Grizzly River Run

[ozvisiter]

Does anyone wear waterproof ponchos on this ride? Or would we look like complete fools if we did?????

Not sure I want to listen to wet, winging kids for hours after the ride....

 

[rszdtrvl]

You will see people wearing them. I would say maybe 5% of people... As an estimate.

We don't wear them. The water is part of the fun!!

 

[Cinerbelle]

We wore them last Feb....but it was a rainy day, so we didn't look too strange.

 

[ParkHoppa]

Ive seen people wearing ponchos on the ride.

I dont find them to look stupid.


But only select people on the boat get wet, depending on where you sit (a.k.a. seat next to enterance hole)


But thats just from my experiance

 

[bumbershoot]

Anyone can get soaked at any time.

Even wearing a poncho might not save you.

If you let the poncho move off of your leg, your leg might get soaked.

If you don't wear the hood b/c you feel like a goober with it on, you might get soaked even down into your shirt, because the water might splash DOWN on you.

Even if you have your hood on, if you're sitting just right, or rather wrong, the water coming down might go down your ponch front and into your v-neck shirt. Brr.

You might not have a poncho on and NOT get even a drop on you!

You might not have a poncho and not get a drop for the first four times you go on it, then the 5th time, drench-o-rama.


It's a super-fun ride we love it. I went with DH and DS 4 times in a row on the first day, wearing a poncho while they did not, and got semi-wet. They were relatively soggy. Then they went again. BWA HA HA HA got drenched. Luckily I was prepared and it was our last ride before a break anyway. (we went on 5 times in a row the second day too, and we were all drenched b/c DS got cold and wanted my poncho, which I kindly gave)


During the winter months, from our experience, it SEEMS that they don't have the geysers on. But when the geysers are on, ALL bets are off, nothing is for sure, because those geysers CAN get you. It's especially fun when you can hear the geyser come on, you hear and feel it pummeling the bottom of your raft, you THINK you're safe, you get off the geyser and there's just enough water to go UP in the air and whoosh splash down on you....


Oh I love Grizzly. And I love that you're put with other people if your group and their group isn't big enough to fill the boat. It's just too much fun to experience it with people other than your own group!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

It's not uncommon at all! If you want to wear them, do so!

I agree with a previous poster, however, that getting wet is part of the fun. (In normal life I HATE getting wet, go figure...)

DH and I do chuckle at people who are totally encased in plastic for the ride, but our trip in December I wish we'd had something. It was just too chilly to walk around sopping wet, so we passed up the ride. And it was totally walk-on, no line at all!

 

[bumbershoot]

DH and I do chuckle at people who are totally encased in plastic for the ride, ...

And I chuckle at you, getting off the ride so drenched.

Actually everyone chuckles on the ride b/c it's so ding-dang fun, ponchos or not!

 

[disney-super-mom]

We've never gone on the ride without ponchos!

DH and I only wear them so our oldest won't feel dumb wearing his (he hates getting wet in his clothes, so he won't ride any water ride without a poncho, but he doesn't want to be the only one wearing one).

Our youngest wears one because, well, the rest of us are wearing one.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I have no doubt! "Those fools shoulda got a poncho!"

In fact, we laugh at each other, too:

"Wow, you are totally soaked to the bone!"
"Your hair is plastered to one side of your face!"

One trip we kept passing by GRR looking to use it as a backdrop in a photopass photo, but the photographer was never there. After one unusually soaked run on the ride, the photographer finally showed up.

We looked like drowned rats so I hesitated, but DH said, "Come on. It's now or never!" So we finally got our GRR photo with my hair dry on one side and dripping wet on the other, and DH and one boy's shirts heavy with water pooling underneath them. And we have HUGE grins on our faces! That is a priceless Disneyland memento!

 

[bumbershoot]

I love it! I love the belly laughs when someone gets soaked...and then it's even funnier when the laugher "gets it" on the next turn!


Although the geysers were off for our visit, the sprayer things were on as you go up the hill. And Each Time I forgot about them, and kept getting sprayed while I was being chatty cathy, which meant I kept getting it in my mouth. Ewwwwww. Hubby kept laughing at me b/c I forgot about them Every Time! He knew the sprayers so well he was telling people "you're going to get sprayed" and he was always right, but when it was MY turn to get sprayed he couldn't get a word in edgewise (see "chatty cathy" mention) so couldn't warn me!



I said that in the future, I'm going to bring a bunch of the dollar store ponchos (even though we use the spendy Disney ones) to hand out to people who see me in my poncho, then see hubby and son so wet without them, who suddenly wish they had one.

 

[DisneyNic]

Anyone can get soaked at any time.

Even wearing a poncho might not save you.

If you let the poncho move off of your leg, your leg might get soaked.

If you don't wear the hood b/c you feel like a goober with it on, you might get soaked even down into your shirt, because the water might splash DOWN on you.

Even if you have your hood on, if you're sitting just right, or rather wrong, the water coming down might go down your ponch front and into your v-neck shirt. Brr.

You might not have a poncho on and NOT get even a drop on you!

You might not have a poncho and not get a drop for the first four times you go on it, then the 5th time, drench-o-rama.


It's a super-fun ride we love it. I went with DH and DS 4 times in a row on the first day, wearing a poncho while they did not, and got semi-wet. They were relatively soggy. Then they went again. BWA HA HA HA got drenched. Luckily I was prepared and it was our last ride before a break anyway. (we went on 5 times in a row the second day too, and we were all drenched b/c DS got cold and wanted my poncho, which I kindly gave)


During the winter months, from our experience, it SEEMS that they don't have the geysers on. But when the geysers are on, ALL bets are off, nothing is for sure, because those geysers CAN get you. It's especially fun when you can hear the geyser come on, you hear and feel it pummeling the bottom of your raft, you THINK you're safe, you get off the geyser and there's just enough water to go UP in the air and whoosh splash down on you....


Oh I love Grizzly. And I love that you're put with other people if your group and their group isn't big enough to fill the boat. It's just too much fun to experience it with people other than your own group!

Thank you so much for this post. I had forgotten how much fun GRR truly is but your post reminded me so clearly how much fun we had on our last trip. And now this time, I will (hopefully) be able to take DD and DS with me so I will have new faces to watch. I am not a person who like getting wet normally, but for this ride, I will get soaked to the bone!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thank you so much for this post. I had forgotten how much fun GRR truly is but your post reminded me so clearly how much fun we had on our last trip. And now this time, I will (hopefully) be able to take DD and DS with me so I will have new faces to watch. I am not a person who like getting wet normally, but for this ride, I will get soaked to the bone!!

You are welcome!

Oh I hope both of your kids are tall enough! Eamon did the "I'm big enough for Grizzly" dance for about 3 minutes, as I put everything into the free locker (well, to be honest, lockerS) before our rides. It's amazing the good, growing, foods he'll eat, with a ride at DLR in mind!

 

[Dizneydaz]

We wear our ponchos most of the time. Except when it's really hot. Then it's no poncho, just a hat to keep the hair from getting drenched.

Before I found out about the free lockers, I used to keep my purse, etc. under the poncho (and in a ziploc). Now I just use the poncho for me.

Here's my best tip if you are wearing a poncho on how to keep as dry as possible:
#1 Wear Crocs or other shoes that can get wet. If you wear sneakers, remove your socks before you ride. At least they'll be dry if your shoes get soaked.
#2 Wear your poncho, inc. the hood and it's even better if you also wear a hat. Under the poncho works for me.
#3 If you are ones of those who are getting soaked DO NOT lean forward to avoid the water as it cascades over your back and head! You can't get away from it and if lean forward all that water runs down your back and into your shorts/pants. You'll have a wet butt and panties for hours after!
#4 If you are wearing long pants or capris roll them up to minimize their getting wet. Let your legs get wet. Then when the ride is over, roll down your pant legs and they'll be, at least, partially dry.

I too like to get wet, I just don't like getting drenched!

Have fun and once you're wet don't forget about the Single Rider line. It's a real blessing on those real hot days when the line is over 1 hour. Also the FP for GRR is a stand alone.

 

[FourM's]

PONCHOS! We have two DDs who whine when wet, so we poncho up before GRR. We have gotten the strange looks and stares but they don't think we are strange as we exit the ride dry and they are soaked to their undies. I second the $ store poncho idea. We can throw them away after or hand them to someone in line. Have fun!

 

[ozvisiter]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think we will wear ponchos and be proud to look a little silly!!!!

 

[Disney Dreams]

See now, here's the thing I have never understood about people and "water rides." I don't usually go on rides that get you soaked (Splash Mountain, GRR, Kali River Rapids at WDW, etc...) as I don't enjoy that type of experience. There is nothing really fun to me about getting drenched in my clothes, however...

If you DO enjoy that experience and you want to go on the ride, why a poncho?? It just confuses me. Isn't half the fun (IF you find those rides fun) getting wet?

 

[bumbershoot]

See now, here's the thing I have never understood about people and "water rides." I don't usually go on rides that get you soaked (Splash Mountain, GRR, Kali River Rapids at WDW, etc...) as I don't enjoy that type of experience. There is nothing really fun to me about getting drenched in my clothes, however...

If you DO enjoy that experience and you want to go on the ride, why a poncho?? It just confuses me. Isn't half the fun (IF you find those rides fun) getting wet?

Well I don't go on it for the wet factor, I go on it for the super-fun factor. You're on a raft, generally with strangers that you're facing. You're all part of the experience, you can't avoid them like strangers behind or in front of you on the Splash log.

Until you get used to the ride, there's quite a bit that's unexpected...full of anticipation. And since it's water, even once you're used to the general layout, there are still unexpected things that happen.

You're way up on top of the mountain, looking down at the park and the hotels. You're being turned around, sloshing around, spinning....for most of the "down" parts, you can spin while going down, and it's extremely fun! People laugh, scream, laugh some more. Even if you're wearing a poncho, you can still get wet, quite wet if you let the thing slip a bit. And water splashing down on you, even if covered, is still very fun! It's the surprise, the shock, the fun.

And if someone gets absolutely soaked and is a trooper about it (as most people on Grizzly are), you can laugh and laugh at the craziness of the whole thing.


If I want to ride something JUST to get wet, I'll go to a water park.

While I'm not much of a fan of Splash at all, people go on it NOT to get wet, but to see the theming inside, to hear the music and live the story. I don't like the story or the theming, and I don't like the drop or the splash, so I don't go on it generally. Hubby was just telling me that he misses it, and hopes to go on it soon because he wants to see the stuff inside. And that's after his last trip on it, where he got head-to-toe drenched and was dripping for HOURS and got blisters in his brand new Crocs b/c of the water in them. He doesn't want it for the wetness, but for the theming.

And that's me with Grizzly, though I have found that the rides where *someone* on the raft gets soaked to be more fun than the totally dry ones (and sometimes everyone comes off dry!), even if it's me, getting water down my cleavage b/c I slouched when I shouldn't have and a gap was made in my poncho.

 

[disney-super-mom]

See now, here's the thing I have never understood about people and "water rides." I don't usually go on rides that get you soaked (Splash Mountain, GRR, Kali River Rapids at WDW, etc...) as I don't enjoy that type of experience. There is nothing really fun to me about getting drenched in my clothes, however...

If you DO enjoy that experience and you want to go on the ride, why a poncho?? It just confuses me. Isn't half the fun (IF you find those rides fun) getting wet?

Usually when we go to DLR, it's too cold to ride the water rides without a poncho anyway. If we went without ponchos and got soaked, we'd be freezing down to our bones.

That happened once when my oldest was four years old. We rode Splash and got SOAKED, but my oldest, who was in the front, didn't have a dry spot on him. He literally looked like he jumped in a lake with his clothes on. It was evening time, and it was COLD! Well, $100 later, my son was wearing a brand new dry and warmDisney athletic outfit (pants, sweatshirt, socks, undies). Chaaa-Ching!!

Now that I think about it, that was the first water ride my DS ever rode. I wonder if that's why he hates getting wet in his clothes, and he now always insists on wearing a poncho? (He's 9.5 years old now.)

 

[DangerMouse]

I'm a proud poncho wearer. I like wet rides, but I don't like to walk around in wet jeans (ewww, chafing!)

I have had people offer to buy my Dollar Store poncho as I was getting off GRR. I would gladly give it to them if I wasn't planning on using it again!

 

[blackjackdelta]

And I chuckle at you, getting off the ride so drenched.

Actually everyone chuckles on the ride b/c it's so ding-dang fun, ponchos or not!

We also love this ride very much and since we are there in August you can dry off pretty fast. It is just so much fun, we really do not care.DGF got wet that she had a good excuse to buy new clothes and change.

Jack