If there’s one ride that’s been the talk of the town while Walt Disney World has been closed, it’s Splash Mountain.
Splash Mountain
Disney recently announced that the attraction would be getting a full re-theming inspired by “The Princess and the Frog.” Although Walt Disney Imagineers are already hard at work on the new project, Disney told fans of the attraction they would get an opportunity to ride Splash Mountain before it shutters temporarily to make way for the overhaul. Today, some guests are getting that possible LAST chance to ride Splash Mountain in its present state during Walt Disney World’s reopening of Magic Kingdom for a special Cast Member preview, and we were there to check it out!
Even though Disney hasn’t announced when Splash Mountain will close for refurbishment, this morning it appeared folks weren’t taking any chances! Most of Magic Kingdom’s attractions had very short lines with wait times of only 5 to 10 minutes. Splash Mountain, however, was a different story.
Splash Mountain Wait
We’re LIVE inside Magic Kingdom today for the park’s reopening! Follow along here!
Even though the posted wait time at the standby entrance said 15 minutes when we got in line, we thought we might be biding our time for much longer than that once we saw the crowds lined up.
Splash Mountain Attraction Line
The line actually moved pretty swiftly. Even though the queue was backed up well beyond the entrance to Splash Mountain, guests were socially distancing themselves appropriately which made the line seem much longer than it actually was.
Splash Mountain Line
At times, the line stopped moving and we heard an overhead announcement stating there would be a brief pause while Cast Members cleaned the ride vehicles. We also noticed Splash Mountain wasn’t giving out its free Ziplocs today. They don’t have them every day, so we’ll let you know if they return during Annual Passholder preview days or once the park opens to the general public!
Splash Mountain Line
It ended up taking us about 35 minutes to get through the line. Once we made it to the loading area, we could see why. Cast Members wearing face shields and masks were thoroughly disinfecting the ride vehicles between guests by spraying them down with sanitizer. Meanwhile, they were only loading one party per log. Even small groups (of just two people!) were given their own log to ride.
Sanitizer
Cast Members didn’t say anything about letting us remove our face masks, so we kept them on the whole time. Luckily, the water cannons aren’t on, so we didn’t get too wet — you still get a little wet, though, so it’s a good idea to have an extra face mask on hand if yours gets too wet on the ride.
Once we exited off the ride, we were routed past the Splash Mountain gift shop, but you can also get in line to shop for some Splash Mountain march — which has been FLYING off the shelves lately — before it’s gone for good! We’ll let you know what we see once we’re INSIDE!
Click here to see what it’s like to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in a newly reopened Magic Kingdom!
What’s the first attraction you’ll ride at Magic Kingdom? Let us know in the comments below!
From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Featured, magic kingdom, Walt Disney World, Disney World, line, long queue, moving quickly, reopening, social distancing, splash mountain
