Happy Birthday Disneyland and Splash Mountain

To honor the opening date of Disneyland and of the beloved Splash Mountain on this day in 1989, here are a few attraction posters. Disney park executives continue to offer special merchandise to celebrate significant attraction openings and closings- and theme park fans eat it up! Sometimes, I fall prey to their plans just like everyone else. Disneyland has largely remained stagnant of new and great attractions since the Indiana Jones Adventure. This has only strengthened the public's ongoing love affair with the nine minute plus long water flume masterpiece. 

It was brand new CEO Michael Eisner that realized the parks needed fresh attractions to appeal to the growing teen market- and fast. They had to offer new rides that provided thrills found at other competing amusement parks. 

One for each park!

Imagineer Tony Baxter and his team created the idea for a log flume attraction themed to Song of the South, an old Disney film filled with charm and controversy, but they avoided the link to the past and focused on a new storyline. The faded popularity of the old Tomorrowland show, America Sings, provided the perfect reason to reuse Imagineer Marc Davis' characters and place them in a brand new setting. What a smart move it turned out to be for Eisner to green light the project!

With its charming story, extremely catchy music, repurposed (and therefore cheap) animated characters, this thrilling flume drop, Splash Mountain was a major hit with fans since its first day of operation. The poster above celebrated its grand opening on July 17, 1989. To this day, the attraction continues to draw some of the longest lines at Disneyland for good reason.

Here's the 25th anniversary poster of Splash Mountain!
Thanks to Alain Littaye at Disney and More for the larger versions.

The Magic Kingdom in Florida and Tokyo Disneyland also have versions of this classic attraction. Will we ever see it in other parks?  Certainly, hot and humid Hong Kong and Shanghai need it as does Disneyland Paris. 

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)