The revamped Snow White's Scary Adventure ride at Disneyland — now called Snow White's Enchanted Wish [1] — finally opened on April 30 with a less-scary storyline that has a happy ending instead of an abrupt finish. And while the lighter, more involved ending follows that of the 1938 classic movie's finale, that's arguably the biggest issue with it. For decades, the fact that the princes in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty can't ask the unconscious princesses for consent [2] before kissing them has been criticized, and now, Snow White's Enchanted Wish puts that nonconsensual kiss front and center.
Considering Disney's move to revamp rides like Splash Mountain [3] due to outdated and problematic storylines (in Splash Mountain's case, stereotypical racist tropes), it's curious that the Imagineers would choose to add Prince Charming's "true love's kiss" to a newly revamped attraction; especially as it wasn't previously included.
However, the fact that the kiss was added in means it can be used as a teachable moment for families visiting the park. After lending her voice to Princess Anna in Frozen, Kristen Bell [4] shared that the story of Snow White has served as a way for her to talk to her young daughters about consent [5]. Kristen told Parents that after reading the story together she asks her girls: "Don't you think that it's weird that the prince kisses Snow White without her permission? Because you can not kiss someone if they're sleeping!"
In addition to the controversial kiss scene, the ride's new storyline also includes brighter colors as guests travel through the mines with the Seven Dwarfs and happier music in the final stretch, and the dark and scary scenes that include the Evil Queen are more fleeting than in the previous ride.
See a first-person trip through Snow White's Enchanted Wish in the video above, and, to compare, revisit Snow White's Scary Adventure in the video below.