Splash Mountain falling apart (literally?)

WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
jklakeview said:
I

I don't know. I was on it yesterday and EVERYTHING was working. Every pop up head worked fine and everything looked great. I'm not sure what everyone is complaint about. The inside looked fantastic!
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Don't take this personally because even though I'm responding to your post I'm not directing this at you individually.

So much is broken on so many attractions. So many effects have been turned off for so long. So much is missing ... and so many fans are either relatively new or so happy to just be there that I take most first person 'status updates' with enough salt to make Michael Mina's prime rib.
 
jklakeview

jklakeview

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
Don't take this personally because even though I'm responding to your post I'm not directing this at you individually.

So much is broken on so many attractions. So many effects have been turned off for so long. So much is missing ... and so many fans are either relatively new or so happy to just be there that I take most first person 'status updates' with enough salt to make Michael Mina's prime rib.
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I went once when i was 9 in 1989. I only started going again in 2004 but since then have gone about 12 times. I definitely don't know everything about what's broken but I do know that haunted mansion looked great. All of the heads were popping up and functioning properly. Splash mountain on the other hand is in tough shape. I have only ever seen the water effects in the laughing room working once.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
copcarguyp71 said:
This pretty accurately describes my feelings as well. Although I still enjoy going I find less enjoyment each time which is why we decided against DVC for our family. If they make no promises of upkeep or meeting standards and do not show me by example that they do care then I have no reason to believe they are worth a 40 year investment. Sadly our planned trip in 2014 may be our last for quite some time as DD will be starting middle school and I am beginning to wonder if it is worth all of the trouble we go through to afford, plan and book a WDW vacation with so many other options out there...these feelings make me sad.
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The place is still very special to me and now my kids. Although these issues exist I still love it so I have no intention of stopping going. Ultimately, if a lot of true fans took your approach and stopped going it may make some kind of impact, but who really knows. I know that just makes me one of the people who complains about the problems and then still gives Disney my money anyway. Guilty as charged. My kids will never be 6 and 3 again like they will be on my next trip so it would be hard for me to say I'll wait 5 years until the quality comes back. I don't really sweat a lot of the little stuff that is wrong like some people, but this issue with Splash is way beyond fanboi obsession over napkins or fake falling rocks, these are actual "fake rocks" falling on people.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
ParentsOf4 said:
Splash Mountain has been declining for years. I suspect if you counted all the posts complaining about the condition of Splash Mountain, there would be a lot more than about Starbucks on Main Street USA. In addition, the decline of Splash Mountain has been gradual. It's not as a dramatic headline grabber as announcing "Starbucks on Main Street USA". (Yes, I know that's not what was announced.)

WDW could "fix" the Stabucks problem by issuing a new announcement and (maybe) reducing the size of some signs. It's going to take millions to fix Splash Mountain and no amount of complaining on threads such as these is going to get Burbank to spend that kind of money.
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That makes a lot of sense. People have been desensitized to the Splash issues.
 
Otamin

Otamin

Well-Known Member
Does anyone have an article displaying the difference between the park around 2004 and now?

I've never been so I have no idea what kind of state it got into.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
pumpkin7 said:
I just don't see why they would let such a big, popular ride go into such disrepair? I know money, obviously, but they used to be on top of broken things as though they were fixed yesterday, but now they're just happy to let things get to the point where they have to pull the plug.
This time of year would be the perfect time to take Splash offline for a few months, fix (some?) of what's broken and put it back online before the summer period.
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You know how Disney has "guests" and not customers? Well, that is now just lip service, not an actual belief. It makes for good marketing, but is considered a naive and passe view within the ranks of those who are in charge of Walt Disney World. Even if the costs were of no concern, there would be little change. There is no respect for the medium of themed entertainment or its customers.
 
K

kittybubbles

Active Member
jklakeview said:
I

I don't know. I was on it yesterday and EVERYTHING was working. Every pop up head worked fine and everything looked great. I'm not sure what everyone is complaint about. The inside looked fantastic!
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We were in MK on 11/10. When we rode the HM, the pop-ups were moving very slow. I had thought that maybe they slowed them down as to night frighten anyone, Pirates was down when we headed over there...so someone mentioned the carpets being down and that HM, POTC, and the carpets use the same air pressure, so maybe the slow pop ups were caused by that issues.

I do not know if HM always had scrims in the graveyard, but I know I never noticed them when I usevtongo from '71 to '86...but since going back for the past 6 years, i have noticed them and they are now very obvious...same w the plexiglass at the ballroom.
 
unkadug

unkadug

Follower of "Saget"The Cult
kittybubbles said:
We were in MK on 11/10. When we rode the HM, the pop-ups were moving very slow. I had thought that maybe they slowed them down as to night frighten anyone, Pirates was down when we headed over there...so someone mentioned the carpets being down and that HM, POTC, and the carpets use the same air pressure, so maybe the slow pop ups were caused by that issues.

I do not know if HM always had scrims in the graveyard, but I know I never noticed them when I usevtongo from '71 to '86...but since going back for the past 6 years, i have noticed them and they are now very obvious...same w the plexiglass at the ballroom.
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First...what is a usevtongo? :D

The scrims have always been in the graveyard....their purpose is to give a misty effect to the area. they have just gotten dirty over the years and are now more obvious.


The plexiglass didn't used to be there, but was installed to prevent damage to the glass plate that allows for the ghosts to appear.
 
bubbles1812

bubbles1812

Well-Known Member
joanna71985 said:
Thank goodness Splash has a refurb coming up soon!
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What martin said :( Instead of fixing the problems that are the worst, they repair the bare minimum they can to ensure it semi works for a few more years (ie just to the level where the amount of breakdowns it will have is tolerable to most guests). I fear it's going to take an accident before Disney is truly willing to fix all the problems the ride has. Imagine if bigger pieces of the mountain had fallen? Or if some of the leaks it has get a lot bigger? :(

Sad thread and even sadder still the thread that actually gets a response from Disney is the freakin' Starbucks thread...
 
Rob562

Rob562

Well-Known Member
I rode Splash yesterday for the first time in at least 3 1/2 years. I was riding with a first-time rider. While he enjoyed it, it was very disheartening to see the poor state that the mountain is in.

-Only half of the drop splash cannons were working, though that might just be because the temps have been fluctuating up and down so much lately, since it was the one that splashed over on the logs before Lift 2 that wasn't working.

-Multiple figures missing, including one of the first geese, the sweeping girl rabbit, fishing frog and I believe at least one figure from the Riverboat.

-Frog projection in the queue is digital, but it's so obviously a projection because the colors and brightness doesn't match the surrounding lights.

-Frogs in the first scene didn't move their mouths, and only one swiveled.

-First Bear and Fox were entirely motionless.

-Chase projection didn't play, though the girl rabbit was missing, so it might have been turned off.

-Fox at Bear in trap didn't speak.

-Hopping Rabbit didn't appear.

-No fish in the water, but since the fishing frog wasn't there, might've been turned off.

-Dialog before the drop into the Bee Cave didn't play.

-Most bees were either not spinning or not blacklit.

-No water effects at all in Laughing Place, leaving the turtle on his back with a clearly-visible support post under him.

-Raining on the final lifthill. (Is this just going to let loose someday and flood out the Laughing Place for good?)

-Something about the Bear/Fox/Gator trio wasn't working but I don't recall which.

And that's not to even mention the tarps in the loading area. Very sad indeed. As much as I hope they address everything in the upcoming refurb, I'm thinking they'll focus on the structural and infrastructure issues, and show elements will get pushed off.

-Rob
 
Fantasmic

Fantasmic

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
It's a better use of your money IMO. You'll see more new stuff there too as a result.
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Y'know, part of me knows this, it's just the factor of trying to get a brand "new" holiday booked and sorted, WDW is so easy as I know it so well I suppose! I also know I'd be a wibbling sobbing mess as soon as I walked onto DL's Main Street, I've always wanted to go!
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Fantasmic said:
Y'know, part of me knows this, it's just the factor of trying to get a brand "new" holiday booked and sorted, WDW is so easy as I know it so well I suppose!
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I agree it's really simple to book a WDW trip, especially if you want to stay on site and if you follow all the deal related updates here, but there's lots of places to get DLR info online. Even allearsnet has a DL section now with much of the same type of info.

If you're really interested in going, I'd recommend looking into one of the "Good Neighbour Hotels" as they're alot less expensive than the on-site DLR ones, but they still have a "Disney Desk" for resort specific info and booking/ticket options when you're there which helps to make it easier if you're a first timer.
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Wow, thanks for the comprehensive list Rob562. My most recent visit to WDW was in February. There was tons wrong with Splash at that time, but from your list things have gotten much much worse since then.

Big Thunder closed for about 5 months and STILL reopened with numerous show elements missing or broken. I think it's far too optimistic to assume Splash's upcoming (far shorter) refurb will end up helping much in terms of show issues. I'm happy to be wrong here as always, this is probably my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom. But unless the refurb budget is massive (which I doubt very highly), and they work faster than they've ever worked before (which I also doubt), I cannot see this refurb turning out well. I will not be the slightest bit surprised if Splash reopens with most if not all of the show issues untouched. Disappointed but not surprised.

I'm definitely going to visit Disneyland someday. But as I live in Florida and not all that far from WDW, it's going to take a lot longer to save up for such a trip.
 

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