Splash Mountain Plunge 5 stories with Brer Rabbit in a log flume

• Most of the attraction takes place inside a massive ride building that looks more like a giant warehouse than a mountain. Of course, none of this is visible to guests. 
• Some of the Audio-animatronics are recycled from Disneyland's America Sings attraction. The two vultures (just before the drop) were the Boothill Boys. The musical geese were known as the "Geese Quartet" and the musical crocodiles were the Swamp Boys.
• Splash Mountain has a 52 ft. drop,  is approximately 11 minutes long and can run up to 50 ride vehicles at once. 
• Brer Rabbit is the main character but you’ll also find Brer Fox, Brer Bear, and others. The term "Brer" is southern  slang meaning "brother" that author Joel Chandler Harris used to name his characters in the original Song of the South. 
• The setting for Splash Mountain takes place in southern Mississippi. It had to be painted however to match the rock color of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad because the two exist side by side. The bright red color of Splash Mountain would be geographically incorrect.
• Visit http://www.songofthesouth.net/ for a a comprehensive look a this Walt Disney film.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Runaway mine train coaster

• At 197 ft. tall Big Thunder Mountain is the tallest mountain in Florida. It’s about 2 acres wide and the trains ride on a half mile of track.
• Ride in the last car for the best ride. 
• There are 6 mine trains in all and each have a different name (look on the sides of the locomotives for the name). Names include: U.B Bold, I.M. Fearless, I.M. Brave, U.R. Courageous, U.R. Daring, and I.B Hearty
• The mountain itself is modeled after Monument Valley in Utah. Imagineers specifically chose this area to keep with the frontier theme of the land.
• Big Thunder Mountain is modeled after Monument Valley. 
• Authentic mining equipment was brought in to theme the attraction and cost several thousand dollars.
• Look for a few sight gags that Imagineers intentionally placed in and around the attraction. Can you find the crate with Lytum & Hyde Explosive Company written on it? Hint, it’s in the queue, about half way up. 

Country Bear Jamboree Audio-Animatronic stage show featuring the Country Bears

• Country Bear Jamboree was the first attraction to appear in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In Disneyland, the show was housed in the Country Bear Playhouse but in Disney World, it’s Grizzly Hall. The show no longer exists in Disneyland, it was replaced by Winnie the Pooh. 
• Walt Disney designed the show to entertain guests at a ski resort that was never built. 
• This is only show on property where guests are entertained by the same set of animatronics for 16 minutes.
• Imagineers playfully modeled the bear Big Al on show writer Al Bertino, who they thought, resembled a big teddy bear.

Tom Sawyer Island Visit Tom Sawyer’s stomping grounds

• Fort Sam Clemens was named after Mark Twain (pen name) who wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Sam Clemens grew up in the south where the inspiration for both his books and this attraction came from. Clemens later moved to Hartford, CT to raise his family.
• After a refurbishment to the island in the mid-1990's, Fort Sam Clemens was renamed Fort Langhorn. Langhorne was Clemens' middle name.
• The rafts that take guests to and from the island are free floating vessels powered by natural gas.
• Aunt Polly's Dockside Inn (now closed) was designed to give parents a place to relax while the kids explore the island.