I was born in 1986 and Splash Mountain opened in 1989. I rode it early on in about 1992 and it’s always been one of my favorite attractions. I got to experience it for 31 years out of its nearly 34 year span before it closed forever last year and it does hit hard.
For generations older than mine, what attraction hit you hard by its closure like how Splash Mountain hit me?
Attractions that come to mind are
OG Submarine Voyage: 39 Years
Skyway: 38 Years
Country Bear Jamboree: 29 Years
PeopleMover: 28 Years
Mine Train: 20 Years
Circle-Vision: 41 Years
Adventure thru Inner Space: 18 Years
Losing Mine Train was huge, but it was offset by the excitement of getting Big Thunder, so the one that hit me hardest was the demolition of the Country Bears. Because one of the PLANET’S most astonishing entertainment creations was demolished and replaced by a modest little C-ticket dark ride.
I really don’t think younger generations can quite appreciate just how hugely surreal, otherworldly and beyond-magical Disneyland-especially to kids and geeky teens—seemed compared to everything else in the world back in the 70’s.
Picture it: In the real world, pre-Star Wars, entertainment was dominated by cheesy disaster movies and three TV Networks. Watergate and The Vietnam War had left a big cloud of cynicism everywhere. We had no home computers, no cellphones, no home video, no internet, no cable and it was likely that your Driver Ed. Class was taught by your scary drill Sgt. P. E. Coach. Silly putty was still a common purchase.
Then there was Disneyland, which, amongst its others wonders, featured not one, not two, but FOUR audioanimatronic stage productions. This was not a normal or everyday thing. There were no Chuck E. Cheeses. There was no Sally Corp. producing animatronics for other parks. This was in-house tech magic that put Disneyland on the world map in a whole new way. Those shows, all by themselves, were worth far more than Disneyland’s admission price (which, in 1976 was about 6 bucks). And the show I loved most was The Country Bear Jamboree/Vacation Hoedown.
And then that magical show was destroyed and replaced by a (in my opinion) much, much, MUCH less impressive, less amazing, less entertaining… thing. Like if you actually owned a real Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and you traded it for a golf cart with a flat tire.
And now DL just has Lincoln and the Tiki Room. And they’ll probably never build another AA show. And that makes me sad. Disneyland is becoming more and more like the real world (make sure your cell phones are charged before heading to the park, everyone! Check the app!) It used to be like stepping onto another PLANET.
