Splash Mountain Adds Lap Bars...

[Spacoli]

WDW - Magic Kingdom

Why has society fallen into a state like this? Don't people have the mental capacity to read signs, or even listen to the overbearing audio warnings? It would seem to me that common sense equips humans with the the intellectual power to assume that you don't stand up on a log flume prior to taking a 52 foot plunge!

Edit: I apologize for the grammatical error in my thread title.

[CaptainEO,ATIS]

Way to break theme. Let me remind everyone this is a terrible idea that instead of protecting guests, in makes them even more prone to injuries on Splash. The force of the drop is supposed to keep you in your seat. Lap bars are not needed for that. Also, the logs CAN tip over. It's never happened, but it's possible. How would you like it if you were under water and unable to get out from a lap bar keeping you in? That's why log flumes don't have seatbelts or lap bars - but somehow this one just got some.

[Stitch626626]

I can understand why they installed lap bars, but the guy above me has a good point. What would Disney's response be if their lap bars drowned people when a loge turns over? A safety device becomes a safety hazard? Maybe they should, instead, give everyone an iq test before they enter the park. If they're to stupid to follow the rules, they shouldn't be allowed inside.

[Dapper Dan]

These lap bars are a necessary safety precaution that is part of a larger project. You see, the next time this ride is scheduled for a refurbishment they are putting in a loop.

[PinkElephant]

Oh no! I don't like this at all! They better not be installing lap bars on the logs DLR while it's being refurbished until May! I would be so upset

[The Forbidden Eye]

Oh no! I don't like this at all! They better not be installing lap bars on the logs DLR while it's being refurbished until May! I would be so upset

They can't. DL's logs will have to be replaced with new ones equipped with lap bars as the current logs cant be retrofitted with lap bars.

[Stitch626626]

These lap bars are a necessary safety precaution that is part of a larger project. You see, the next time this ride is scheduled for a refurbishment they are putting in a loop.

A loop? Like going upside down? Or like a corkscrew?

[Roythe13th]

Wow. Just wow.

Not only will the ride be less comfortable but a decrease in capacity per hour for a ride with already long lines. Ugh.

[TheDisneyInquisitor]

I don't see the problem, safety always must come first. And let's be honest, if thematically you are willing to accept a log having hand bars, I think you can accept a bar having lap bars. Take a step back and put this into perspective... really not something to get upset over.

[Stitch626626]

I don't see the problem, safety always must come first. And let's be honest, if thematically you are willing to accept a log having hand bars, I think you can accept a bar having lap bars. Take a step back and put this into perspective... really not something to get upset over.

Depends on who you ask. I'd say that a lap bar is 1 step towards Six Flags styled rides. And Six Flags has terrible rides compared to Disneyland.

[TheDisneyInquisitor]

Depends on who you ask. I'd say that a lap bar is 1 step towards Six Flags styled rides. And Six Flags has terrible rides compared to Disneyland.

Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, Tower of Terror (original, before they moved to seat belts), Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dinosaur, Haunted Mansion, and I'm sure I've missed a few. Of course, this is leaving out the over-the-shoulder style bars of Mission: Space and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, nor the dozen or so rides that have Seat Belt restraints.

Point is, I fail to see the leap from lap-bars to Six Flags.

[lazyboy97O]

I can understand why they installed lap bars, but the guy above me has a good point. What would Disney's response be if their lap bars drowned people when a loge turns over? A safety device becomes a safety hazard? Maybe they should, instead, give everyone an iq test before they enter the park. If they're to stupid to follow the rules, they shouldn't be allowed inside.

Please cite one reported instance of a capsized flume vehicle.

Depends on who you ask. I'd say that a lap bar is 1 step towards Six Flags styled rides. And Six Flags has terrible rides compared to Disneyland.

How do you get a slippery slope to that from safety restraints? Six Flags will probably not have the same problems as Splash Mountain with their flume rides, as the lack anywhere to exit the log. These lap bars are not about adding thrills, the loop comment was a joke originating with Disneyland's Space Mountain rebuild, but trying to prevent so many guests from getting out during the course of the ride.

[lighttragic]

you can bet disneyland will get this soon...

[Bill]

I actually agree with TheDisneyInquisitor on this one... Splash Mountain actually does need lap bars. People don't stay seated during the ride. And from what I've been told, it will now be impossible for a log to tip thanks to new enhancements in the depth of the flume that were installed last year, and some this year.

By the way, because lap bars could not be fitted into the existing logs, all new logs have been built. So some good did come out of this, the old logs were disgusting.

But if they still haven't converted the showboat in the finale scene to LED lighting like Disneyland did, I'm gonna be VERY annoyed. They've had more than 50% of those lights out for two years now. No excuse for that.

[Dapper Dan]

Hopefully the refurb that goes along with installing these new vehicles will be long enough to address all of the glaringly obvious maintenance concerns in this attraction, and maybe even some of the less obvious ones.