Splash Mountain's Current Condition?

[Dream.Finder]

I have been to Disneyland a few times in the past few years and noticed Splash Mountain was in rough shape. I noticed that MANY animatronics weren't functioning. One I remember fondly were the bunny on the mine pumper cart above the flume track and the Mr. Gator AA. The bunny is just still and doesn't pump his cart across the tracks like he used to (I think this animatronic was also from America Sings, cause I think it preformed the same back n' forth function in the "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" sequence) and Mr. Gator just didn't work at all. His eyes were open but his head was hung and slumped over... and even worse, they didn't turn his audio off so he was all "dead" and still had his words vocalizing.

Now that I think of it... the "newer and original" Song of the South characters could look a bit better as well. Especially the Brer Rabbit ones. For some reason Brer Rabbit looks odd in this version of Splash Mountain. I mean, look at the one at WDW and look at the original. The WDW one looks 100% better than that one. Especially in the scene where Brer Rabbit has his little traveling pack over his shoulder. The pupils in his eyes are like little slotted and "clicky" things, that always bugged me. Why didn't they just install full-blown eyeballs?

Ugh. Splash Mountain... has... so many broken (and weirdly designed) animatronics. WDW's version at least has better AA's IMO. Though, the original American Sings AA's are cool and I have no problem with them, the Song of the South characters really need some love/replacement. Not a big fan of DL's ride vehicles either. I like WDW's two-seater design better as well.

 

[DarthMole]

What are all these characters and animatronics you speak of? I don't remember any of these. Then again, my anxiety is in super overdrive for the whole ride until to big drop so who knows what happens before that.

 

[sonnyjane]

I will agree that some of the characters are a little worse for wear. It's a Catch 22. People complain about a ride needing work but also complain when a ride is down for refurb.

 

[Disneylovers2000]

I will agree that some of the characters are a little worse for wear. It's a Catch 22. People complain about a ride needing work but also complain when a ride is down for refurb.

Isn't that the truth!!!

 

[Dream.Finder]

What are all these characters and animatronics you speak of? I don't remember any of these. Then again, my anxiety is in super overdrive for the whole ride until to big drop so who knows what happens before that.

Here's a photo of the Hitchhiking Mr. Gator... I couldn't find a photo of the rabbit on the mine pumper cart, sorry.

 

[DarthMole]

Oh, that gator. Last time I think he was telling me to hold on for dear life or something like that.

 

[Girimama33]

I saw the rabbit on the mine cart (working) in late April.

 

[pennyring]

I saw the rabbit on the mine cart (working) in late April.

Yep. I saw that too. It was totally fine. We rode a few times on our April trip and I didn't notice anything on Splash needed repair. It all looked good then.

It'll go down for refurb in a few months and I'm sure it'll be all sparkly and shiny after that, if they don't do some small fixes in the mean time.

 

[Ingrid0382]

I rode on Monday and noticed the rabbit isn't moving, he's just hanging out in the middle of the "track". One of the vultures stopped working as well (when you go up the incline for the big drop. Darthmole probably wouldn't catch that one )

There were a couple other creatures down but it's such an improvement over the way things were when I first rode last year. If I remember correctly, there was a mini refurb last year that fixed a lot of the issues.

I would rather have the ride up an running than have everything working perfectly, which would mean frequent all-day (at least) shut downs due to all the safety measures that need to be taken to be in accordance with OSHA before employees can even get in there to work.

 

[Priory]

When we were there in May all but 4 of the animatronics were down on the showboat. It was that way for at least 3 days. It was actually pretty creepy.

 

[DLRfan31]

It would be hard for me to say what's working and what's not....you fly through there so fast you barely get a glimpse of anything!

 

[Mommy26]

LOL I was just thinking to myself I feel so dumb because I've been on this ride a billion times and don't remember the gator/ didn't realize the rabbit was *supposed* to move.

I feel this way when I read some of the secrets of disneyland too. (There was a what where on this ride?)

But the showboat animatronics not working would have creeped me out.

I wonder if their financials and OSHA etc. is affecting this ride?

 

[ginnyfish]

It'll go down for refurb in a few months and I'm sure it'll be all sparkly and shiny after that, if they don't do some small fixes in the mean time.

Is there any rumours about a refurb soon? I'm going at the start of November, I hope it's not down, I would love to ride the first Splash. I have been on the one in WDW and Tokyo and was hopping to complete the trilogy of my favourite ride!

 

[undertheseas]

When we were there in May all but 4 of the animatronics were down on the showboat. It was that way for at least 3 days. It was actually pretty creepy.

We were there 9 days ago (hard to believe!) and there were several on the showboat that were not working.

 

[Dream.Finder]

Oh, that gator. Last time I think he was telling me to hold on for dear life or something like that.

Maybe that's how your fear of the drop interpreted what he was saying... But in all seriousness, he was actually "singing" his own verse of the song, "How Do You Do?". He mentions that if you slow down enough and let him hop on board, he'll promise to try and not over-eat (you). He also sings that he'll find a way to get where he's going sooner or later, so you might as well take him along.

We were there 9 days ago (hard to believe!) and there were several on the showboat that were not working.

I find this REALLY odd! I've never witnessed prominently featured characters like the ones on the showboat, not operating. I imagine that would be fairly disturbing. Usually, in my experiences, the animatronics that aren't working are minor characters or ones that add "little touches and details" to the attraction, such as the rabbit on the pumper cart above the flume waterway. I can honestly say that we are going to go on Splash Mountain during our August trip and make an "I spy" game out of how many AA's we can find that are broken/neglected.

 

[SpaceTraveler]

We just returned from four days at Disneyland. Splash Mountain still is my DW and DS's favorite ride, but we definitely all noticed the many broken animatronics. You'll see a few here and there throughout the ride, but you REALLY notice it on the showboat scene after the big drop. There are creatures just frozen in some sort of weird, Zack Morris-type "time-out" moment. Again, it would take more than the number of broken animatronics we saw to ruin the ride for us, but not sure how much more. Hope they fix them all soon!

As for the rest of trip... good times! It's amazing how, as a frequent visitor (once or twice a year from Seattle), Disneyland consistently defies preconceived expectations and always shows something new and magical. We flew back home late last night and already can't wait to return!

 

[krusty007]

Not to hijack the thread, but while I didn't ride Splah on my recent trip, I noticed some broken Small World animatronics. Most noticeable was a broken can can dancer.

 

[undertheseas]

I emailed Disney about our trip (to praise a few great CMs, etc) and I mentioned that were were disappointed in the obvious maintenance issues here. They said they would report it to facilities but my complaint surely isn't the first. Maybe it will require a longer rehab to fix it?