Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
morning] according to your plan, I personally would have been miserable for
the rest of the day. Parents, beware! It says you will get wet, not drowned.
It is almost a certainty that you will get wet, though probably not drenched, riding
Splash Mountain. During the summer months, the water jets are cranked up to 11, practic-
ally guaranteeing that you'll get soaked. If you visit on a cool day, you may want to carry
a plastic garbage bag. By tearing holes in the bottom and sides, you can fashion a sort of
raincoat. Be sure to tuck the bag under your bottom. Though you can get splashed regard-
less of where you sit, riders in the front seat generally get the worst of it. If you have a
camera, either leave it with a nonriding member of your party or wrap it in a plastic bag.
One final word: This is not just a fancy flume ride—it is a full-blown Disney adven-
ture. The scariest part by far is the big drop into the pool (visible from the sidewalk in
front of Splash Mountain), and even this plunge looks worse than it really is. Despite re-
assurances, however, many children wig out after watching it from the sidewalk. A Grand
Rapids, Michigan, mother recalls her kids' rather unique reaction:
We discovered after the fact that our children thought they would go underwa-
ter after thefive-story dropandtried toholdtheir breath throughout theride in
preparation. They were really too preoccupied to enjoy the clever Br'er Rabbit
story.
Flash Mountain
What it is
Water-flume adventure strip show.
Scope and scale
Eyepopper.
When to go
Spring
break; weekend nights.
Special comments
A liberating experience.
Duration of show
About
2 seconds.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS
It was reported by the Associated Press that certain fe-
male Splash Mountain riders (though we're sure that male riders, not to be outdone,
will soon follow their female compatriots in similar fashion) are behaving in a most
un-Disney-like manner by “flinging their blouses open” as they plummet down the cli-
mactic plunge at the end of the ride. (Fully visible, we might add, to dozens of guests
waiting in line in front of the attraction.)
Indeed, automatic cameras shooting souvenir photographs of participants have doc-
umented an astounding array of feminine anatomy in free fall. The practice is apparently
too spontaneous for Disneyland, which reports that it “has no plans at this time to change
the theme of the attraction.” Though, ever mindful of guest safety, management has con-
cerns about “undue congestion” in front of the ride and the “possibility of guests catching
cold.” Some years ago, Disney initiated what it called its “nipple policy,” which decreed
that photos of offending guests were vaporized immediately. Thanks to budget cuts, the
cast members who formerly spent their days screening snapshots for contraband skin have
been reassigned, leaving the images free for all to enjoy again. This development has been
roundly applauded by nearly everyone except the reassigned employees, some of whom
had collected veritable scrapbooks of the floating strippers.
