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Frontierland
Shops and eateries are along the avenue bordering the southern curve of a body of water that looks like a lake but because it variously represents the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries is called Rivers of America. Emporia here are generally referred to as "posts," as in the Frontier Trading Post and Prairie Outpost, which sell sheriff badges, leather work, cowboy hats, and southwestern, Native American, and Mexican crafts. Then there's Big Al's, for genuine Davy Crockett coonskin hats. Yee-haw!
Splash Mountain
At Rope Drop, the hordes hoof it to
this incredibly popular log-flume ride. Based on the animated sequences in
Disney's 1946 film Song of the South, it features Audio-Animatronics
creations of Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear, Br'er Fox, and a menagerie of other
Br'er beasts (including Br'er Frog and a Heckle-and-Jeckle duo of Br'er
Crows) frolicking in bright, cartoonlike settings. No matter what time you
get there, you will, repeat will, wait in line. So the Disney folks have
made the waiting area here as entertaining and comfortable as possible,
with lots of large shade trees, little critters in tiny houses, and toe-tappin'
country music wafting from speakers hidden in rocks. When you finally do
settle into the eight-person hollowed-out logs, Uncle Remus's voice
growls, "Mark mah words, Br'er Rabbit gonna put his foot in Br'er Fox's
mouth one of these days." And this just might be the day. Knowing how much we all like to watch people getting the pants scared off them, Disney constructed the flume so that spectators can see the plunge into the briar patch (and sometimes get a little splashed themselves) from a nearby footbridge. In an especially creative touch, it looks as if the log boats disappear into the pond below the briar patch with a giant splash--leaving only bubbles in their wake. Duration: 11 min. Crowds: Yes! Strategy: If you're not in line by 9:45, your only hope is during meals or a parade. Parents who need to "baby swap" can take the young ones to a play area located in a cave under the ride. Audience: All except very young children; they would like the music and scenery but may be terrified by the final drop. No pregnant women or guests wearing back, neck, or leg braces; minimum height: 40". Rating: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad As any true roller-coaster lover can tell you, this three-minute ride is relatively tame; despite the posted warnings, you won't stagger off, you won't throw up, and you won't vow never to subject yourself to the experience again. The thrills are there, however, thanks to the intricate details and stunning scenery along every inch of the 2,780-ft track. Set in Gold Rush days, the runaway train rushes and rattles past 20 Audio-Animatronics figures--including donkeys, chickens, a goat, and a grizzled old miner surprised in his bathtub--$300,000 of genuine antique mining equipment, tumbleweeds, a derelict mining town, hot springs, and a flash flood. The ride was 15 years in the planning and took two years and close to $17 million to build. This price tag, give or take a few million, equaled the entire cost of erecting California's Disneyland in 1955. The 197-ft mountain is based on the monoliths of Utah's Monument Valley, and thanks to 650 tons of steel, 4,675 tons of cement, and 16,000 gallons of paint, it closely resembles the real thing. Duration: 4 min. Crowds: Large. Strategy: Thunder Mountaineers swear that the ride is even better at night, when you can't anticipate the curves and the track's rattling sounds as if something's about to give. But then you'd miss the scenic details. The solution--go twice. Audience: All except young children, though it's a good starter coaster for kids who have mastered Toontown's Barnstormer. No pregnant women or guests wearing back, neck, or leg braces; minimum height: 40". Rating: *** Set in Gold Rush days, the runaway train rushes and rattles past 20 Audio-Animatronics figures--including donkeys, chickens, a goat, and a grizzled old miner surprised in his bathtub--$300,000 of genuine antique mining equipment, tumbleweeds, a derelict mining town, hot springs, and a flash flood. The ride was 15 years in the planning and took two years and close to $17 million to build. This price tag, give or take a few million, equaled the entire cost of erecting California's Disneyland in 1955. The 197-ft mountain is based on the monoliths of Utah's Monument Valley, and thanks to 650 tons of steel, 4,675 tons of cement, and 16,000 gallons of paint, it closely resembles the real thing. Duration: 4 min. Crowds: Large. Strategy: Thunder Mountaineers swear that the ride is even better at night, when you can't anticipate the curves and the track's rattling sounds as if something's about to give. But then you'd miss the scenic details. The solution--go twice. Audience: All except young children, though it's a good starter coaster for kids who have mastered Toontown's Barnstormer. No pregnant women or guests wearing back, neck, or leg braces; minimum height: 40". Rating: *** |
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