Classic Disney Tale - The Submerged Log

Due to a few requests, I've decided to post a blog on here about an experience that happened while working the Splash Mountain attraction at the Disneyland Resort back in 2006. On podcasts, I've referred to my time in Critter Country as "The Adventures at C-Lift" and "The Submerged Log". While there were MANY adventures at good ol' C-Lift, the submerged log was by far the best that ever came out of working this attraction.

Side Note: C-Lift is the final lift that takes you to the large drop at the end of the ride; A-Lift is the first which takes you from the loading dock into the attraction and B-Lift is the lift in the old Saw Mill.

The Submerged Log
Coming on to an afternoon shift at Splash Mountain, I had started the day mostly working stationary positions around the mountain - Greeter and FastPass Machines. The ride/attraction had been running smoothly all day apparently; no issues or 101's. My shift rotation finally placed me at the FastPass Merge point (basically where the normal line and FastPass lines meet). The merge point this day was actually located about halfway into the attraction queue once heading through the barn. At this point in the line, the "barn" setting leads you into a cave of the mountain that winds around to the attraction loading area.

This position was always great because I could have conversations with guests while they waited for the line to move forward. Always a lot of questions about the attraction, most commonly "What movie is this ride based on...?" To which I would basically tell them to check YouTube under "Song of the South" to avoid expanding on the reasons that so few people know about it.

About 15 minutes into my position, I realize that my line isn't moving and my FastPass line is starting to stack rather heavily. After about 5 minutes, the guest at the front of the normal line says, "Did the ride break down?" I replied (in Disney-tailored fashion) with "Brer Rabbit will let us know if we have a log jam, but until then it looks like everything is..." and as I attempted to finish my sentence, Brer Rabbit's voice echos through the queue with "UH OH! It looks like we got ourselves a log jam!!" So I kindly escorted guests to the exit doors so that we could evacuate the mountain and restart everything. As I made my way back to the loading station, I noticed something odd as I came around the corner to head over the bridge. Looking to my left into the water, I noticed that the log waiting to be pulled back into the loading station was completely under water with the exception of the front and back end slightly breaking the surface. Speeding up my pace I turned towards the exit dock and notice four, completely soaked teenagers shivering as they wait for my lead to return from the office.

I ask the teen closest to me, "What happened?" "Well..." he said, chattering his jaw and looking slightly confused, "We were on the ride and the log started filling up with water really slowly... but everytime that we went up the water would drain out. So we didn't worry about it until we got close to the last drop. Before we went up the last hill, the water was almost up to our knees... but it drained again once we started going up." He then continued, "I think something happened though when we reached the bottom because the second we hit the water the log made a loud BANG and filled up fast." Essentially, when the log came off of the rails from the final drop and re-entered the water... it sunk. In fact, it didn't just sink, it dove like a submarine.

I think the part of this whole thing that blew me away was that these teenagers STAYED in the log and didn't try to climb out. Their family was practically in hysterics being in the log in front of them. One of the family members, I assumed was one of the boys' mothers, told me while laughing, "They looked like four little ducks floating down a stream because you couldn't see the log... just their head and shoulders!" One of our managers came out with "No Strings Attached" voucher to go get some dry clothes. Luckily the family wasn't enraged by the experience and found the humor in it.

While writing this, I tried searching for a schematic of the log ride vehicles to explain how the log filled with water; one of the maintenance cast members at the time showed me and described how water exits the log without coming back in. I couldn't find one but if I can find one, I'll do a follow up to explain it. Hope you guys enjoyed the story. I've got a few others from Fantasyland that are pretty decent too, when time allows I'll post some of them :).