Splash Mountain
[Disney Vacation Planner]
| At A Glance |
Log Flume style ride which
looks much more scary than it actually is. A good family ride,
though young children may be too small to ride. |
Splash Mountain was introduced to Walt Disney World in 1992,
and ever since then has been one of The Magic Kingdom's most popular
rides, and it's always likely to be busy, so expect some form
of queue no matter when you plan to visit it. To really appreciate
Splash Mountain fully, you need to be aware of the story line
of the 1946 Disney film "Song of the South", but not
knowing the storyline doesn't detract from the attraction in any
way.
After loading into a boat you gently sweep away from the loading
area, and gradually climb past scenes from the Song of the South,
featuring Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox, as Brer Rabbit tries to find
his "Laughin' place". After passing through the twists
and tunnels for what seems like a few minutes you finally emerge
into daylight over five storeys up, where you're plunged down
a slope into the Briar patch (pool) below.
At 52 feet, Splash Mountain's main drop isn't actually all that
big compared to some of the flume rides around, and at 45-degrees
it's certainly not the steepest, though it feels like a near vertical
drop while you're going down at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.
As well as the large drop at the end of the ride, there are three
more relatively tame drops before the main one.
It's one ride in which you're quite likely to get wet (though
not too wet so don't worry). It also has various ride restrictions
because of the flume element, and shouldn't be ridden by anyone
suffering from a heart condition, or neck or back problems. There's
also a ride-height restriction of 40 inches minimum which may
prevent small children from being able to ride it.
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