New Lap Bars for Splash Mountain

Splash Mountain opened a few days ago after a month-long refurbishment, and the popular water ride received new lap bars as part of its update. The reason for the addition of the bars? To prevent guests from standing up during the ride or exiting the log boats earlier than instructed.

It would seem that Disney had visited the issue of lap bar installation in the past with the idea being rejected, partly due to concerns over possible wait time increase. The issue arose again in 2000 after an accident in which a guest stood up sometime during the 9 1/2 minute ride and was struck and killed by another boat.

Disney does not feel the addition of the lap bars at this time will significantly increase loading or wait times for guests. The bars also do not affect that number of guests per boat.

Source

Amy wrote on Thu, 06/30/2011 - 13:58:

Amy's picture

The lap bars didn't increase our wait time while we were at WDW in May, however, they didn't work for me. I was riding with my friend's older brother who is quite a bit larger than I am. We could only pull the lap bar down to his legs, giving me about six inches of room between my legs and the bar. We realized later we should have put the brothers together since they're the same size, but lesson learned. It's probably something to keep in mind for parents riding with children though.

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