Author’s Note: This 4-part series answers the question: when you are trying to make the most of your limited time at the parks, and the crowds are maddening, there may be times when you will have to choose which favorite ride you will get a fast pass for that day. What would that ride be? Well, I definitely have my favorites at every park, each of which are covered under this title with parts 1-4.
When I only have limited time at the Magic Kingdom, I will always choose either Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as my fast pass; depending on the wait in the standby lines. Both of these rides are a must-do for family fun at the park.
About Splash Mountain
As you can see from this picture, my family and I have a lot of fun on this ride. Always up for a tour through the briar patch we are ready to go. We do sometimes wait until right before leaving the park if it is 50 degrees outside, though, as we do tend to get at least a little wet. Please note that it is possible to get quite wet.Located in Frontierland, Splash Mountain is a popular flume ride that offers big thrills for kids of all ages. The eight-passenger logs, with 4 rows of seats that accommodate 2 guests each, are now equipped with lap bars for safety reasons. The log departs the loading area and you will find that as you travel through scenes from Disney’s Song of the South, there is great scenery and great music. It tells the story of the adventures of Br’er Rabbit, a mischievous rabbit that leaves his home in the briar patch to look for his “laughing place.” The imagineers did a great job with this one!
After a short drop down “Slippin’ Falls”, guests enter the indoor portion of the attraction, where many animatronic animals, such as frogs and opossums sing the attraction’s first musical number, “How Do You Do?”. Look all around and be sure to look up as some of the most precious parts of the ride are up on the ceiling.
The ride twists, turns and has 3 smaller dips before coming to the grand drop. Then, hands up as we plummet over the mountain peak on a 5-story fall that ends in a massive splashdown into the refreshing pond. Be sure to smile for the camera right when you start the big drop! Now we enter Br’er Rabbit’s home, his laughing place.
Inside, you will drift past more familiar critters aboard a lively Mississippi riverboat. Sing along because by now you are sure to be having a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day! Once you exit, remember to stop by the photo shop to see your photo and purchase a copy if you’d like.
If you are anything like me, you’ll be singing “You Gotta Keep Movin Along” for a while. It is a really fun and cute ride. Oh, and if you are hoping to get soaked, request a seat in the front or sit on the right side of the hollowed-out log.
General Info
- Must be 40” tall to ride
- Health restrictions
- Must transfer from wheelchair to ride
About Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Also located in Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a great thrill. Hands up the whole time on this one is the best way to ride. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a roller coaster that rushes through the gold-mining town of Tumbleweed.
A ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is known to park goers as “the wildest ride in the wilderness.” The ride vehicle is none other than a mine train, a 30-passenger train; with 15 rows that seat 2 guests each. If you are a big thrill seeker and you like to go fast and bumpy, ask to sit in the back. If you have a child that is a little hesitant, or if you are, the front is definitely the least invasive place to sit.
Leaving the station, the train immediately enters a dark tunnel and then makes a tight left turn, then a right turn to climb the first hill. Are your hands up? If not, put ‘em up! At the top of the hill it slows down a bit, and then drops to the left before going right and flinging you over two humps while passing under the second hill and drop. You often get to see another train passing by at this time, so wave and scream.
Then the train starts a tight downwind spiral to the right into a short tunnel. The track goes through several small hops and then seems to sway from side to side right before passing through Tumbleweed. There are more twists and turns and bumps and humps, then the train rises up into a downhill helix to the left, before going over another airtime hill and dropping back down.
Next, you head into a tunnel and climb the third hill where an earthquake is in progress and the rocks seem ready to bury the train. Cresting the lift hill, the trains slow down and exit out into the daylight, then drop away for a little more excitement before hitting the final brake run and returning to the station. If you are in the back row when the train brakes you will look a little like a bobblehead doll.
Be sure to keep your eyes open while you’re screaming through the ride, as the imagineers have done a great job creating an old gold-mining camp and cactus-scattered desert scene. There is a family of opossums hanging overhead at the entrance to a cave and there is even a billy-goat in the mix.
Be sure to ride in the daylight and at night, if you can, as you might see things and hear things at night that you didn’t see and hear during the day. Just sayin!
General Info
- Must be 40” tall to ride
- Health restrictions
- Must transfer from wheelchair to ride
Be sure to stay tuned next week to find out the best use of my fast pass at EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Brenda is a native Texan born and raised on the Gulf Coast. She visited Disney World twice as a teenager and always dreamed of growing her family Disney. She took her first-timer husband and their three children to Disney World in 2000 and they now spend every Thanksgiving there. Brenda writes with a comedic twist on various Disney topics. She will be sharing tips she has learned during her travels and also hopes to enlighten people on little-known freebies that Disney has to offer. She wishes she could have met Walt Disney and considers herself to be a student of Walt. In parallel to his dream it is her wish that everyone would take at least one trip to Disney World in order to share in its magic with their families.
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