A complete ride through of Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Recorded with several Sony dvd camera’s and a Flip Mino HD in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Splash Mountain is the best log flume ride and a nice way to cool down on hot days!

The attraction is based on characters, stories and songs from the 1946 movie Song of the South, but without the same notorious racial controversies that have plagued the film. It tells the story of the adventures of Br’er Rabbit, a mischievous rabbit that leaves his home in the briar patch to look for his “laughing place.” Unfortunately for him, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear, the antagonists of this story, are determined to catch and eat him.

Each version of Splash Mountain begins with a peaceful outdoor float-through that leads to indoor dark ride segments, with a climactic steep drop into a “briar patch” followed by an indoor finale.

Because of the ride’s location in Frontierland, the soundtrack features a country feel, with banjos and harmonicas as the primary instruments. Riders board eight-passenger logs, seated two by two. Logs are now equipped with lap bars for safety reasons. The log departs the loading area, where Br’er Frog provides introductory narration. The log ascends two dual-chain lifts before floating gently through scenery designed to evoke the feeling of a river in the Southern United States, particularly Georgia, where Song of the South was based. The homes of the three main characters and aged farm equipment are incorporated into the landscape, along with an instrumental version of “How Do You Do?” emanating from hidden speakers along the waterway.
After a short drop down “Slippin’ Falls”, guests enter the indoor portion of the attraction, where various audio-animatronic animals, such as geese, frogs, and opossums sing the attraction’s first musical number, “How Do You Do?”. Several vignettes establish the story of a restless Br’er Rabbit leaving home and being pursued by Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear.
Ev’rybody’s Got a Laughing Place begins to play as the log reaches a dark tunnel followed by a “dip-drop” into the Laugnin’ Place.
There, singing turtles and dancing water fountains guide the log to a dark area in which Br’er Rabbit has been caught by Br’er Fox in a cave of stalactites and stalagmites. Two vulture taunt riders as they begin their ascent up the final lift. A scene to the side shows Br’er Fox menacing Br’er Rabbit, with Br’er Rabbit pleading not to be thrown into the briar patch.
At the top of this third lift hill, the log descends the 52-foot (16 m) drop at a 45 degree angle, reaching a maximum speed of 40 mph. After another outdoor flume segment, the log returns to the mountain, where critters at “Doo Dah Landing” are singing Zip-a-dee Doo-Dah in celebration of Br’er Rabbit’s return, while Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear try to fend off an alligator. At the end, Br’er Rabbit
sings with Mr. Blue Bird, telling guests that he learned his lesson.
After unloading the log, riders may purchase a picture of their log falling at the final drop.

Despite Disney’s great attention to detail and audience management, the monitoring represented by both security cameras and the strobe cameras have not proven wholly successful at eliminating one of the most salacious phenomena of the “Splash Mountain” experience. Hoping to make illicit use of the in-ride photographs that Disney later sells to ride patrons, some riders briefly expose themselves (e.g., a woman baring her breasts) during a particular descent. Collected on a website called “Flash Mountain” in the mid-to-late 1990s, the shots continue to circulate online. The “Flash Mountain” controversy at both Disney parks was used as a segment & was seen on TMZ on May 5, 2009.

Visit: http://www.motionpictureart.com

Duration : 0:14:57

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