Back Where the Critters Is Closer to the Folks

After New Orleans Square, the next new land added to Disneyland was Bear Country in 1972, built around the addition of the Florida favorite Country Bear Jamboree. When the area was expanded with Splash Mountain in 1989, it was renamed Critter Country to better reflect the diversity of varmints living in this corner of the park.

Here, decades of growth have created a forest so dense it's hard to imagine Anaheim is just over the hill. Critter Country is a quiet cul-de-sac in the woods, packed with charming details. Some of my favorites are the little critter houses along the stream and the butler bear serving up a gourmet burger outside the Hungry Bear Restaurant.

Other critter homes can be seen in and around Splash Mountain. The Disneyland version features far more animal friends than the Splash Mountain attractions at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland, thanks to being able to recast them from former Disneyland show America Sings. Naturally, the homes of Splash Mountain stars Br'er Fox, Br'er Bear and Br'er Rabbit are spotted during the course of the ride, but what about Mr. Bluebird? He doesn't just sit on people's shoulders all day, you know. He has a little birdhouse of his own, right here in Critter Country!

One of Mr. Bluebird's neighbors is Professor Barnaby Owl, proprietor of the Photographic Art Studio, specializing in wildlife portraits and scenic views (aka the Splash Mountain photo location). It's hard to believe now, but when this feature opened at Disneyland (circa 1991), it was the first time an image capture service had been offered on an attraction in a Disney Park. Today, image capture is ubiquitous, available at several major attractions throughout the parks.

Even more enhancements came to the Critter Country area with the 2002 addition of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. In keeping with the aesthetic of the land, the characters on the marquee are carved out of wood, marking the attraction entrance over this rustic covered bridge.

The vehicles for the Pooh attraction here are especially fun, resembling overturned beehives complete with honeycombs and benches overflowing with sticky, yummy honey. Take a peek on the back of the hive, and you'll even spot a little Heffa-Bee!

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh replaced Country Bear Jamboree, never as popular or well-attended here as its Florida counterpart. In true Imagineering fashion, though, tributes to the original attraction have been placed here and there, including these friendly faces, tucked away in the back of a scene on the Pooh ride.

The story line for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh includes familiar moments from the Pooh films, but doesn't stick to the same narrative. On this adventure, Pooh's busy day of trying to get honey from the bees comes to an end when it begins to rain. After a bouncy encounter with Tigger, the silly old bear heads home and drifts off to sleep, dreaming of Heffalumps and Woozles. All ends well, though, for when Pooh wakes up he's just in time for his birthday party where his friends have given him his favorite gift in the world... more honey!

The fun continues just outside at the Pooh Corner shop. Notice the plaque that states Critter Country was established in 1889. It's a reference to the actual 1989 rebranding of the land, before which this structure was home to the Mile Long Bar. It was known as the Br'er Bar until 2002, when it became Pooh Corner. Inside, the story of Pooh's dream birthday continues as Pooh bear flies with the Heffa-Bees aboard his blue balloon.

The first section of the shop is a candy store. Look closely, and you'll notice the Heffa-Bees are delivering fresh honey into Pooh's Hunny Mixer, a still-like contraption that feeds right down to the kitchen below.

In the kitchen, of course, traditional human cast members are busy making yummy delights for their guests. If you can peel your eyes away from the candy for a moment, though, you may just notice some Hidden Disney here. On the walls of the kitchen are framed portraits of Pooh... with some of the stars of the Country Bear Jamboree. There's Gomer at the piano in one, and the other shows Pooh with the lovely Teddi Barra on her trademark swing.

Pooh Corner continues throughout the entire block of buildings at this end of Critter Country. Once upon a time, though, the Mile Long Bar was adjacent to a wilderness game room under the name of Teddi Barra's Swingin' Arcade. Well, Teddi and her games of skill may have long since moved on, but there's still a mention of the arcade... just atop the building.

50 Fifties

Another key element of the Disneyland 50th Anniversary celebration back in 2005 was the inclusion of 50 fifties throughout the park. In the tradition of Hidden Mickeys, fifty versions of the 50th Anniversary logo were placed around Disneyland. Some were obvious, like the Mickey Floral at the Main Entrance or the medallions on the lampposts up and down Main Street, U.S.A. Others were more cleverly incorporated.

Here are a few of my favorites: on the clock tower at It's a Small World, in the garden outside The Enchanted Tiki Room, part of the rockwork on Splash Mountain, and woven into a giant spider web across the front of the Haunted Mansion.

SplashDown Photos

The SplashDown Photos location at the exit of Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom is easily overlooked, but packed with fun details for those who take the time to look. The marquee above the entrance features Br'er Bear peeking into a period camera... and Mr. Bluebird peeking right back at him.

The shelves outside the darkroom are stacked high with camera equipment, tripods, photographic paper, trays and bottles of processing chemicals (remember when developing pictures was more of a process than just plugging in a USB cable?).

There are even some already-developed photos hung up to dry. Look closely, and you'll discover lots of appropriate period images as well as a few "animated" subjects:

The pick up area around the corner is a framer's workshop. Note the frames, bits of wood, saws, hammers, T-squares and other tools hung about the space.

Okay, now "Y'all stay put until the picture maker calls your number."

Born 'n' Bred in the Briar Patch

Built into the hillside adjacent to Splash Mountain is the Briar Patch shop, a little burrow that's home to Br'er Rabbit's family. After all, he was "born an' bred in the briar patch!"

Some of the best details on the outside of the Briar Patch include the large stone that has slid down the roof of the bay window, displacing some of the shingles (above), and the rabbit-size door and mailbox on the east side of the burrow:

It's inside, though, where the Briar Patch is truly special. The shop is meant to be underground, with heavy beams holding the earth above our heads and thorny briars growing down into the space, adorned with dozens of lanterns.

A stone fireplace and rocking chairs dominate the main room. Looking past it, you'll get a glimpse into some of the other spaces in the burrow. There's the Rabbit family dining room, with a carrot pattern carved into the chair, and a bedroom with thistle wallpaper and bunny portraits on the wall. There's even a painting of Whistler's Mother... with ears! (Br'er Rabbit's mother, perhaps?)

Yes, the Briar Patch is home sweet home for Br'er Rabbit and his kin. Hopefully that ol' rabbit has learned his lesson now and will steer clear of Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear and stay right here. As he sings at the conclusion of the attraction:

"I'm through with moving on now.

It's where I'm born and bred in,

the Briar Patch is where I'm headin'.

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah! Zip-a-Dee-Ay!

I'm back in my home now, and I'm sure gonna stay!"

Out West and Down South

Splash Mountain brings Joel Chandler Harris' tales of Br'er Rabbit to exhilarating, animated life in Frontierland. From the music and Audio-Animatronics characters to Chickapin Hill and the splashdown in the Brier Patch pond, this is a classic Disney Parks adventure. Since the tales of Splash Mountain are set in the Deep South, though, some might wonder what it's doing here in the Old West.

The truth is... it just didn't fit anywhere else.

The original Splash Mountain had debuted at Disneyland in 1989 and was an immediate hit. Plans were begun to add the attraction to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Although some consideration was given to placing it behind the Haunted Mansion or on the back portion of Tom Sawyer Island, the most practical site was the plot of land between Big Thunder Mountain and Pecos Bill Cafe.

To make it work, Imagineering designers altered the look of Splash Mountain's hillsides, choosing a reddish color palette that would blend better with the rock work of nearby Big Thunder. Other choices were made in regard to landscaping and architecture, creating a more rugged appearance, as opposed to the softer style of the Disneyland original.

For the most part, even the appearance of the characters is minimized outside the attraction. They show up in the form of weather vanes and wood carvings (Note: Some of the more cartoony elements in the area were added later with the implementation of Fastpass and to help Guests find their way.)

Once Guests enter the queue for Splash Mountain, a transition begins. The sounds of talking animals can be heard from tiny houses. Shadows on a wall allow us a glimpse of Br'er Frog telling tales to his grand-chitlins. Before we know it, we've moved past the old barn and down a rabbit hole that transports us to a magical time and place in the Deep South, when "folks was closer to the critters an' critters was closer to the folks."

Birth of a Mountain

As we established at the end of my last post, I spent some time working the mine at Big Thunder way back in the day. How far back? Well, the photo above is the view I had as I moseyed out to the mountain each morning. Notice something missing? Here's the view looking back the other direction, about a year or so later:

This was 1990-92, and that's the original Frontierland Railroad Station, just across a grassy field where Splash Mountain sits today. As a young Cast Member and Disney Parks fan, it was great fun working at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad during this period and getting to step out and watch the newest mountain in the Magic Kingdom grow right out of the ground.

The first piece of the Splash Mountain project to be built was the bridge along the Rivers of America, put in place so Guests could still access Big Thunder during construction. Once the bridge was complete, the construction walls went up, featuring colorful cartoon artwork that invited folks to come back and join Br'er Rabbit in his Laughing Place in Fall 1992.

Similar in many ways to the construction of Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain slowly grew from steel superstructure to rockwork cages to finished cement. In the photo above, you can make out the beam that would ultimately support the old tree up on Chickapin Hill. Below (photo ©Disney), the rockwork cage for the tree is in place, officially "topping off" the structure. The topping off ceremony, a key milestone in any major construction effort, put the orange Mickey flag on top of the mountain.

Although technically referred to as "rockwork," the technique of sculpting cement over cages of bent rebar and chicken wire was used here to create just about everything, from the clay hillsides of the mountain to the fallen logs and other "wood" elements. Building it in this way helps Splash Mountain hold up to the constant barrage of weather and water.

To make it all look more natural, the mountain is designed with tiers of planters built into the rockwork, allowing real greenery to cascade over the hilltops.

As with any new Disney attraction, once Splash Mountain was built, everything needed to go through rigorous testing. Of course, most attractions are contained within buildings. The logs of Splash Mountain had to make their rounds in full view of the park's Guests. This became especially awkward when Cast Members began previewing the attraction, another important step in testing that helps the operators work through loading and dispatching processes with real people.

The wait was finally over in October 1992, when Splash Mountain had its official grand opening, forever becoming a part of Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom.

One last note about the opening: On the morning of the scheduled opening event for the press, it rained. Disney was prepared as always, with boxes of umbrellas and ponchos ready to hand out so the show could go on. The crew was then invited back two days later, complete with hot air balloons and pyrotechnics, to re-stage the entire event for the cameras, creating the official photo (©Disney) you see above.