Splash Mountain
Disneyland Park · Critter Country
Overview
Splash Mountain was Disneyland's original version of the log flume attraction that would later be duplicated at Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland — Anaheim's was the very first. Riders boarded hollowed-log boats and drifted through a series of animatronic scenes based on Song of the South, following Br'er Rabbit as he outwitted Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear, building toward the ride's signature five-story plunge into a briar-patch lagoon. Critter Country's queue and exterior theming, along with the mountain's distinctive silhouette, were fixtures of that corner of the park for over three decades.
ParksLog verdict
The original, and for a lot of longtime Disneyland fans, the one that set the bar. The five-story finale drop and the briar-patch lagoon splashdown were genuinely thrilling for a family ride, and losing it stung for guests who grew up with it. Tiana's Bayou Adventure inherited real bones — the layout, the drop, the mountain — but whether it replaces Splash Mountain in the park's identity is still being litigated among fans more than a year on.
About this experience
Log flume ride carrying guests through animatronic scenes adapted from Disney's Song of the South, following Br'er Rabbit's misadventures before a signature plunge into a briar-patch lagoon.
Best for
- Guests who rode the original Disneyland version and want to relive the memory
- Disney park historians
- Fans comparing Disneyland's Splash Mountain to its Magic Kingdom and Tokyo counterparts
Tips
- The exact ride system and mountain structure now house Tiana's Bayou Adventure — riders describe the layout and drop as very familiar even with entirely new theming.
- Being the first-ever Splash Mountain, this was the version every later installation was modeled after.
- Critter Country's name outlasted the ride itself for a time before area rebranding followed the retheme.
Details
History
Splash Mountain opened at Disneyland on July 17, 1989, predating the Magic Kingdom version by three years and the Tokyo Disneyland version as well. It closed permanently on May 31, 2023, and the same ride system and mountain structure were retheme'd into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, which opened in 2024. Disney retired the ride due to Song of the South's source material, a 1946 film long withheld from official release over its depiction of the post-Civil War South.
Fun facts
- Disneyland's Splash Mountain was the original — it opened three years before Magic Kingdom's 1992 version and predates Tokyo Disneyland's 1992 version as well.
- Its soundtrack reused songs from the film, including the Oscar-winning 'Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.'