While Disney guests can enjoy getting wet on Tiana, one Disney ride doesn't get the same love as a great way to get soaked at the parks!
Disney and water rides have gone hand in hand for a long time. They started small with the Storybook Canal Boats at Disneyland before It's a Small World became a hit. Pirates of the Caribbean added some drops for minor thrills, with EPCOT Center's Norway pavilion boasting the fun Maelstrom.
Obviously, when it comes to getting wet on a Disney ride, Splash Mountain will always be the king. It lived up to its name, getting folks wet with those big drops, and Tiana's Bayou Adventure lives up to that legacy.
Yet one ride doesn't get as much attention for cooling folks off, which is surprising given it may well be the single wettest ride Disney has ever created. It's one that's distinctive to one park and still thrilling folks but not enough love for it.
Grizzly River Run.
One of the few opening day attractions at California Adventure virtually unchanged, Grizzly River Run still packs guests in on warm Anaheim days. It's also a marvel of Imagineering that puts a spin on a classic concept and needs more attention for anyone who enjoys getting wet at the parks.
A short history of Grizzly River Run
California Adventure has moved away from its original concept of focusing on the Golden State. It's long been debated if Disney made a mistake making a California-themed park in California and it took a long time (and a few billion dollars in makeovers) for the park to really become popular.
River Run isn't the first "rapids ride" for Disney. That would be the Kali River Rapids which opened with the Asia section of Animal Kingdom in 1998. Just as with Splash Mountain's log ride, Disney had resisted a "rapids ride" because it was so commonplace (pretty much every Six Flags-style park has one).
However, just as with Splash Mountain, Disney decided to put their own spin on the concept. They modeled the mountain to look like a grizzly bear, and to this day, it counts as the symbol for California Adventure, with the rocky peak looking like a roaring bear jutting upward.
There is a classic backstory to the ride. The tale is that a bear was transformed into this mountain to forever protect his forest from evil spirits. It then links to a story of a miner finding gold and building a logging camp/mine around it. For a while, there was an added bit of a modern group creating a rafting company, but it later changed to a 1950s national parks setting.
The mechanics of the ride are unique as well. Obviously, it requires a lot of water to drain, and Disney uses the Pixar Pier area to balance it out. There's also the lush detail around the ride…which you may not be able to appreciate due to the experience.
Why River Run lives up to its name
Let's make this clear right now: You will get wet on this ride. Not just wet but quite likely soaked to the bone. Anyone who says they've been on Grizzly River Run without getting wet is either lying or insanely lucky.
The water starts hitting you on the first conveyer climb up the mountain with sprayers set up to hit the riders. That's before it gets into the actual rapids, with the spinning rafts adding to the thrills.
It's really the luck of the draw where you sit, how the raft spins and the exact direction in which it hits the big waves. Thus, some riders may get off a bit lucky with just getting wet while others are utterly drenched.
There's a good reason why there are some free lockers to put your stuff in outside the ride and it's recommended if you don't want to risk your belongings getting soaked. For a while, Disney smartly had some "warming huts" where guests could dry off, but sadly, those were removed for legal reasons. Instead, the best bet is to just hit a washroom to dry off.
It's also a reason the River Run is often closed in the wintertime for annual maintenance. Suffice to say, it's better to do this on a hot summer day where you can dry off a bit faster than when it's 60 degrees out. While the mountain may look lovely at night, it's one of the rare rides best in the daytime.
The ride is a blast, however. The anticipation, if not fear, of how wet you'll get adds to the thrills, with some wanting to get drenched while others just want to take in the ride and scenery. Either way, it's a fun take on the rapids ride, building to an epic 50-foot drop down a waterfall that's one of the best around.
If you do notice your surroundings, you can marvel at the lush detail of this mountain with geysers, fountains and more. Going on it early allows you to see some mist, which adds to the fun dynamic. Disney wisely doesn't put in distracting AA with a bear's roar inside a cave and the idea of what you don't see is more thrilling.
It's strange Grizzly River Run doesn't get mentioned among the top Disney thrill rides or even retrospectives of the mountain rides. While rapids rides may not be everyone's cup of tea, this is a beautiful combination of nature, Imagineering and a water ride, a fun experience only Disney could provide and a must-ride for a California Adventure visit to be among Disney's more underrated attractions.
Have you gone down the Grizzly River?