland Fantasy Faire.

This area once was the Carnation Gardens Plaza and it was a favorite place of mine to watch the fireworks show. Now, this is an area that resembles a storybook village that you can meet some storybook Princesses and see a show and dancing.

Whether it’s Snow White, Cinderella, Belle or other princesses, this is where you might be able to meet them. The rotate the princesses that are available, but I would bet there is always on you’d love to meet.

This area is broken up into three parts;

The Fantasy Faire courtyard. This is the main area with a magical Tangled tower that you must see in the evening. If you look around, you will see Figaro.

The Royal Hall. Where you can meet the princesses that take time away from their adventures to meet you.

The Royal Theater. Would you like to watch a fun re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, Frozen or Tangled? Would you? If so, then this is the place for you, lords and ladies.

Oh and if your hungry or thirsty, you can visit Maurice’s Treats.

Once Upon a Time characters spotted in the attraction;

Once Upon a Time (and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland) characters spotted in the attraction;
Belle
The Beast
Anna
Elsa
Rapunzel
Cinderella
Maurice

Our ninth stop is Pixie Hollow.

Picture the Fantasyland Fantasy Faire, but for Tinkerbell and her pixie friends. Meet Tinkerbell (or if she’s busy another pixie) and say hello in this shrunk down version of places just for pixies in the forest.

Once Upon a Time (and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland) characters spotted in the attraction;
Tinkerbell

Our tenth stop is Fantasmic show.

Lighting up the Rivers of America since 1992, the incredible show Fantasmic! You will see many characters from Once Upon a Time represented here. This story of good, evil and Mickey Mouse’s imagination is a massive tale told on the original Tom Sawyer Island and in the waters of the Rivers of America.

During the finale, the Mark Twain steamship (or sometimes on the strange on the old Tom Sawyer’s island) will be stock full of characters. They rotate who appears, so what I would suggest is to keep your eyes peeled as to which characters you will spot.

Once Upon a Time (and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland) characters spotted in the attraction;
Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Marching broom
Pinocchio
Jiminy Cricket
Monstro
Peter Pan
Wendy
Hook
Mr. Smee
The Crocodile
Belle
The Beast
Ariel
Prince Eric
Snow White
Prince Charming
Ursula
Chernabog
Evil Queen (including Old Hag transformation)
The Magic Mirror
Maleficent (including Dragon transformation)
Tinkerbell
(See note about the Mark Twain finale)

Our eleventh stop is the It’s a Small World.

We all know the song and the attraction. The cool thing is that during the 2008 refurbishment many new characters were added in their respective lands.

Once Upon a Time (and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland) characters spotted in the attraction;
England room, look for Alice and the White Rabbit from OUAT in Wonderland, and Peter Pan and Tinkerbell
France room, look for Cinderella and Gus
Italy room, look for Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket
China room, look for Mulan
Middle East room, look for Aladdin and Jasmine
South Seas room, look for Ariel

That ends our journey of how to find Once Upon a Time at Disneyland. Stay tuned for our post detailing how to find Once Upon a Time at Disney California Adventure, and more.