Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Dark ride in Tokyo Disneyland, Japan

Pinocchio's Daring Journey is a dark ride in Tokyo Disneyland where guests sit in wooden carts that roll through lit rooms and meet characters from the story. The track passes through several scenes with animated puppets and painted backdrops showing moments like the toymaker's workshop or the belly of a sea creature.

The attraction was first built for the opening of Tokyo Disneyland in April 1983, the first version anywhere. Disneyland in California had planned a Pinocchio ride since 1976, when Imagineers proposed replacing the Mickey Mouse Club Theater, but the idea was shelved until the Tokyo project revived it. The California version opened a month and a half later as part of the New Fantasyland overhaul.

The ride takes its name from the wooden puppet in Carlo Collodi's tale, which Japanese families have known for decades through film adaptations. Visitors today see animated figures and colorful sets that recreate scenes from the movie, drawing young guests into the story.

The ride is in the Fantasyland section of Tokyo Disneyland. Cars hold four to six riders on a ground-level track, and the story begins mid-film at Stromboli's puppet theatre, so it helps to know the movie beforehand. Boarding announcements are voiced by Geppetto in Japanese and Jiminy Cricket in English. Queues move steadily, so waits are usually shorter than at Peter Pan's Flight.

The entrance displays carved wooden puppets and decorations that recall a toymaker's craft and prepare visitors for the story ahead. Inside, the carts move along a track that winds through narrow passages and dark corners, offering surprises for younger children along the way.