Splash Mountain log ride @ Disneyland Anaheim

At the time it was built, Splash Mountain was one of the most expensive projects created by Walt Disney Imagineering ($75 million). The Splash Mountain project was not originally approved, due to the cost. The Imagineers on the team mounted an internal publicity campaign, taking turns carrying large (4' x 6') artistic drawings of the project around the Imagineering offices and pitching the project (and its technical details) to anyone who would listen. This grass roots campaign succeeded in educating all of Imagineering, and most of the Disney executives, on the project. According to an Imagineer familiar with the project, the original design for the logs included a scooped front nose intended to move the water in front of the log, and to assist in slowing the log down during the final drop. During final testing of the ride, Disney president and CEO Michael Eisner convinced the Imagineers to let him and his son on the ride (over the Imagineers' collective objections). The scoop design had the side effect of throwing large amounts of water up in the air and onto the riders, and Eisner and his son came off the ride soaked. Michael commented to the Imagineers "Great ride, but you have to do something about the water". The log design was changed shortly afterwards. The audio-animatronic characters were adapted from the America Sings attraction in Disneyland Park's Tomorrowland that had run from 1974 through 1988, having replaced the Carousel of Progress after that show was moved to the Magic Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort in 1973. When America Sings closed in April 1988, according to Alice Davis, wife of the late Marc Davis, production of Disneyland's Splash Mountain had gone way over budget and the only way to recover was to close down America Sings and use the characters from that attraction.[1] The characters from America Sings were used in most parts of Splash Mountain, but some audio-animatronic figures in the earlier ride segments were specifically designed for the Splash Mountain ride story. When the ride was first put together, nearly all the animatronics were wired and put in place. Dave Feiten was then brought in to animate and fix story and staging problems. Feiten then moved nearly all of the animatronics to new locations and then took out 10 animatronic figures and removed them from the ride completely to improve the show. Originally the show scene "Sticky Situation," which portrays Br'er Rabbit stuck in honey, was planned to be the infamous Tar Baby scene from Song of the South. The scene was changed to avoid the same notorious racial controversies that have plagued the film.[citation needed] Like a number of Disney attractions, much of Splash Mountain takes place outside of park boundaries. Guests are kept oblivious to the transition between the visible Chickapin Hill and the warehouse-like show building that houses most of the experience, and clever landscaping within the park prevents guests from glimpsing the behind-the-scenes structures. In the Walt Disney World version, there is a "Hidden Mickey" during the show boat scene toward the end of the ride. Mickey can be seen lying on his back in the clouds. Also, there is a Hidden Mickey in the room with jumping water, the hole in which Chickapin Hill flows is a side profile of Mickey's head and there is a bird house with an icon cut out of it in the garden scene. Furthermore, there is one near Br'er Frog when he is fishing on the alligator, visible as you pass him, and one composed of three barrels half-way up the second crankhill. There is also a hidden Dumbo in the first part of the cave.

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YouTube | March 24, 2008

Tags:. .technical. .clouds. .roots. .objections. .hidden