From the start of 2020, Splash Mountain, at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, has had its share of incidents as the attraction has gone down multiple times. Although this is not new as many attractions tend to go down for various reasons but Disney is able to get them back up and running as quick as possible.
This past Sunday the attraction went down again but this time it was due to one of the guest boats taking on water and sinking. All five passengers were evacuated safely. At this time it is unclear what caused accident, however according to reports the incident happened sometime after 5:00 p.m.
According to Twitter user Chris Moschella (@EscAuthority), “A ride vehicle has completely sunk on #WaltDisneyWorld Splash Mountain- just after the Riverboat finale scene. Boat is entirely under water, with its nose UNDER the log in front of it. Guests currently being evac’d PAST IT rather than an alternate route.”
In an earlier Tweet, Moschella said, “Just got off Splash Mountain at #WaltDisneyWorld. No joke- 80% of the animatronics are currently off. Yikes.”
According to the New York Post, “The theme park spokeswoman noted that some characters weren’t fully functioning, but disputed that the number was as high as described in the tweet.”
However, it was Twitter user Sky (@skyelarginrsoll), who was on the sinking boat, that provided video of the incident. As the boat was taking on water, Sky and other passengers decided to get out before a Cast Member could come to assist them. In the 6-second video, the Cast Member is overheard telling them they should have stayed in the boat and an unknown voice says, “look at the boat!” The Cast Member then proceeds to tell them that “this is a safety hazard.”
Another passenger on the same boat, Karen Ramirez (@Kai_cece98) tweeted a before photo of their feet and the bottom of the boat and an after photo of the partially submerged boat.
Other passengers in the boat said that the Cast Member “yelled at them” for basically “jumping out of a sinking boat.”
Sky said that as soon as everyone jumped out of the boat it went under water. Responding to Sky’s initial Tweet and video, another user said, “I didn’t realize some parts were deep enough for the boats to sink like that! Any idea how it happened?” Sky responded, “no idea … we just knew we had to get out quick lolol.”
Kirsten W (@xfkirsten), a former Cast Member Tweeted:
“The incident happened toward the end of the ride and involved five visitors,” said a Walt Disney World spokesperson. “All five visitors were able to get out of the ride vehicle safely.” Currently the attraction is back up and running and as of this writing is at a 40 minute wait.
On 25 June 2020, Disney announced that Splash Mountain will be re-themed to “The Princess and the Frog” at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. At this time there is no date for when Splash Mountain will close and the refurbishment begins.
