Our family vacation in Disney World: Mom's birthday landed on the last day of our park admission, and we lucked out with 36 Fast Passes, resulting in a terrific whirlwind of efficient ride-activity. The sun held for most of the day, and cloud cover during the evening was a welcome relief after a day of meandering around the Magical Kingdom.
I couldn't help but notice, on our third go-round of Splash Mountain, that each ride told a very succinct story, and in the most concise and entertaining way possible. Splash Mountain, in particular, tells the story of Brer Rabbit's escape from the hungry grasp of Brer Fox and his dopey sidekick, Brer Bear. Brer Rabbit and his escape from Brer Fox: only the essential story bits were created in an underground waterway, with little songs and scene settings to complete the theatricality of the storytelling.
But in the short three minutes before the big drop-down under the briar patch, each rider became Brer Rabbit, and shared in the thrill of the escape from Brer Fox's clutches. Each corner was like a chapter in the story: first you entered his world, with singing pelicans and doo-wopping frogs; next came the villains (Fox and Bear) and their plans to catch themselves some dinner; two more corners and you watched Rabbit escape a tar pit and get tangled up in honeybee nests; the final corner revealed Rabbit, captured and hanging over Fox's cauldron.
As you ascended the rickety water tracks to the final drop, vultures overhead proclaimed eventual doom. The last thing you hear before the surprise of a stomach-jumping descent is Brer Rabbit begging Brer Fox not to toss him into the briar patch - at the same very instant you catch sight of the tangle of plastic thorns ahead of you. You can't help but scream when the drop happens - either the drop itself or the fact that you might hit the thorny mess will do you in. Afterwards, you turn the final corner and a large animal-laden showboat greets Brer Rabbit (you) home to the land of zippi-dee-doo-dah.
Our third time on the ride, my brother leaned over and asked a story-related question. I realized that the whole story was laid out in such a way through the ride that even someone unfamiliar with the whole plot can follow the tale quite easily. His question had to do with what Disney cartoon the story was based on - and I realized that still-unknown Disney stories exist for audiences to discover for years to come. However, the Imagineers have got it figured out. Who, what, where, when, why - the essential and only components you really need to create magic anywhere.
