Walt Disney World’s Splash Mountain hit rough waters Sunday as Twitter users posted video of a submerged log flume ride they were in only moments earlier.
The riders tweeted that the ride began taking on water, and they decided to evacuate even though a Disney employee told them they should have stayed in the boat.
In a video that’s been viewed nearly 200,000 times, a Twitter user named Sky shared footage of the boat after it sank. In the tweet, Sky said a Disney employee “decided to tell us that we should’ve stayed in the boat but it went under as soon as we all stepped out… nice.”
Another Twitter user named Karen Ramirez posted a photo of the seats where she and her boyfriend were sitting, showing water in the floor. Ramirez also posted a shot of the submerged boat after they got out.
Five people were aboard when the incident happened at the end of the ride, according to the company, and all got out safely. The ride has since reopened.
Disney World reopened its Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on July 11 after a three-month closure because of the coronavirus pandemic. Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios reopened on July 15.
Florida has become a hot spot for COVID-19 in recent weeks. With nearly 492,000 cases Monday, according to the state Department of Health, Florida has more cases than any other state but California. The California Department of Public Health reported more than 509,000 cases Monday.
Disneyland has not reopened in spite of plans to do so last month. Theme parks are excluded from Stage 3 of the city of Anaheim’s reopening plan, which has been in effect since July 20.
Splash Mountain is due for a major overhaul. Disney plans to re-theme the attraction based on “The Princess and the Frog.” The announcement of the changes came after concerns were raised about racist stereotypes in “Song of the South,” which inspired the current version, though According to Disney, the company has been working on the change since last year.
