Magic Kingdom - Frontierland

See my other Disney Lenses:

Magic Kingdom Guide
Adventureland
Frontierland
Liberty Square
Fantasyland
Tomorrowland
Mickey's Toontown Fair
Main Street USA

Splash Mountain is a great combination of gentle water ride through an Audio-Animatronic show and a water flume ride.

The Audio-Animatronics show features over 100 figures all telling the tale of Brer Rabbit and his friends as Brer Bear and Brer Fox try to catch him.

There are 3 small drops during this part of the ride before you reach the 52 foot plunge into the brer patch. This is the drop that everybody watches from the bridge outside the ride.

This ride is extremely popular and queues will inevitably be long. Even on quite days there will be queues for this ride. Some of the line will be outside but once you are inside the caves and caverns of Splash Mountain it will cool down a bit.

You will certainly cool down once you are on the ride. It is not a question of whether or not you will get wet, but more a question of how wet will you get. Seating position can influence this but it all depends on weight distribution around the boat on who gets the wettest. The Florida sunshine will soon dry you off.

FastPass is available for this ride and you should take advantage of this if you can. FastPass tickets will all be allocated early in the day, so it is worth going there before you go to other areas of the park.

One option is to get FastPass tickets for either Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then queue to ride on the other. By the time you come off the first ride, the FastPass tickets should be aproaching their allocated time slot.

Try riding during parade times or early or late in the day to avoid the worst of the queues.

Length of Ride : 11 Minutes

Disabled guests must be able to transfer from their wheelchair to the boat.

Minimum Height 40" / 102cm

My Daughters verdict : Great, I got soaking, can we go again?

Big Thunder Mountain is a favourite with many people. It is based on an old gold mine from the days of the gold rush.

It is basically a traditional rollercoaster that is very well themed. Take time to look at the scenery around you and observe the Audio-Animatronics as well as all the scenery.

Position on the train will affect your experience. A lot of people will want to ride at the front of the train but if you want the best experience you are better riding right at the very back.

As with Splash Mountain, this is a very popular ride and queues at the busiest times can be extremely long. Most of the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is either outside or in open sided timber clad structures resembling the gold mine.

Disney FastPass is available but will run out quickly on busy days. As mentioned in the Spalsh Mountain section it is a good option to gat a fastpass for Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then queue to ride the other while waiting the FastPass time slot.

Length of Ride : 3 Minutes 25 Seconds

Disabled guests must be able to transfer from their wheelchair to the train.

Minimum Height 40" / 102cm

My Daughters verdict : I want to ride again, and again

As the name suggests this is based on the adventures of Tom Sawyer. It is promoted as a big playground for children, but to be honest they will soon get bored.

It is accessible by raft from below Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, this is the only way to get on to the island and there are usually two rafts running backwards and forwards.

There are a number of things to do on the island. You can cross the barrel bridge, explore the mine or look around the water wheel.

You can also eat on the island at Aunt Polly's Dockside Inn. There is a range of cold food available along with refreshing drinks to wash it down. Alternatively if you have a snack with you, the island can be a peaceful place to go and sit to eat it.

Return to the Frontierland be the same raft that brought you to the island. Queues for the rafts can be long during the busiest times, but generally you should not have to wait too long to travel in either direction.

The island is not accessible to wheelchairs.

My daughters verdict : Great to run around and explore.

This is a traditional West Country hoe-down. There are 20 Audio-Animatronic bears performing the show in Grizzly Hall theatre.

These bears are fantastic and really get the show going. You will take part in the line dancing and kids will really enjoy the show.

The show runs throughout the day and whilst popular, the show loads a lot of people at a time so you should not have to wait too long. If you don't mind being at the back of the theatre you can often walk straight in when the line has entered.

There are facilities for the deaf, ask a Cast Member for advise and wheelchairs are able to enter the theatre.

Length of show : 15 Minutes 55 Seconds

My daughters verdict : Great show.

See my other Disney Lenses:

Magic Kingdom Guide
Adventureland
Frontierland
Liberty Square
Fantasyland
Tomorrowland
Mickey's Toontown Fair
Main Street USA