Alison1975
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the video! I also see one log had a row with 3 in it.. 2 adults and one small kiddo.. very cool
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Splash Mountain Open?
- Thread starter hillfamily4013
- Start date
Tom
Beta Return
Finally rode. Not gonna read anything above on the phone, so apologies for repeats.
I'm 100% cool with the bars. Loading time was not increased at all. Everyone seemed to understand the process automatically. They walked by while seating ppl and said" pull down the lap bars" and that was it. We dispatched quickly.
I have a big belly and still fit comfortably. In my opinion, this will not prevent anyone from being able to ride who could before. You can just pull it down till it stops.
The smaller dash board was nice.....and clean!!!!!!
Lots of signage in queue about no standing up, etc. Very in your face.
Looked like lots of pressure mats along the ride path too...more than I remember.
Ride looked awesome. Everything worked. New woden exit steps along track. Clean sets. New paint. Only thing...ahowboat scene music was wayyyyyy too loud. WAY.
I'm 100% cool with the bars. Loading time was not increased at all. Everyone seemed to understand the process automatically. They walked by while seating ppl and said" pull down the lap bars" and that was it. We dispatched quickly.
I have a big belly and still fit comfortably. In my opinion, this will not prevent anyone from being able to ride who could before. You can just pull it down till it stops.
The smaller dash board was nice.....and clean!!!!!!
Lots of signage in queue about no standing up, etc. Very in your face.
Looked like lots of pressure mats along the ride path too...more than I remember.
Ride looked awesome. Everything worked. New woden exit steps along track. Clean sets. New paint. Only thing...ahowboat scene music was wayyyyyy too loud. WAY.
Tom
Beta Return
Correct. No new scenes at all. But the ones they had look better.
xsupaxmanxsfnex
Well-Known Member
I think, from watching that video, that they look pretty nice. My mom is afraid that she will be too claustrophobic with them but I think they are like every other Disney lap bar that gives you plenty of room. Can anyone tell me if they felt claustrophobic with the lap bars?
Tom
Beta Return
I'm very claustrophobic. I was fine. In fact, I liked them better than the old setup with the giant dash board.
Here are photos I took today:
You can see how open the sitting space is with the bars up and the dashboard reduced to a simple padding:
My wife's legs under the lap bar. They look cramped, but she was leaning so I could take the pic:
Our feet in the floorboard. My foot on the left. I'm 5'9" 200lb and was sitting with my feet flat on the floor, as shown. Again, she was leaning for the photo:
Close-Up of the lap bar pulled down to her leg:
It also provided a nice place to rest my arms/elbows during the ride. They pull down to your level of comfort/size, just like on BTMR. So, the bigger person dictates how far down it comes.
And as I said before, the CMs didn't seem too concerned. It's really to keep you in the boat, and NOT for safety during drops, so doing the usual "pull up on the bar" thing was not on their agenda (at least not today).
If someone is very large, I think they will actually fit BETTER than before, because they can probably dispatch the log without the bar being down (since there are no electronic sensors - it's purely mechanical).
And guess what, we had NO stops during the ride. It was very nice. I'm a proponent of this change, across the board.
xsupaxmanxsfnex
Well-Known Member
Thank you so much for those pictures! My mom just likes to know that she can get out of the ride if she needed to in an emergency or something. Those look awesome and without those slimy pads with the handles I think it is an improvement.
Tom
Beta Return
By "get out of the ride in an emergency" I presume you mean a sanctioned emergency, right? Not a "personal" emergency? I don't think there's a ride on property that actually permits you to exit at your own discretion (hence the lap bars here).
I'm guessing you mean that she just wants to know she can easily get out of the log if the building catches on fire though. And yes, I could have gotten out of the log if I really needed to. It would have required some awkward positions, but easier than getting out of coasters (which you obviously shouldn't be able to do).
darthspielberg
Well-Known Member
Oh thank god. I am a heavy person (Trying to work on it though) and Splash Mountain is my favorite MK ride behind Haunted Mansion, so I was worried that this might effect my ability to ride.
Tom
Beta Return
Right, there should be no reason why you can't continue to ride. There was a lot of hype and knee-jerk reactions about nothing (go figure).
You pull the bar down yourself, and it has that ratchet sort of effect like BTMR and others, where you pull it to where it's comfortable and let go. It will pop back up to the next closest "locking point" and stay there. But once you pull it down so far, you pretty much have to live with that position (just like any other lap bar ride).
As near as I could tell, there was a latching point not too far from the vertical (default) position. And like I said, they're just making sure nobody tries to get out intentionally, not keep you from falling out of the log. If they see that you're too big for the lap bar to come down any, they're not going to say anything.
Thrill Seeker
Well-Known Member
The logs are new, so that is a big plus. Another thing I noticed today was that the splash at the end is bigger due to the heavier logs. You'll be getting wetter now than you did before.
Tom
Beta Return
Really??? These are brand new logs? I would have never guessed that based on how dirty they were on the inside already...and only after a day of actual guest use. Are you 100% sure?
They were able to adjust the level of splash before, as far as I know. But maybe you're right about the logs. I figured they just retrofitted them all. That's a big expense, to actually replace them.
we weren't told explicitly if they were "brand new"- but even if retrofitted, they were repainted inside and out, new floormats, etc. i can't tell a difference between logs i know for sure are brand new and ones i'm not sure. its unfortunate how dirty the logs get... the biggest cause is guests sitting on park maps to avoid getting wet
brick and then of course the maps disintegrate.as far as "adjusting the level of splash", the water cannons that hit you when you are next to the briar patch just prior to the second small lift is a show effect that can be turned off in rare circumstances- extreme cold, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Parties, etc. The splash you get on the big drop cannot be adjusted- and @ThrillSeeker is right- it is worse now. Guests are definitely getting wetter- especially if the front of the boat is heavier.
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
disneypearl
Well-Known Member
Thanks for everyones info on how the logs & bars look and feel now. I am really excited to hear the positives about the new logs/bars. Can't wait until I can experience it for myself but thankful that I the info I have now.
Tom
Beta Return
we weren't told explicitly if they were "brand new"- but even if retrofitted, they were repainted inside and out, new floormats, etc. i can't tell a difference between logs i know for sure are brand new and ones i'm not sure. its unfortunate how dirty the logs get... the biggest cause is guests sitting on park maps to avoid getting wet
as far as "adjusting the level of splash", the water cannons that hit you when you are next to the briar patch just prior to the second small lift is a show effect that can be turned off in rare circumstances- extreme cold, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Parties, etc. The splash you get on the big drop cannot be adjusted- and @ThrillSeeker is right- it is worse now. Guests are definitely getting wetter- especially if the front of the boat is heavier.
Rode twice today. I'm not sold on the new log hypothesis yet, because the floor mats and seats looked pretty bad in the logs we rode in today. If they're new, they've already been severely abused in just 3 days. Sad.
I'm thinking now that the logs are indeed heavier. I don't know which hill is which, but when you come down into the room with the jumping water (after the down-up hill), the log almost buries itself in the water at the bottom of the hill. I could have sworn we bottomed out on one of the trips.
And the splash at the bottom of the big drop is definitely bigger. Fortunately, for me at least (since I don't like to get soaked), the cannons were set on "low" so they never hit the passing log, and the waterfall at the end didn't splash onto the logs.
After 3 rides this trip, I will re-confirm that I'm a huge fan of the lap bars. And after the 2 trips today, I can solidly confirm that they have not added any measurable time to the queue or loading process. A current Splash CM might disagree, but I carefully observed the loading/unloading process while we were in the final stretches of the queue...while we were loading/unloading ourselves...and after unloading (hung out on the exit ramp a bit).
The dispatchers just said, "pull down your lap bar please" while we were loading. That's it. The only "double check" was when the dispatchers casually looked down into the log as it passed them on it's way into the ride. By then it was too late anyway. There was none of the "pull up on the lap bar for me" foolishness. Just the same 'ol "get in, sit down, and go".