It’s officially official: when Splash Mountain reopens today, it will be with newly-installed lap bars.
The move proved necessary for Disney, as they have continued to have problems with guests who attempted to stand or exit the boats before the conclusion of the ride. “From time to time, we have had guests attempt to prematurely exit the ride vehicle. It is our hope that the new lap bars will prevent this from happening in the future,” said Disney World spokesman Bryan Malenius.
Disney had considered installing lap bars on the boats before, but had decided against the move because of concerns that the extra safety measure would add time to the guest-loading process. However, at this point, the theme park does not believe that the restraints will add significantly to the wait or load time, or that they will impact the number of guests that each boat can safely carry.
