Things you may not know about Disney's Splash Mountain

[Stu]

Some of the Many secrets of Disney's Splash Mountain.

1. The name for this ride was originally going to be called 'Zip-a-Dee River Run', the name Splash Mountain came about due to Michael Eisner wanting to promote the new (at the time) mermaid movie called 'Splash'. The concept didn't really work out but the Splash Mountain name stuck.

2. The attraction is based on a movie called 'Song of the South', Disney has distanced itself from this movie due to it being racially offensive. None of the offensive racial elements were ever included in the ride, the ride just focused on the stories told by Uncle Remus.

3. You may get wet! With around 950,000 gallons of water in this attraction the chances of staying dry are very low and you are likely to get splashed (Soaked). If you want to increase your chances of staying relatively dry then sit on the left side of the log, this is because the logs often come to a stop next to waterfalls located on the right. Also the closer you are to the front the more chance of getting an extra soaking.



4. At the loading station you may have noticed an old lantern that flashes from time to time, this is actually a safety feature and indicates to the Cast Members that the logs are about to move in the loading station.

5. The main drop on Splash Mountain is 52.5 feet (60 ft in Tokyo) with the logs travelling as fast as 40mph at an angle or around 45 degrees.

6. In part of the ride there is a Gopher that pops out of the ceiling and sounds like he is sneezing, if you listen carefully he is actually saying 'FSU', this is a tribute to Florida State University, the university that some of the Disney imagineers attended.

7. When the ride was first opened people were getting too wet and Disney had to make the logs lighter to reduce the soaking.

8. The attraction features 3 catchy songs. You'll hear 'How Do You Do', 'Everybody's Got a Laughing Place' and 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah'.

9. Splash Mountain is a Log Flume ride, yes? Well actually it is both a Log Flume and a Rollercoaster ride. The free floating logs join a rollercoaster type track to accomplish the big drop, after the climb and fall the logs once again become free floating.

10. The original Log Flumes didn't have any restraints, restraints were added in 2011, mainly to prevent riders from exiting the logs too early.

11. The original version of Splash Mountain opened at Disneyland on 17th July, 1989. Tokyo Disneyland and Walt Disney World versions opened within a day of each other in October of 1992.

12. Imagineer Tony Baxter apparently came up with the idea for Splash Mountain whilst stuck in traffic.

13. Both the Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland attractions are located in Critter Country. Walt Disney World’s version of Splash Mountain is located in Frontierland.

14. The Zip-A-Dee Lady showboat at Disneyland is the largest animated prop created for an attraction measuring 50 feet wide and 30 feet high. Walt Disney World’s version of this showboat measures 36 feet wide and 22 feet high.

15. The splash at the bottom of the main fall isn't caused just by the log flume, Disney uses water cannons to create the illusion of a bigger splash.

16. Until 2009 there used to be a cast member that had the responsibility to check every on ride picture to make sure any inappropriate pictures were deleted before being displayed on the public screens, this job seems to have been removed as part of Disney's cut backs!

Do You Know any Other Secrets for Splash Mountain?