Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, we’ll be taking a look back at two versions of one of the Disney's parks’ iconic mountains.
After nearly three years' notice, Splash Mountain closed at Disneyland on May 31, 2023. Over the years, the attraction became one of the most loved in the entire Disney pantheon by establishing a new standard for log flumes everywhere. But with so much love, how could the attraction be closing? Well, let’s jump back to the beginning and look at how we got to where we are today.
Opening in 1972 as a home for the Country Bear Jamboree in Disneyland, Bear Country was immediately the park’s least visited land. Tucked away in a dead end in the back corner of the park with just a show to draw guests in, the land was doomed right from the start to never be the draw that Disney would hope.
Via Disney Wiki
Fresh off the success of helping design Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Imagineer Tony Baxter began thinking of ways to revitalize Bear Country with a large-scale attraction that would finally draw guests back there. While stuck in traffic on his way to work in 1983, Baxter pieced together an idea that was both economical and inspired, namely a log flume based on the animated sequences of the film Song of the South that would use the animatronic figures from America Sings to populate the attraction. While the idea of reusing nearly 100 characters may sound like a bit of a stretch at first, Disney Legend Marc Davis was one of the character designers on the film and the attraction, so the blending of the two was a truly inspired choice. Plus, characters from Song of the South had been walkaround characters at the park for years before that, so guests were familiar with Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear.
Via Wikipedia
However, Baxter had thought of the idea at the same time that the Walt Disney Company was going through a lot of turmoil, as then-CEO Ron Miller was ousted in favor of Michael Eisner. With Song of the South scheduled for a theatrical re-release in 1986, Baxter didn’t have to sell Eisner on the synergy that would be provided with the attraction, but Eisner was not a fan of the name, Zip-A-Dee River Run. Instead, he suggested tying the attraction to the upcoming film Splash and the name Splash Mountain was born.
Via D23
With the project approved, production got underway, with the attraction very quickly going over its budget on its way to becoming one of Disney’s most expensive attractions ever at the time. Even with reusing the animatronics, there were a good handful that needed to be created to tell the story of Br’er Rabbit’s quest to reach the Laughing Place while Br’er Fox tried to eat him for lunch.
Once testing began, another hiccup emerged when Disney executives tested the attraction and emerged from it completely soaked every time. The logs needed to be redesigned to go from eight people to seven as well as reduced in weight to make sure the attraction would generally be more of a sprinkle than a drenching.
After a few delays, Splash Mountain opened on Disneyland’s 34th anniversary, July 17, 1989 along with a special called Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain starring Jim Varney debuting on Disney Channel. The opening harkened back to the old days of Disneyland, the television program that gave guests the inside view of attractions before they opened.
To celebrate the changing of the headliner of the attraction, Bear Country transformed into Critter Country.
Splash Mountain was such a hit right from the start that Imagineering began working on versions for Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, which would open within a day of each other on October 2 and October 1 of 1992 respectively. The two versions were near clones of each other, being constructed at the same time, though they were mirror images as they were on different sides of the river. Magic Kingdom’s Splash Mountain is a part of Frontierland, while Tokyo Disneyland is the only other park to have a Critter Country, so Splash Mountain lives there.
Over the years, almost nothing changed for any version of the attraction, though one notably fun addition was Ziploc coming along as a sponsor to Disneyland’s version, so guests could get free plastic bags to keep all of their electronics and other personal items dry. Above is the Disneyland version of the attraction, while below is the Magic Kingdom version if you’d like to compare as I dive into my thoughts.
I actually preferred the Disneyland version, probably because it's the one that I grew up on. It’s definitely not as comfy a ride experience as the Magic Kingdom one, but there’s something about riding the attraction at night and seeing Fantasmic as you round the turns that really helped the attraction feel so special to me.
I may be biased here based on the website I write for, but my favorite part of the attraction was the Laughing Place drop. Well favorite and least favorite because that drop got me absolutely soaked so many times. I can still picture the wave of water soaring over my head and completely drenching me. It was heartbreaking at the time, but I look back on it now with such fond memories of just looking around at my friends as we were all so drenched.
Splash Mountain really set a new standard for themed water attractions with the myriad of animatronics really helping the world to come to life. The story was simple and easy to follow and was just straight up exciting. There was singing and adventure and escapes and it was just such a thrill every time. I’ll definitely miss the attraction, but I’m very excited to see what happens next.
In June of 2020, Disney announced that Splash Mountain would be replaced at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom by Tiana’s Bayou Adventure based on The Princess and the Frog. The move had been long gestating within Imagineering as it became more and more clear that having an attraction based on a film like Song of the South that is so filled with racist-undertones was no longer acceptable.
Magic Kingdom’s logs had their farewell tour on January 23, 2023, while Disneyland’s eventually closed over four months later on May 31, 2023. The lines for the attraction were extremely long on the last day, with Disneyland’s line still reaching four hours at the very end of the day. I was able to say my farewell to both versions of the attraction the last time that I was at each, and who knows maybe I’ll get to Tokyo Disneyland’s one day as it is the last remaining one…for now. But regardless, I’m super excited for when Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens in late 2024 because the concept art looks like a ton of fun with great animatronics and a fun new story based on a newish Disney Animated Classic.
Via The Gamer
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!