Splash Mountain in Disneyland covers half-a-mile in nine minutes, ending with a 40 mile an hour plunge down a 45 degree 52 foot drop into the range of 12 water cannons.

Disney legend has it that Splash Mountain was conceived by Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Producer Tony Baxter as he made his way to work through slow Los Angeles traffic. At the time, they were tearing down the America Sings attraction to make way for Star Tours and Baxter thought: "What a terrible waste of all those audio-animatronic characters. Isn’t there something we can do with them?" After a few more sessions in traffic and brainstorming with fellow Imagineers, he came up with the concept of Splash Mountain, a thrill ride based on the 1946 classic Disney feature Song of the South. All of the old animatronics could be used as well as a few new ones for Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox.

It wasn’t until 1986 that the project was given the final go-ahead; it had to wait until the flight simulators for Star Tours and the 3-D film Captain EO had been installed.

New concepts were being tried for the latest attraction. Instead of using wood, everything was to be sculpted out of cement. This would increase the life span of the attraction that would be under water for most of the time. It also made construction faster as every tree, sign and home was made from cement. Most importantly it enabled the designers to give the whole attraction a more cartoon-like look.

The Ride

It begins with the guests clambering into a log for a slow meandering cruise around Chickapin Hill, past the den of Rufus the Bear and down a drop to enter the fantasy world of singing characters. Drifting through swamps and bayous of the Ol’ South, the logs slowly make their way upwards, all the time entertaining guests with 103 audio-animatronic critters until they reach the summit and abruptly plunge five stories into the briar patch and a wall of mist and water. The slow drifting then continues as the log enters the finale consisting of dozens of characters singing the Academy Award winning song Zip-a-dee-doo-dah. Guests then disembark, usually considerably wetter than when they climbed on; after all it is called Splash Mountain.

For Trivia Buffs

A couple of points of interest for trivia buffs: the voice of Brer Bear in the attraction is the same actor, Nick Stewart, who did the voice in the original 1946 film. As well as using characters from America Sings, the segment of flourescent lighting and paint pots in Brer Rabbit’s "Laughin’ Place" was re-created from the long defunct Mine Train Through Nature’s Wilderness attraction.

For more postcards and behind the scenes information on Disneyland see Casey Jr. Circus Train and Sleeping Beauty Castle on postcards.

Sources:

• Various issues of Disney News, Birnbaum Guides and Disneyland Guidebooks

Splash Mountain Postcards

1. "Splash Mountain is the centerpiece of Critter Country and gives brave guests a chance to follow in the perilous footsteps of Brer Rabbit." © Disney
2. Critters from the defunct America Sings Attraction now inhabit Splash Mountain. © Disney
3. "Over one hundred very lively critters cheer for daring guests dashing past on Splash Mountain…" 0100-11751 © Disney
4. "Heading straight for the ole’ briar patch…" 0100-11750 © Disney
5. "Splash Mountain" 00100 40010 © Disney